The slogan No Gun, No Funeral was a slogan coined by Ontario's Attorney General Michael Bryant. The idea was that by confiscating all legally owned handguns in Canada, the number of people who would die at the hands of criminals brandishing handguns would drop significantly.

You see, you can draw a direct line between the responsible gun owner and the murderous criminal.

To help promote that idea, Michael Bryant had a website created. Well, he had his people create a website. But he did not mention that he was behind the website. The website was presented as a grassroots effort instead of a carefully constructed politically-motivated public relations stunt.

That is known as astroturfing, and Michael Bryant suffered a bit of embarrassment from it.

I followed the No Gun No Funeral story for some time.

Now this was not the first time Michael Bryant got ahead of a story. But it was his last time as Attorney General:

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant, who had been an activist attorney general, banning pit bulls, outlawing street racing, and seizing crack houses and marijuana grow-ops, was slapped down for daring to hold leadership ambitions.

In a Queen's Park version of "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer," McGuinty also anointed Bryant Government House leader, meaning he'll have to stay near the Legislature conducting tedious procedural business instead of travelling the province and garnering headlines.

But rather than laying low, Bryant immediately hit the microphones and pledged in the coming weeks to visit Caledonia, site of an almost two-year-old native standoff.

"I'm going to try to make the most of it," Bryant said of his new post.

For a guy who was so devoted to the idea of banning handguns outright, he seems to have dropped the idea like a used tissue. I mean, certainly Michael Bryant can continue his efforts without the power of the Attorney General's office behind it, right?

But then pushing No Gun No Funeral would no longer help Michael Bryant's career, now that he has been demoted and turfed from the Attorney General's office. So I suppose it will have to be someone else's crusade. Someone who really bellieved that nonsense, I mean.

Addendum: The site has changed. All references to Michael Bryant, put on the site when it was shown that he was secretly behind its creation, have been removed. I guess he doesn't care to be associated with this crusade any longer.

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