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The Ontario government is threatening to take away Bruce and Donna Montague’s home, as the final act of more than a decade of persecution, in the course of which Bruce Montague was hauled away by police from a gun show, leaving his 12-year-old daughter traumatized; incarcerated for 18 months (his wife received a probationary sentence) and their small business ruined by the confiscation of their entire inventory.

Bruce and Donna owned a gunsmith shop and their crime was Bruce’s refusal to do the paperwork required by a series of inane gun-registry laws instituted in the 1990s, which were widely criticized and have been partly rescinded since, because he found the process nonsensical and intrusive. I presume he felt he shouldn’t have to tell his government his medical history or details about his love life in order to acquire or retain a license to his hunting rifle.

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The Montagues defiant act of civil disobedience brought upon the couple’s head the administrative vengeance of the state. As Donna wrote in a recent letter: “Like many other small business owners, the bulk of our life’s savings was invested in our business. By seizing our inventory, the government has left us on the brink of a financial disaster. At the time, it was hard for us to imagine our plight could get any worse.