Cockroaches and politicians have one thing in common. Both scurry for the shadows when the spotlight is on them.  In the case of Toronto politicians, that spotlight is public displeasure with their latest stupid decision.

As I wrote yesterday, gold-medal sport shooters Chris Baldwin, 18, and Sabrina Sergeant, 17, were told they were not welcome as Ambassadors to promote the World Record Camp Games.

Outrage was fast and furious once Tony Bernardo of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) made this asinine decision public.  Faced with intense public outrage, the cockroaches at Toronto City Hall did what they always do… they ran cowering for cover, but not before reversing their decision.

City of Toronto spokeswoman Deborah Blackstone said that Chris Baldwin and Sabrina Sergeant have now been “re-invited” to attend the ceremony for the World Record Camp Games, intended to promote the 2012 Ontario Summer Games to be held in Toronto Aug. 16-19.

“Given the recent events in the city, city staff made a decision not to have the athlete ambassadors representing sport shooting participate in the on-stage welcoming ceremony component of the World Record Camp Games due to the very young audience expected to participate in the event,” Deborah Blackstone wrote in an e-mail Monday.

“Upon further reflection, and discussion with the Games organizing committee, the City of Toronto regrets the decision that was communicated to the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.”

Really.

So was it the decision to slap these two medal-winning athletes in the face what these cockroaches regretted?  Or was it merely that they regretted communicating that decision to Tony Bernardo and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association?

I suspect it’s the latter, not the former.  I imagine the idiots that made this decision thought they could get away with it by announcing it in a weekend email.

They thought wrong.

I want to congratulate Tony Bernardo and the entire CSSA organization for responding so quickly and so effectively to this assault on two young athletes whose only “crime”, if it can be called that, is their decision to participate in the shooting sports.

Politicians must comprehend that lawful shooting enthusiasts like Chris Baldwin and Sabrina Sergeant have nothing to do with criminals who shoot people in shopping malls and at block parties.

The reversal of this decision notwithstanding, both Chris Baldwin and Sabrina Sergeant have a very nasty taste in their mouths, as do their coaches and supporters.

Why?

Because some morons cowering somewhere in the bowels of the Toronto City Hall office tower can’t comprehend that law-abiding shooting enthusiasts are some of the most decent and respectful people this nation has.

Can you imagine the outcry from the mainstream media if these same cowards had told a black athlete that she cannot attend a publicity event because some black gang-banger shot someone?  Of course not.  It’s absurd.

Discrimination in Toronto is only okay when it doesn’t actually use race as the discriminating factor, such as the case with these two young athletes.

Discriminating against Chris Baldwin and Sabrina Sergeant was deemed permissible because those two athletes dared choose a sport that uses firearms.

That is disgraceful to both of these young athletes and to all law-abiding Canadian firearm owners.