The National Pardon Centre™

I must be one of them city folk because I just can’t seem to understand the debate about a long gun registry. For the record I am not a hunter, I am not a gun owner and I dislike guns in pretty much all but arcade forms and even those I have quietly grown too old to enjoy. So I am understandably biased in this debate. But I still think it is reasonable that we, as a society, ask anyone who owns a gun to register it. And I refuse to believe that registering a weapon capable of killing a man is too difficult a thing to do.

Even if the long gun registry is not an effective tool for fighting crime I still think it is a reasonable thing for gun owners to register their weapons. The bottom line is that if you own something designed for killing it is not over stepping the bounds of governemtn control to request that you register it.

I deal with criminal records at work and when I see a crime involving guns it makes me nervous. I apologize to all the hunters out there who are law abiding gun owners but the fact is that guns really do kill people. And if you have to make a compromise I don’t think registering a deadly weapon is a big one.  

There are many names for the most commonly pardoned criminal conviction in Canada. The chances are good that you will be familiar with at least one or two of them. But whatever you want to call it the charge is the same and it involves operation of a motor vehicle while intoxiced by alcohol or drugs or whatever. It could even just be cough medicine because the bottom line is that if you are driving under the influence of anything you are breaking the law.

Unfortunately society took a long time to learn its lesson on this one and the truth is that we are still learning it based on the number of annual criminal convictions in Canada. But thanks to the efforts of police, government and even NGO groups like MADD, drunk driving is now about as socially acceptable as kicking puppies into traffic. It’s just not ok.

So why do so many people still drink and drive or drive under the influence? I think what has happened is that the legal limit for alcohol intoxication is so low that it is nearly impossible to have anything to drink at all without being above the legally acceptable blood acohol level. And this is probably a good thing. But I would guess that many people out there still feel that a couple of drinks will not render them unable to drive a car safely. And there is the problem. You may not feel drunk. You may not feel intoxicted. And you may even feel that you are completely ok to drive safely. But in the eyes of the law if your blood alcohol limit is elevated you are breaking the law and there is no discussion period, except of course in front of a judge at a later date.

 In Canada the law is as follows for blood alcohol limits: 0.05% is a 24-hour suspension and a fine, 0.08% is a D.U.I. charge.

But I think the best guideline for drinking and driving is this: If you drink anything at all don’t drive! It is the only way to be sure you are not putting yourself and others at risk

If you have been convicted of a DUI charge you will want to consider getting a pardon ASAP. Contact the National Pardon Centre. We can help!