WE SHOULD FOCUS ON THE REAL CAUSE

The deaths of four Mounties by an antisocial, police-hating individual
should not lead to the reduction of civil liberties. The stolen
vehicles and the marijuana plants were secondary to the murders
carried out by a person with a history of aggression.

The gun-registry program has failed to protect Canadians in the past
and will do nothing to stop criminals from owning and using firearms.
The police have all the power they require to handle people like Jim
Roszko. That is what emergency response teams are for.

I am saddened by the death of the Mounties and think that it is
important to remain rational and focus on the actual cause, not blame
misperceived threats. Ian Haysom is living in a dream world if he
thinks that there are no grow operations in the U.S. Prohibition does
not work.

The legalization of marijuana will reduce the underground and criminal
aspects of pot use. The money wasted on the gun registry would have
been better used to supply helicopters to our Armed Forces.

Norman W. Jackson

Esquimalt.