Political Connections

COLEMAN'S DRUG WAR OVERLOOKS THE GUN PROBLEM

You ain't disrespecting me like that/I'M GONNA GET MY
GUN!

Walk to the room, sixteen shot clip/Bitch how you like
that?

I'M GONNA GET MY GUN!/Bet you ain't know that I'm strapped

Nice one, bitch this is my gat/I'M GONNA GET MY GUN!

- - D12 "Get My Gun"

How many people will have to be shot to death in and around nightclubs
before the B.C. government's "minister for public safety" does
something about it?

So far the count is six dead in the past year, including a fatal
shooting outside Vancouver's Aqua 1066 Restaurant and Lounge on July
25, but no action has been taken by Rich Coleman, the solicitor
general and minister for public safety, to try to put an end to the
violence.

Coleman's ministry is responsible for policing and crime prevention,
and to hear them tell it, they're doing a hell of a good job.

"We take pride in our accomplishments, including: enhancing the
effectiveness and efficiency of policing, supporting communities in
increasing public safety, supporting victims of crime, maintaining
safer streets," reads the ministry's 2003/04 annual service plan.

But try telling that to nervous club patrons, staff who are quitting
their jobs in fear, or bouncers who are now wearing bulletproof vests
as they stand outside popular nightspots.

And then take a look at cuts to the policing and community-safety
budget for Coleman's ministry. From spending $267.5 million in
2003-2004, the funding for this important area will drop by $20.7
million to a projected $246.8 million for 2006-2007. I guess the
reduced expenditures must mean we are all feeling safer each year.

The shooting murder at Aqua 1066 was just one of the most recent;
there have been many other gunshot victims.

In January, 23-year-old Rachel Davis was shot to death while trying to
be a peacemaker in a fight outside the Purple Onion Cabaret in
Gastown. Richard Hui, 24, also died in the shooting. In August 2003,
three people were killed and several injured in a gunfight at Loft Six
in Gastown.

The violence is not confined to downtown Vancouver, though. In
January, two men were shot outside the Fraser Valley Inn in
Abbotsford, and police charged two suspects with attempted murder.

But we've had lots of action from Coleman's ministry. It created a
special licence plate to honour armed-forces veterans, put out more
"bait cars" to catch vehicle thieves, and reduced the number of
inspections of truck trailers to save the industry money.

But gun deaths don't seem to have provoked a serious
response.

Coleman has also had lots to say about "getting tough" on marijuana
possession and "winning" the war on drugs.

"I want us to go out and fight the war on drugs because it's hurting
our kids, it's hurting our communities, and it's time we stood up to
it," Coleman told CBC Radio news in December 2002.

Coleman also opposed the federal government's plan to decriminalize
simple possession of marijuana.

Well, here's some breaking news for Coleman: in Amsterdam, where possession
and sale of marijuana and hashish are legal, people are not being shot to
death outside nightclubs every few weeks.

In case Coleman wants to compare crime in the Netherlands and Canada,
here's what the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
found in a study of gun deaths published in the International Journal of
Epidemiology: Canada's rate of murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due
to guns per 100,000 people was 4.31 in 1994. Holland's was 0.70.

So, minister for public safety, how about a war on guns, not
drugs?

How about getting tough on punks carrying pistols? Let's make their
lives as miserable as possible, although it can't come close to the
anguish of families and friends whose loved ones didn't come home one
night.

How about spending some serious money for police dragnets late at
night near nightclubs to find the thugs who are carrying guns or
stashing them in their cars?

How about offering significant rewards for informants to turn in guys
packing pistols?

How about pressuring Ottawa to increase the penalties for unlawful
possession of handguns or for smuggling them into Canada, and to make
it harder to own a firearm?

Oops, I forgot. Coleman also says the federal government should scrap
the gun registry.

Let's also forget about blaming shooting deaths on nightclubs
themselves or their late opening hours. The hours of business aren't
the reason certain people carry handguns, and other cities around the
world have later hours without mayhem. And nightclubs can't be
expected to do more than screen patrons, use metal detectors, and
employ security guards.

If there are clubs that are not stopping customers from entering with
guns, put them out of business, permanently.

All this is not to say Coleman is responsible for the problems of
nightclub shootings. He's not.

We live in a gun culture where popular musicians like 50 Cent and D12
celebrate violence. We live in a society where too many people think
respect comes from carrying weapons, not from a decent job or
contributing to their community.

But Coleman is still minister of public safety, and he has the
responsibility to take action in the face of out-of-control gun deaths.

The "drug" Coleman should be worrying about is testosterone. It is far
too readily available, and, when combined with handguns, is deadlier
than any other.