Laws on militias and the right to bear arms (piefed.ca)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by ZombieCyborgFromOuterSpace@piefed.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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Hello /c/Canada

You know how there's a 2nd amendment in the U.S. on the right to bear arms? I know that it was originally meant to allow people to form militias and defend their rights should the government become an authoritarian regime and stop following the constitution.

Is there anything similar in Canada in terms of laws or rights and freedoms?

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[-] Rat_in_a_hat@lemmy.ca 17 points 4 days ago

Nope. Not in the slightest. The charter protects you're right to only protest and that's within limitations (speech laws, hate laws, nonviolence, public ordinance laws)...

While Canada has freedom of assembly, the federal and/or provincial government is also creating laws to dictate exactly where you can assemble (or can't).

Historically, Canada has been very repressive of large worker movements and strikes. Forcefully breaking them and killing protestors.

[+] ZombieCyborgFromOuterSpace@piefed.ca -15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Well that blows.

We may make fun of Americans and their gun laws, but at least they have a plan B. Sometimes I feel we should have the same kind of right in Canada. The working class should have a right to bear arms and defend itself against the tyranny of the business elite class, by which the government seems to be easily influenced to work against our best interests.

[-] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 days ago

No, it really doesn't.

Gun ownership is not and should not be a right. It is a responsibility, and a serious one at that. If you want a firearm, you need to train and prove yourself safe, responsible, and justified.

US gun laws have created the US gun culture, where people will accept ~~hundreds~~ TENS OF THOUSANDS of deaths a year, for 'freedom.'

Also, let's not forget that the 2nd amendment was brought in during a time of flintlocks. They were NOT protecting one's freedom to walk into McDonald's with a MAC-10 down their pants.

Perhaps most telling though, is that the US is currently NOT a free state, and the 'well-regulated militia' has not stood up to them. In fact, there has never been a well regulated militia in the US to stand up to government tyranny, just a bunch of doomsday preppers who delude themselves into believing their arsenal is spiritually annointed by James Madison and God, in that order.

So, no. No fucking second amendment in Canada,bthank you very much.

[-] ZombieCyborgFromOuterSpace@piefed.ca 2 points 3 days ago

Mind you, I'm talking about the right to form organized armed militias to defend people against a tyrannical government.

Also, there are other countries in the world, like Switzerland, where everyone has a firearm at home. Heck, Switzerland even allows the possession of semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons. Source. But, you don't hear about gun-related problems over there because their gun culture is completely different. They are much more responsible and they understand the responsibility.

As you mentioned, in the U.S. they have a "gun culture" which completely out of whack. That's not the objective I'm suggesting.

And as I mentioned to others in this post, there's been talk amongst democrats and liberals about arming themselves as things are turning pretty bad down south. I think they're trying to avoid any violent conflict if possible. Maybe they're just staying really quiet right now so to not stir any fear. But, I think the next presidential election might be a tipping point. Depending how bad it goes, things could blow up. Or maybe not. We'll see.