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^^^ I believe in sensible gun laws that do not punish licensed owners for paper-offenses (did you know that you could go to jail if you did not renew your license on time and let it expired? or, if you do not carry a piece of paper (authorization to transport) with you when you goto the range, you could have all of your gun seized and never returned?), and do not cherry-pick on limiting certain types of guns because they are somehow more dangerous (a pistol with a 4" barrel is prohibited, but one that is 4.12" is not?!?!?!).
Our licensing system is decent - mandatory 28 day wait period, police background check, reference check, mental health check, and mandatory safety exams. It does its best to weed out the crazies. I'm still somewhat on the fence with registration, though. I know most people don't like it and think that it's a waste of money, but I think there is some value in keeping track of the ownership of firearms, just as we do with cars. How useful is that information in preventing crime? Not much, really. Just the same as having a license plate on your car doesn't necessary prevent you from driving it impaired and hitting a pedestrian. But I do believe that having firearms registered brings upon an additional layer of accountability to gun owners, to make sure that they know who has access to their guns.
As for owning a gun for self-protection, I think that at the bare minimum, one should have the right to defend his/her life (or the lives of his/her family), when an intruder breaks into your house uninvited. Some form of "castle law" should replace the nonsense we have now (equal force) so that the home owners should not fear of being prosecuted if there ever was a need to use lethal force. Concealed carry is something we probably won't see in Canada anytime soon, as I think most Canadian feel relatively safe in their neighborhoods and don't feel a need to have lethal force on them while say, walking their dogs.
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Nikonian
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