According to Joshua Chang in his article in The National Post of 25 March, 2024 car owners in Toronto are installing something called bollards, you know, those bright aluminum poles that you find outside some retail stores to prevent you from stealing the shopping cart, to prevent car theft by installing them in the driveway of your home.
Mr. Chang reports:
“According to the Toronto Police Service’s major crimes indicators dashboard, car thefts increased by 25.4 per cent in 2022. Insp. Paul Rinkoff described it as a “dramatic surge” in the city’s auto theft crisis over the past few years, with the number of vehicles stolen this year already skyrocketing”.
Toronto the good seems to be turning into Toronto the bad, maybe even the ugly. But aside from using a 12 gauge to deter car theft, one may have to resort to these new inventive devices.
The problem as I see it with these bollard devices is that once the bad guys see them, they just wait till you pull into your driveway then pull out the latest in 3D- Printed firearm and take your car before you have a chance to activate these rather expensive driveway decorations.
Speaking of 3D-Printed firearms, in an article in The National Post by Trevor Wilhelm, dated 15 March, 2024, he talks about the ongoing controversy over 3D-Printed firearms and how police are worried about the abundance of them now in Canada:
“The illegal manufacture of such firearms, which have no serial numbers and can’t be traced, is potentially lucrative.
Firearms can be (mostly) printed using small at-home 3D printers, similar to the method for producing a homemade coffee mug or ashtray.
The process involves using computer-aided design (CAD) to create three-dimensional objects layer by layer with materials such as plastic and polymers”.
So, you have a 3D-Printer and you want to print a pistol. What you get is a grip for a pistol, maybe. What about the other parts of the firearm that make it workable and safe? Good luck, unless of course, you are part of an organized crime syndicate that has connections below the border and can smuggle gun parts into the Great White North without interference from our non-existent border security.
Now once you have your brand new plastic hand gun, what do you put in it? Something that seems to be missing from the media panic over 3D-Printed firearms is the supply of ammunition. You know, that damn license issue again to obtain it legally. So, were is it coming from?
Bad guys don’t know that much about firearms. If you have ever watched any on-line videos of shootings, you will know why. They don’t seem to know how to shoot them straight or load them and most would not know what kind of bullets go into what type of pistol! Stay tuned as I am sure new video will be available in the near future.
So, if you are thinking of installing one of these expensive bollards in your driveway, don’t just think of the cost. Think about that sketchy Dude hiding in the bushes by the driveway with his brand new plastic gun tucked down the front of his pants.
Happy motoring Toronto!