Justin Trudeau Archives -

RCMP Wants A New Pistol

A story posted on Soldier Systems this past week caught my eye. It seems that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police aka The Mounties have posted a tender notice saying they are seeking a new service pistol. This pistol will replace their Smith & Wesson Model 5946.

Their general requirements according to Soldier Systems include:

Determining that the current weapon has exceeded its life expectancy, they are looking for a modern design offering reduced trigger pull weight, various frame sizes, and a reduction in overall weight as well as the ability mount both a weapon light and Red Dot Sight (RDS).
While they are sticking with 9mm, the RCMP desires a mechanically locked, recoil-operated, striker-fired semi-automatic pistol with polymer frame which can accommodate at least three grip sizes. The pistol must also be matte black, corrosion resistant, and equipped with iron backup sights in addition to the RDS.
While the pistol must have no external manual safety levers, grip safeties, and push-button safeties, it must fireable without a magazine installed.
This requirement is fairly unique, each pistol must come with a ceremonial lanyard loop that can be attached to the pistol magazine’s base plate. Additionally, the slide must be steel.

In the solicitation’s Annex A – Statement of Work regarding one factor in the assessment of the new pistol I found this:

The RCMP is committed to being progressive, proactive, and innovative (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2006) and, having a diverse and modern workforce (Government of Canada’s diversity and inclusion priority), this requires that the RCMP’s general duty (GD) pistol be examined from a Gender-based perspective (Gender-based Analysis+(GBA+)).

Indeed, when the solicitation lists the expected outcomes, alignment with diversity and inclusion by “leveraging Gender Based Analysis (GBA+) in the selection of the service pistols” is first on the list. It comes before reliability or any other requirement.

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon is not amused.

Given Prime Minister Trudeau’s aim to disarm all Canadians, I fail to see why the RCMP even needs a new pistol or even a pistol in general. In areas where there are dangerous wildlife such as the polar bears of Churchill, Manitoba, I’d say they should be able to make due with the cast-off .303 Lee Enfields from the Canadian Rangers. For the rest of the Mounties, they should be able to make due with harsh, impolite words, eh!

Our Gun-Owning Neighbors To The North Are In For It

The Liberal Party headed by political legacy Justin Trudeau just ousted the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in nationwide elections yesterday. The Liberal Party took 184 seats out of 338 which gives them a working majority. They will not have to try and form a coalition government with other smaller parties. The Conservatives retain only 99 seats or 29% of the seats in the Canadian Parliament’s House of Commons.

So what does that mean for Canadian gun owners? First, let’s remember that the Conservative government under Stephen Harper did away with the ineffective and outrageously expensive gun registry. Second, there is this from the Liberal Party platform:

We will take action to get handguns and assault weapons off our streets.

Over the last decade, Stephen Harper has steadily weakened our gun laws in ways that make Canadians more vulnerable and communities more dangerous.

We will take pragmatic action to make it harder for criminals to get, and use, handguns and assault weapons. We will:

repeal changes made by Bill C-42 that allow restricted and prohibited weapons to be freely transported without a permit, and we will put decision-making about weapons restrictions back in the hands of police, not politicians;

provide $100 million each year to the provinces and territories to support guns and gangs police task forces to take illegal guns off our streets and reduce gang violence;

modify the membership of the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee to include knowledgeable law enforcement officers, public health advocates, representatives from women’s groups, and members of the legal community;

require enhanced background checks for anyone seeking to purchase a handgun or other restricted firearm;

require purchasers of firearms to show a license when they buy a gun, and require all sellers of firearms to confirm that the license is valid before completing the sale;

require firearms vendors to keep records of all firearms inventory and sales to assist police in investigating firearms trafficking and other gun crimes;

immediately implement the imported gun marking regulations that have been repeatedly delayed by Stephen Harper; and

as part of our investment in border infrastructure, invest in technologies to enhance our border guards’ ability to detect and halt illegal guns from the United States entering into Canada.

We will not create a new national long-gun registry to replace the one that has been dismantled.

We will ensure that Canada becomes a party to the international Arms Trade Treaty.

The only thing positive in that list is the claim that a Liberal government will not create a new long-gun registry.

I hate to say it but the next five years are not going to be good ones for Canadian gun owners. Or the rest of Canada for that matter.