TheGunBlog.ca — Following is a letter sent to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by Edith Iwama, a 94-year-old former law-enforcement officer who also lived through Nazi Germany.
Iwama sent a copy of her letter to TheGunBlog.ca and authorized us to publish it.
We added the subheadings and extra paragraph breaks for readability.
https://twitter.com/TheGunBlog/status/1138237780142821377
Dear Right Honourable Prime Minister Trudeau,
You will find that your intended bans on handguns and assault-style firearms will not have the effect that you have been informed that they will have regarding garnering votes in the coming election.
You will find that you have been ill-advised by the Polling advisor on this topic.
In particular, the Liberal Party relies upon Canada’s immigrant population to largely support the party and vote Liberal in elections.
Immigrants Oppose Bans
A ban on handguns and assault-style firearms will drive a surprising portion of the immigrant population away from supporting or voting for Liberal candidates, hurting your chances for re-election.
As an immigrant, former Law Enforcement, and a person with a wide and diverse exposure through work to many immigrants, I can tell you that the ethnic background combined with the immigrant country of origin and its attendant political history experience will result in a different mindset.
Therefore, there will be a different response than you are being led to expect these bans to generate from the immigrant portion of the Canadian population.
Guns and Honour
For instance, one aspect is that a surprising portion of the Asian immigrant population own firearms, including handguns.
As with electronics, cameras, etc., the common mindset observed is a preoccupation with continually acquiring the most modern, most customized, most sophisticated models of items acquired.
This means the latest model handgun and assault-style competition firearm, customized, with many sophisticated options added.
A ban of these firearms will be perceived by the Asian immigrant as a direct put-down of their personal and family honour.
Asian families have very strong family bonds, resulting in the rest of a large family viewing these bans as a direct put down on the family honour as well so the family will no longer vote or support Liberal politicians either.
Guns and Freedom
Another factor in the equation is that many Asians are here to be free of political regimes that have poor to atrocious human-rights abuse records.
Bans on the private ownership of firearms combined with a distrust of the people by corrupt politicians, police, and military is often a part of the immigrant origins / life experience.
So, immigrants view the private ownership of firearms as part of democracy, freedom of speech and a lifestyle of freedom from human-rights abuse.
No Trust, No Vote
From many immigrant’s home country experience, a political party that does not trust citizens to own firearms, does not trust the citizen and has proven through this, human-rights abuses and other actions that they are a politician or political party that cannot be trusted.
The immigrants have learned that a politician / political party that does not trust citizens is not worth supporting according to their experiences.
You will find the immigrants of many countries from South America, Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa to be of similar mindset in response to gun bans due to their similar experiences in their home countries.
Many of them own guns as well. Plus, there are similarly strong family bonds resulting in similar responses from other family members, so gun bans will lose the Liberals their support as well.
Nazi Germany
Having been a foreign worker trapped in Nazi Germany, seen the Nazi disarmament of large portions of the German population, seen Nazi politics in daily operation, experienced the seizure of property by the Gestapo, lost family in Concentration Camps, etc., I can tell you I do not view gun bans as you have been informed that I will view them.
Gun bans are not dealing with the criminal use of guns in crime. I am against gun bans imposed on innocent law-abiding voters. Go after the criminal illegal-gun smugglers instead.
Thank you,
Edith Iwama
Toronto, Ontario, Canada