r/canadaguns • u/Low_Bar_804 • Apr 19 '26

News / Politics / Activism Owning guns- Right or Privilege?

So obviously here in Canada our government sees private firearm ownership as a privilege rather than a right. My question is, how you guys feel? Do you think gun ownership is a right or a privilege?

When you look at other things people view as rights, such as abortion, freedom of expression and freedom of religion etc. These are all viewed by most as inherently “good rights”, but in many countries these rights are restricted. I think, along with many others, that it is justified to ignore unjust laws that restrict human rights.

I personally believe that firearm ownership is a fundamental human right because it protects all of our other rights and freedoms from being taken away. So even though legally speaking firearm ownership is a privilege that can be taken away at any time here in Canada, I don’t agree with the way our country and many others treat firearm ownership.

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u/NefariousNatee Apr 19 '26

We aren't a country that was founded under war.

Yes firearms serve as a legitimate tool for hunting

No it shouldn't be a universal blessing to own firearms.

My stance is this, reverse the May 2020 firearms ban, drop the incoming amnesty period that ends October 30th, double the maximum magazine to 20 rounds on rifle calibers. No cap on handguns, and continue the existing vetting process for firearms license.

This is a conversation that needs to be had not only amongst firearm enthusiasts but the wider public.

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u/Barbarian_818 Apr 19 '26

The problem is, "we need more gun control" always plays well with the general public. A demographic that largely has no clue about the level of gun control we already have.

Every shooting in the news leaves a silty deposit of fear about what the world is coming to. Every shooting is quickly grabbed into by politicians who can spend millions, even tens of millions promising to make the danger go away.

This tactic doesn't require the public actually listen to both sides, educate themselves on the reality and actually think about the issue, actually understand the distinction between a drug dealer or home invader and a law abiding gun owner.

Getting an actual informed and thought provoking dialogue among the public on any subject is enormously difficult. Trying to achieve that on the subject of firearms, in the face of preexisting fear in the public mind, is far harder.

And, as I've said before, there are many who think that "the gun lobby" and firearms ownership somehow recruits and indoctrinates people into a conservative, misogynistic and even dangerously radical antisocial mindset. So the thinking goes that if we can somehow rid the world of every "tactical" firearm, every "military lineage" firearm, that we will breed fewer radical self appointed militias and mass casualty event shooters. That's why it is as much a war in gun culture as it is the guns themselves.