Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 19:01:35 -0600 Message-Id: <200001200101.TAA06501@broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca> X-Authentication-Warning: broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca: majordomo set sender to owner-cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca using -f From: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V3 #257 Reply-To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Sender: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Errors-To: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Precedence: normal Cdn-Firearms Digest Wednesday, January 19 2000 Volume 03 : Number 257 In this issue: [none] Re: NFA RED WARNING - not anymore Volley of shots was fired from automatic weapons Gun ownership down, gun crime up GUN LOVERS URGED TO BECOME POLITICAL Is There a Connection between Shootings and Antidepressants? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 18:55:59 -0600 From: lundgark@telusplanet.net Subject: [none] At 07:25 PM 18/01/2000 -0600, you wrote: >For those of you that want to renew your permit to transport restricted >weapons and grandfathered prohibited weapons, you have to fill out an >application form and send it to your Provincial Firearms Officer. >This year it seems you can apply to have the permit valid for 3 years. >The form is available for download in Adobe Acrobat format from the >Federal Firearms Web Page. The following address takes you right to the >forms download page. > >http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/forms_assistance/Forms/forms_avail_en.html Yes, you can apply for a three year permit. In Alberta it won't be issued. Also some permits being issued in Alberta do not seem to cover registered restricted rifles, nor do they cover borrowed restricted firearms. Nor do the permits seem to be consistant in their wording and what is allowed... The kind folks at the CFC informed me how to fill out my application for an ATT and assured me there was no reason not to issue a three year ATT. The ATT issued to me expires as of November 30/2000 even though I applied for the three year maximum and my F.A.C. is valid for that period of time. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 18:57:41 -0600 From: Andy Krywonizka Subject: Re: NFA RED WARNING - not anymore Dave Tomlinson did knowingly scribble: >DANGER. Telling the verifier ANYTHING makes YOU subject to 5 years in >prison, because under FA s. 106 and 109, it is an offence if a person >"knowingly makes a statement, orally or in writing, that is false or >misleading" in the process of applying for a registration certificate. Dave, recently I received a letter to verify the Browning 9mm I purchased had the same specs as what was listed on the sheet, that being barrel length, caliber, serial number, etc. Sending this back, signed and dated, would then get me my registration certificate. At the bottom of the sheet was the warning: "It is an offence to knowingly make a false or misleading statement, either orally or in writing..." They've caught on. Andy K. ------------------------------ Date: 2000.01.19 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Volley of shots was fired from automatic weapons gunfire during an ambush Sunday. His employee, Niv Erez, was killed on the spot. Sender: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Precedence: normal Reply-To: cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Jewel thieves 'had their guns out'; Assailants crashed through ceiling in ambush, police say The gunmen who killed a jewelry store worker and seriously wounded the owner both fired their weapons after confronting the men inside the store, police sources say. The assailants peeled back a metal covering beside the rooftop ventilation unit and smashed through the tiles of a drop ceiling to ambush the men inside M. Lash Enterprise Ltd., a jewelry store in the Highway 7 and 404 area. York Region police yesterday identified the dead man as Niv Erez, 23, of Thornhill. They said he died almost instantly Sunday night when a volley of shots was fired from automatic weapons. Store owner Mark Lash, 36, was shot in the stomach and was admitted to Sunnybrook hospital after emergency surgery. He was upgraded to fair condition late last night. Investigators issued a public appeal for help to identify the two men who entered the store. One is white, about 6 feet tall, in his mid-30s, with a thin face and build. He has blond hair and a light moustache. There is no good description of the other man, but both are armed and should be considered extremely dangerous, said Sergeant John Sheldon. Investigation by a team of forensic, homicide and hold-up squad officers, led by Detective Richard McVeity of York's homicide squad, has determined that the attackers scaled a ladder to reach the roof of the commercial complex on East Beaver Creek Rd. and East Pearce St. The men made their way from Unit 7, occupied by Top Point Productions Ltd., to Unit 18, which houses the business Lash has operated for 12 years. After peeling back the sheet-metal covering, the assailants waited for Lash to arrive. Shortly before midnight, Lash and Erez arrived to transfer a large quantity of diamonds, gold and other jewelry to a building two blocks away, where the business was relocating. Seconds after they disengaged the store's burglar alarm, the gunmen smashed through the ceiling tiles. They entered near the rear of the store, beside an office and a back-door entrance leading to a caged area where customers ordinarily must wait until they are buzzed in by staff. "There was a violent confrontation inside the store," Sheldon said. "The attack took place shortly after they entered the store." Police said Lash and Erez had no chance to escape. "They were right on top of them," said one investigator who is familiar with the case. "They had their guns out." The assailants demanded access to the safe and began firing after screaming out threats, a police source said. Sheldon said several shots were fired, but wouldn't indicate how many times the victims were hit. "To our knowledge, the two parties - the suspects and the victims - are not known to each other," he said. Although Lash told police two men were inside the store, police said additional people may be involved. "We don't want to limit the number of suspects," Sheldon said. He said police have not been able to properly interview Lash, who is being guarded by officers in the hospital. "After he recovers to a certain degree, we'll be able to have our investigators speak to him more thoroughly," he said. Sheldon said forensic detectives expect to be at the store collecting evidence for three to four days. He said the value of property that may have been stolen during the robbery won't be known for a few days. Several hundred people attended a funeral service yesterday for Erez at the Steeles Memorial Chapel on Steeles Ave. W., from which media were barred. More than 150 vehicles later followed the hearse to the Pardes Shalom Cemetery, where mourners gathered at a hilltop gravesite. Dozens of cars lined the street surrounding the family home on Arnold Ave. as the family sat shiva. "The family have requested privacy," Sheldon said. "There will be no statements from the family." He said police are eager to speak with anyone who was in the vicinity of the mall Sunday evening. Individuals with information may call investigators at (905) 881-1221, ext. 7865, or respond anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (416) 222-8477. There are several security cameras in the store, but Sheldon could not confirm if police have videotape images of the suspects. Sheldon did indicate police were working to identify all vehicles parked at the plaza when the shooting occurred, and said police have "extracted" some evidence and information from a green Land Rover believed to have been driven by the attackers. The vehicle, owned by Erez, was found a few kilometres from the store about 10 hours after the slaying. Lash's wife Dalia, who is three months pregnant, has spent a great deal of time at the hospital with her husband since the shooting. The couple has two children, a 7-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl, said an uncle, Percy Lash. "Mark started off with a little jewelry, and he worked himself up like the way he is now," he said. "He's very dedicated and hardworking. He loves his kids, his family." Percy Lash said Mark's father does not want to talk to the media. "We're all very concerned about Mark's condition, and we need some time to cope with it." Dino DiMonte, who operates a real estate business a few doors from the jewelry store, said Lash was "a very nice, meticulous young entrepreneur. "He operates a very respectable and high-profile business," DiMonte said. He said Lash had planned to move six months ago to his new premises on Leslie St. at East Pearce St., a little more than a block from the present store, but was prevented by construction delays. He recently learned the unit would be ready this month and set Jan. 22 for the grand opening. "He was looking forward to moving into the new operation," DiMonte said. With files from Leslie Ferenc and Nicholas Keung ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 18:58:42 -0600 From: "Gunter, Lorne (EDM_EXCHANGE)" Subject: Gun ownership down, gun crime up to appear in the Edmonton Journal Thursday 20 January 2000 Through the summer of 1997, the owners of large-calibre handguns in Britain were forced to surrender their guns to the government. During February of 1998, owners of small-calibre handguns were compelled to do the same. The day before this "hand-in" concluded, junior Home Office Minister Alan Michael preened that Britain was now free of civilian handguns. "I believe (the hand-in) has put a firm brake on the development of a dangerous gun culture in the UK." Of course, it had done nothing of the sort. The truly dangerous gun culture in the UK - the criminal gun culture - wasn't affected a whit. Michael primped that "a total ban reduces (the) risk...(of) legally held handguns falling into the wrong hands." While perhaps true in some completely theoretical, other-worldly sense, this is entirely irrelevant. What matters to public safety is that no drug dealer, no mob enforcer, not even a single armed robber was denied a gun by the hand-in. The confiscation may have prevented criminals from stealing the tools of their trade, but it hardly made it impossible for them to acquire guns. Last Sunday, the Times of London revealed just how available guns are to criminals. "Up to 3 million illegal guns are in circulation in Britain," the Times reported, which has led to a startling rise "in drive-by shootings and gangland-style executions," as well as more mundane gun crimes such as corner store hold-ups and muggings. In the first year after the surrender of civilian handguns, armed crime in Britain rose 10 per cent. It went up, not down. And just as important, its composition is changing. Where as in the early 1990s, one-third of gun murders in Britain were committed with handguns, now nearly two-thirds are. (There has been a similar change in Canada, too. Handguns were used until recently in about one-third of murders, but are now used in nearly 60 per cent.) A buy-back of firearms in Australia the same year had the same effect as Britain's hand-in: Gun crimes soared in the 12 months that followed, including in categories of crime that had been declining for two decades. The most drastic gun control possible - outright confiscation - could not reduce crime or improve public safety, as its advocates had promised, because, as gun owners had predicted, criminals refused to participate in it. Indeed, the controls might even have emboldened criminals to commit more crimes. Why not? If they could count on their victims being unarmed, the risk inherent in their "work" went down while the potential rewards went up. Has any of this deterred Britain's anti-gun politicians or special interest groups? Of course not. There was never any logic in their arguments, just a black mix of snobbery, ignorance, emotion, fear and irrationality. So they certainly are not going to be deflected by a few inconvenient facts - or a few thousand. Britain's anti-gun activists are now claiming the confiscation was never about reducing crime. In the Times piece on Sunday, unnamed Home Office officials insisted the hand-in was always only about but making Britain's homes safer and keeping stolen handguns from making their way onto the streets. Despite reams of newsprint full of earlier assurances from them that the hand-in would significantly reduce murder, assault, robbery, and so on, the anti-gunners in and outside the British government, like some minor functionaries at Orwell's Ministry of Truth, have wiped clean their memories of any such statements. The same is happening in Canada. As the cost of a national registry of all firearms has cycloned out of sight, and as registration has fallen further and further behind, the Liberal government has talked less and less about reducing crime, more and more about creating "a culture of safety." If total confiscation of firearms cannot cut crime, what possible use will a registry be? Even the one "fact" the Liberals cling to to prove their registry's worth turns out to be, shall we say, less than the full picture. For months now, the Liberals have boasted that their registry has in one year refused more firearms licenses than the pre-registry licensing system did in previous five years. It's simply not so. Robert Paddon of the BC Wildlife Federation recently scoured the five RCMP annual firearms reports for the period involved, and found 2,326 licenses had been refused then versus the 578 the Liberals claim to have rejected in 1999. Moreover, not only had more licenses been rejected, they had been rejected at a rate almost three times higher than under the current registry; eight out of every 1,000 versus just three out of 1,000 under the new registry. If, as the Liberals insist, license rejections make Canada safer, then their registry is making the country less safe, not more. ____________________ Lorne Gunter, Columnist The Edmonton Journal P.O. Box 2421 Edmonton AB CANADA T5J 2S6 off tele: (780) 429-5267 fax: (780) 429-5500 (requires a cover page) cell: (780) 916-0719 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 18:55:00 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: GUN LOVERS URGED TO BECOME POLITICAL PUBLICATION: The London Free Press DATE: 2000.01.19 SECTION: News PAGE: A9 BYLINE: KNIGHT RIDDER DATELINE: LAS VEGAS, NEV. GUN LOVERS URGED TO BECOME POLITICAL The weight of 19 lawsuits brought by 29 cities and counties has not demoralized a gun industry that offered tough talk this week against the movement to make it pay for gun violence. Rather than give in to the pressure, gunmakers and dealers -- making up most of the 30,000 people who flooded the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Las Vegas for one of the industry's largest trade shows -- are digging in for a fight. Among the hot topics at the 22nd annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show: - - The raising of money to help companies defend against the crush of litigation. - - The forming of a political action committee to contribute to the campaigns of candidates for president and Congress who oppose gun-control measures. - - Most important, the message to gunmakers, dealers and enthusiasts was to get political, a tactic that has worked well for other organizations, such as the National Rifle Association. "This upcoming election will impact our industry, and we must have an impact on this election," Robert Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Newtown, Conn., organizer of the show, told members in a fiery speech this week. Many who attended the show said the lawsuits helped them resolve to vote in November. And many said those votes would likely be for pro-gun Republican candidates. Delfay harshly admonished the Bill Clinton White House for its recent announcement that the Department of Housing and Urban Development might file its own lawsuit against the gun industry. "We will not allow the most anti-gun administration in history to bully us into an agreement that will impact our customers' right to own and use firearms, or your right to conduct your business responsibly," Delfay said. "The next president could appoint up to five Supreme Court justices who could decide the future of our Second Amendment," he said. "A Democratic House and Senate would blaze through a series of gun-control measures that have been stymied to date. "Now historically, we have not been politically active as an industry," he said. "That must change, and it will change with these upcoming elections." Guest speaker Alan Simpson, the former Republican senator from Wyoming, also volleyed harsh words at the White House and its threatened HUD lawsuit and urged members to "get in, get wet" in the political arena. "You can get yourself a new president. When you get a new president, you get a new HUD," Simpson said. Responded Sarah Gegenheimer, a White House spokesperson, yesterday: "The Clinton administration is working on all fronts to keep guns out of the wrong hands and help make our communities safer. This isn't about politics. It's about saving lives." Organizers used the show to announce the formation of a NSSF political action committee to give financial support to pro-gun candidates. The group also formed a fund to help pay legal defence costs and other pro-gun projects. The group also said it had moved for dismissal of 17 of the lawsuits and that three dismissal requests would come before a judge in the next few weeks, including Detroit's on Feb. 10. NSSF members said they were confident they would prevail after judges threw out three lawsuits -- Cincinnati, Bridgeport, Conn., and Miami-Dade County. The plaintiffs are appealing those cases. Videos at the show featured the newest firearms, alongside rows of pistols, rifles, camouflage clothing, books, locks, covers, cases, safes, knives, birdcalls and backpacks. Dealers attending said they blamed the media for misinforming the public about their business. Dealers and gun manufacturers are law-abiding, not criminals, they said. Yet many said they feel the media have been unduly harsh since late 1998, when New Orleans became the first jurisdiction to file a lawsuit. Detroit and Wayne County are each seeking $400 million in damages from several gun manufacturers and dealers. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 18:56:32 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Is There a Connection between Shootings and Antidepressants? PUBLICATION: ALTERNATIVES For the Health Conscious Individual DATE: November 1999 - Volume 8, No. 5 AUTHOR: Dr. David G. Williams TITLE: The Health Costs of Hypothyroidism Mountain Home Publishing P.O. Box 829, Ingram, Texas 78025 ISSN # 0893-5025 USPS# 0002-969 Depression and Mental Confusion. While a precious few medical professionals will admit it, many of today's common social problems can be traced back to widespread hypothyroidism. Not only does hypothyroidism escape notice in these cases, but the drugs currently being used to treat its symptoms are making matters infinitely worse. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the treatment of depression. In the last 20 years, we've seen a phenomenal increase in the incidence of depression, one of the most common side effects of hypothyroidism. We've also seen a corresponding increase in the use of prescription antidepressants (e.g., Prozac, Paxil, Luvox, Zoloft, Serzone). These drugs are designed to alter brain chemistry, which can trigger outbursts of violence toward oneself or others. Not surprisingly, we've seen a significant increase in suicide and violence during this same period of time. I've written at length about the dangers of these drugs in previous issues. If you still doubt the extent of the problem, I would suggest that you get a new book by Dr. Ann Tracy. It's called Prozac: Panacea or Pandora?, and it takes the discussion of prescription antidepressants to a new level. (The book is available from Cassia Publications at 800-280-0730. Mention that you're an ALTERNATIVES reader and Cassia will drop the shipping and handling charges.) Dr. Tracy has been looking into the connection between the use of prescription medications and the wave of seemingly unexplainable violence we've been seeing over the last few years. She's discovered that many of the shooting incidents we see on the news are initiated by people taking these drugs. She's linked dozens of cases, like those of Mr. and Mrs. Phil Hartman, the school shootings in Littleton, Colorado and Atlanta, Georgia, and dozens of others, with the use of prescription antidepressants. The complete list will astound you, but for anyone who has experienced the severe depression and mental confusion associated with these drugs, I'm sure her findings will come as no surprise. It's easy to blame gun owners or manufacturers for these problems, but guns have been around for a long time and the type of violence we're seeing now is unlike anything we've seen in the past. We need to look beyond the symptoms of the problem to see what is causing this dramatic change in behavior. When we do, we'll see an alarming fact: The increase in the misguided use of antidepressant drugs to combat the symptoms of hypothyroidism has paralleled an alarming increase in violent behavior. The public could easily accept this fact if we were talking about illegal drugs. But government-approved, legally prescribed drugs are a totally different situation. No one contributes more campaign money or has more political influence than the pharmaceutical industry, and you can bet that the drug companies don't want this information going public. They know the problems these drugs can cause, but the profits these medications produce obviously overshadow any inclination to take them off the market. (Their actions remind me of what the cigarette industry has been doing for years.) It's much easier for the pharmaceutical companies to hide in the bushes, count their money, and point the finger at the gun industry. A far safer solution to many of the problems now being treated by antidepressant drugs is to balance the body chemistry naturally. The logical starting point is to check for and treat hypothyroidism. After doing so, most individuals find that the "fog" they've been living in seems to clear away. They also find that they have more energy and less fatigue. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V3 #257 **********************************