The woman being interviewed, Danielle, noted how successful the events were in the USA.
Incredibly, they are also raffling off a new glock pistol. So anyone who buys a ticket can win the gun.
I just don't understand how the people at Westman Dreams for Kids could possibly think this is a good festival to get behind. Kids and guns? I am reminded of my dearly beloved but long since departed Pearl Jam t-shirt from my teen years: 9 out of 10 kids prefer crayons to guns. Silly me, I thought that was a good thing....
And another reason I am disgusted with the pairing of children and guns. A 5 year old shot his 2 year old sister with a rifle marketed towards youth, ages 4 - 10.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2013/05/maker-of-my-first-rifle-for-kids-disappears-after-toddler-killed.html?cmp=rss
17 comments:
Unfortunately, the context of this blog is grossly mistaken. The event is for the shooting community to have an opportunity to try a specific brand of firearm. It’s also to promote a very safe, regulated sport, to those who may be interested, but have not purchased a firearm as of yet. All proceeds are going to a great organization, but that organization is not putting on the event. Your blog makes it sound like there are sick kids running about with guns, not the case at all. As far as the free gun draw goes, the winner must have all applicable licenses, permits and paperwork in place prior to receiving the firearm. Perhaps do your research and educate yourself prior to posting such a blog, it will make it sound a lot more intelligent.
I agree with Anonymous. This is nothing other than a legitimate business putting on a fundraiser for children. Thanks for your contribution!
Maybe if a pharmacy put on the same fundraiser you'd be upset b/c they sell drugs? Even Marijuana/Narcotis??!!
but WAIT, if a person has the correct paperwork its ok!
Thank you 'Anonymous' and... 'Anonymous'.
I imagine both of you will be attending the event. While I appreciate your comments, I find it troublesome that you are so put off by my humble opinion. Surely I am not the first person to find it odd that a gun festival is donating proceeds to a kids wish foundation.
As for the context of the blog, I supplied a link to the website so people could look at the info for themselves.
As for the comment about my post making it sound like 'sick kids running about with guns', perhaps it is you who could use a bit more education. Promoting using guns to first-time gun users and tagging on a kids foundation is ridiculous, in any context.
Lastly, saying that I would be upset over a pharmaceutical fundraiser because they sell drugs is a strange comparison.If a pharmaceutical company put on a fundraiser where they were teaching children how to properly roll a joint, or shoot up, then yes. You are correct dear reader, I would have an issue.
But thanks for reading!
I posted the first comment, and I would like to comment again. This event is not a gun festival. It is an event show casing a specific fire arm, at a government approved facility, that allows the shooting sport community the oppertunity to try various models from a specific maker. If first time shooters attend, they are instructed in safe handling and operation by a qualified range officer.
The shooting sports community is made up of law abiding people, just like you, who enjoy the many various aspects of shooting sports. As a responsible gun owner, and parent, I applaud the efforts of Wolverine Supplies to donate the money raised to a worth while cause. Everyone has a soft spot for sick children, responsible gun owners are no different. The reason I was put off by your original statement, is because to me, its a form of fear mongering. There is no criminal undertone with this event, and most law abiding gun owners despise any criminal activity. To me, this event is similar to a golf store, having a range day allowing you to try out a specific club manufacturer. But, that's just me
Brent
Stop being retarded, it's not like they're handing out guns to 4 year olds like candy and telling them to go have fun. It's people testing out guns that they're interested in purchasing, and newbies who are interested in the sport both of whom are being supervised at a licensed gun range. There is no illegal activity and the money raised goes to a good cause, stop being silly.
Its fearmongering about guns from people like you that taints the legitimate sporting aspect of firearms. You should be applauding sportsmen for standing up and contributing to a great cause. People that come out with comments such as yours are generally clueless about guns. Maybe you should come out to an event like this and educate yourself before passing comment on what should and shouldn't be done.
"Promoting using guns to first-time gun users and tagging on a kids foundation is ridiculous, in any context."
As someone who brought two first-time shooters to this event I find this comment baffling. Do you realize that there are legions of Canadians out here who don't find pistol shooting to be reprehensible on its face, but see it as a fun sport? The first-timers had a ball, and the money they might have spent on ammo and range time instead went to a charity. You're seeing negative reactions to your post because those of us who don't see recreational gun use as a horribly monstrosity can't figure out what your actual objection to this event is beyond a knee-jerk "GUNS BAD!!!" opinion.
"Incredibly, they are also raffling off a new glock pistol. So anyone who buys a ticket can win the gun."
Not just "anyone" willy-nilly. Forgive me if I'm telling you something about which you've already educated yourself, but the only person who could win that raffle is one who's already qualified for their restricted Possession and Acquisition License (PAL), the federally-issued license required to own a hand-gun legally.
I think you should have checked out the event yourself; you probably would have had some fun and learned a thing or two! (There's always next year.)
To the op: its retarded uninformed uneducated unknowing comments like this that make me wonder where our world is going. You shouldnt take it upon yourself to comment on something you clearly know absolutely nothing about. Its people like you that we need to be worried about not law abiding gun owners and enthusiasts. It saddens me that you are too closed minded to attend such an event and see the truth for yourself. I hope our world has more of me's in the future and less of you's or our world is in for a scary scared dull closed minded future.
Fearmongering? Retarded? I feel safe knowing that you open-minded individuals have guns.
If you re-read my comments, it was merely expressing my shock that an event promoting a dangerous weapon was supporting a children's charity.
And yes, a pistol is a weapon. It is not a toy. I am sorry. You have chosen an incredibly dangerous sport to be enthusiastic about and no amount of bullying, name-calling, or goading is going to get this lil' lady to change her mind. I do acknowledge that the event was well-regulated...It's not that I hate the idea of the shooting sports community, my issue was with the connection with children.
I am not uneducated, I am not ill-informed, nor am I retarded (nice choice of an archaic and uneducated insult). This is my forum to express my thoughts. I didn't tell anyone that they were 'retarded' for going to this event.
Thank you all for your comments.
The car you drive everyday is also a weapon, so are the kitchen knives we eat with. Maybe we should stop the auto industry from doing charities too. Get your head out of your ass
Your shock that gun-owners would want to support a charity for children *is* your closed-mindedness. To recreational gun owners, you're the equivalent of this person:
'"I don't really care for you people using the Golden Boy as your gay thing. That's pretty gross. That's Manitoba's honorable person standing up on that thing there. That's pretty gross you guys'.
-Anonymous caller to the Plug In answering machine, June 1998"
You have a negative emotional reaction to the hobby we happen to enjoy and you obliquely judge us as bad people for it. People get reactionary when they're judged unfairly by someone. Cf. your desire to post the above quote on your blog -- you think that quote is ridiculous, and we think your opinion here is no less ridiculous.
This is your place to say what you want, but if you don't want feedback it's pretty easy to turn off comments.
I have said several times that I thanked people for the comments. I am jusging you as a bad person not because of your hobby, but because of your decision to be disrespectful, resort to name-calling, and questioning my intelligence.
I decided not to turn off the comment accessibility because I enjoy an intelligent and lively debate.
Lastly, my shock did not lie in gun-owners wanting to help kids charities. It was the fact that guns were the vehicle with which funds were being collected.
The comment about art and its censorship, anti-gay behavior is far far far from comparable to a woman expressing her concern with this weekend's festivities.
Now you can all go back to judging others as close-minded while you yourselves are condemning someone else for expressing an opinion.
Are you hot? If you're hot all is forgiven.
Lisa let's not resort to labeling people as hypocrites. I've noticed there are many leftist bloggers who make of habit of slamming things they barely understand and then attempt to appear as if they are taking the intellectual high ground when they are challenged on their comments.
You made a ill-informed comment about a charity event you know little about, simply because it had to do with firearms, which you dislike.
It may be a valid opinion, but it is an ignorant one. Your political bias betrays you. You may be well-educated and intelligent but one would not know that having read only your "Glock days" post.
Most readers of your blog are probably of a similar political persuasion as yourself, so I can understand that your post on this charity event may simply have been the result of you looking for a social issue you could decry, and have your readers rally around you.
Most of those who commented are not truly trying to name-call, but you have to understand that firearms sportsman in Canada constantly have to endure negative comments about the sport they love.
I'm not even sure the point your original post was making as your conclusions are all unspoken. Is raffling a firearm for charity bad? Is holding a charity event that benefits children also wrong? You seem to think so it would seem, yet you don't state it openly.
If firearms had to be used for something, would you not agree that raising money for children is their very best use?
No one who attended this event is the type of individual making Winnipeg the dangerous place that it is. I agree with you that gun violence is a terrible thing, but this event is a far from street gun violence as a church service is from an Inquisition Era witch-burning.
Benign things can be misused to hurt others, but only the truly narrow-minded would fight against those things instead of the evil people who misuse them to cause harm.
In the spirit of open-mindedness and understanding I would be pleased to invite you to next years Glock Days and you can see for yourself the kind of event it really is.
James
You can kill someone with your minivan, should we ban car manufacturers from donating to charity? Way to twist a thoughtful jesture into more fear mongering, this canada not the US where any yahoo can run around with a gun. We have stringent laws and regulations.
Now I see where you are all coming from. I was confused as to why I got so much attention.
I haven't censored anything you have written, however I find it ironic that I cannot defend myself, or my opinion (shared by MANY) on your forum (canadiangunnutz).
James, while your comment is the most intelligent of the bunch, you take an awful lot of liberties. I would say that if firearms had to be used, that having a charity for children is NOT the best way-equipping police officers with them to provide safety is probably the best use of them.
My political bias? Where and when did I mention anything of my political bias? And I don't write to get applauded by readers. I write to express my opinion. If whoever it was on your forum didn't link to my post, you wouldn't have ever heard of me. My post did absolutely no harm, wasn't mean-spirited and is mild in comparison to the attack you and your gun community have laid out here.
I was not ill-informed about your event. There were five lines about it, and I read them all. I was just informed about it as anyone else could have been.
Thanks for the invite, but I'd prefer to stay as far away from the people who have chosen to comment on my blog as is humanly possible.
Lisa, I'm sorry to hear you won't attend next years event. I would imagine you are free to post on gunnutz if you wish, but I'm not a moderator there so I don't have control of that.
If you feel you were treated in a mean-spirited way I apologize as well, but please understand that many gun owners have been subject to bullying from Ottawa and special interest groups for many many years.
We've been told we are all criminals, or that we would be criminals if only we had the opportunity. We were promised that registration would not lead to confiscation; that if we would allowed the government to catalog us and our firearms that they would not be seized. Many in fact were taken for no better reason than the government deciding that they were "menacing" looking.
To this day they continue to arbitrarily ban firearms they previously said were legal simply because they do not like how they look. These owners are betrayed and not compensated for the thousands of dollars lost.
We are vilified and criminalized. And the vast majority of gun owners are honest, gentle, law abiding citizens. None of the criminals on the streets have licenses, or registered firearms.
I take it from your blog that you enjoy art.
Imagine if you were told by a small but very loud group of Canadians, and by some in Ottawa, that you were not allowed to own art. In fact, they said, it was abnormal and dangerous that you enjoyed art at all. You were required to submit all your requests to own, display, or view art to the Canadian Art Centre, and weeks later they would inform you whether that was acceptable or not.
Even if you were approved, their would be restrictions on when and where you could view art, and how you could enjoy it. From time to time the government would inform you a particular piece had been censored and the RCMP would arrive at your doorstep to confiscate it.
If you protested this you would be declared a dangerous criminal and arrested.
If you mentioned that owned and enjoyed art the teenage girl at the local Safeway would look at you wide-eyed and ask why you would ever want to own art and whether you wanted to hurt someone.
Finally after years of this, during which time you had laboured to obey the ever more restrictive and ridiculous regulations, someone would declare that the local fundraiser you were attending at the art gallery was immoral and wrong. Children had no reason being near potentially harmful art you would be told.
The person telling you this would be well-meaning but they would be ignorant of art, and those who loved it. They would not appreciate art, and they would not even have an undergraduate degree.
After all this you may be more likely to hurl insults than to try to explain what you love in a rational manner.
Obviously this is not the case are far as art is concerned, but for those of us passionate about shooting sports it is reality.
It is so easy for those who have no love for shooting to dismiss the arguments of those who do - there is no cost to them at all.
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