From: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca on behalf of Cdn-Firearms Digest [owner-cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca] Sent: Tuesday, 15 May, 2001 12:45 To: cdn-firearms-digest@broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V3 #765 Cdn-Firearms Digest Tuesday, May 15 2001 Volume 03 : Number 765 In this issue: Letter: Excuses from firearms registry far off target test BC Pellet-gun spree COP SHOOTS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF IGA SHOPPERS Letter: Law doesn't separate criminals from guns Alliance proposed to split Liberal Omnibus Bill C-15 Re: ECONOMIC COST OF THE GUN REGISTRY? Bush vows crackdown on gun crimes, violence U.S. buyer holsters Smith & Wesson ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:44:53 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Letter: Excuses from firearms registry far off target PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal DATE: 2001.05.15 EDITION: FINAL SECTION: Letters PAGE: A15 BYLINE: Peter Kearns - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Excuses from firearms registry far off target - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Are the new laws working? I suggest they may not be. On Oct.26 I purchased a target pistol from a local store. We went through the registration system, and I was assured that everything proceeded normally. That was seven months ago! The law says I can't possess a firearm without ``holding'' a registration, and that is my problem. They haven't sent me one, and my target pistol is still languishing at the retailer where I bought it. I called every two weeks, and each time was treated to outright lies. ``We already mailed it!'' (Three times.) ``It will be printed and sent to you next week!'' (Four times.) The best were the three different supervisors who didn't know my name, didn't know the firearm serial number, but blithely stated, ``All the backlogged registrations are being sent out within the next two weeks, and I have checked that yours is among them.'' I hear the system will be privatized soon. Perhaps the private sector may be able to provide truthful and trained people to replace the current clerks. Peter Kearns, Fort Saskatchewan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:44:59 -0600 From: "Gordon Hitchen" Subject: test I am hearing of people getting mail back as undeliverable to this address. Gordon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:35:23 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: BC Pellet-gun spree PUBLICATION: The Province DATE: 2001.05.15 EDITION: FINAL C SECTION: News PAGE: A4 COLUMN: B.C. News SOURCE: The Province - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Pellet-gun spree - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Three Vancouver teens face charges after numerous people called police to say they had been hit during a drive-around shooting spree with a pellet Sunday. Complaints spanned a seven-hour period. They came from pedestrians who said they had been hit in the downtown, Stanley Park and southwest Vancouver. The youths were in a vehicle with a pellet when stopped by police at the University of B.C. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:35:15 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: COP SHOOTS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF IGA SHOPPERS PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2001.05.15 SECTION: News PAGE: 7 SOURCE: Edmonton Sun BYLINE: Nicole Bergot KEYWORDS: Suicide; Alberta ILLUSTRATION: 1. photo by Jack Dagley, Edmonton Sun A distraught woman talks with police yesterday outside the home of a suspended cop who later killed himself outside a supermarket. 2. photo by Robert Taylor, Edmonton Sun RCMP investigators examine the scene of a suicide in front of the Garden Market IGA in Station Square on 99 Avenue in Fort Saskatchewan. The body is under the yellow tarp. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- COP SHOOTS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF IGA SHOPPERS - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- A suspended city cop shot himself once in the head in front of horrified shoppers and three city tactical unit members outside the Fort Saskatchewan IGA shortly after 8 p.m. last night. It was a bloody end to a lengthy police standoff that started with the discovery of a suicide note yesterday in the home of Const. Gregory Donald Seath, 42, a veteran city cop serving a conditional sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice. The trail led to Fort Saskatchewan, where police found Seath in the supermarket parking lot with a gun in his hand. "Three tactical members pulled up in a van to confront him, saw he was holding a handgun at his side," said city police spokesman Wes Bellmore. "He refused a number of demands to put the weapon down and then just sat down on the curb and took his own life." An eyewitness reported city police Chief Bob Wasylyshen was on the scene in Fort Saskatchewan last night, but made no comment to press. The incident began more than six hours earlier after Seath's son found a suicide note at his dad's home near 162 Avenue and 59A Street in Edmonton and called the cops. "He's known to be antagonistic towards police and because of the history, we sent the troops," said Bellmore. Over 25 police cars, tactical team members including snipers in army fatigues and camouflage, patrol officers, and police dogs descended on the home. Community police stations across the city were also alerted that the despondent man might be on the street and possibly armed. After attempts to contact anyone inside the home failed, officers hurled flash-bang devices inside about 4 p.m. as Seath's tearful wife and other family members watched from the street. Tactical members then finally stormed the home and found it empty. An RCMP helicopter, meanwhile, scanned a wooded area behind the house as well as the city of Fort Saskatchewan after several reported sightings there. The 41-year-old Seath, a city police officer for almost 20 years, was handed an 18-month conditional sentence Jan. 10 to be served in the community. The judge ruled the sentence was appropriate because Seath's police career was in jeopardy and his life could have been in danger if he were sent to jail. Seath - suspended without pay and facing an internal disciplinary hearing - was ordered to follow a daily 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, do 240 hours of community service in the first year of his sentence and abstain from alcohol. EPS seized his police issue handgun but the courts allowed him to keep a large stock of weapons - some 15 long-barrelled and two handguns - which officers seized from the north-side home about 5 p.m. yesterday. Seath was charged after swearing a false affidavit in 1996 about a confrontation with his wife's former husband. But he was secretly taped and later denied details of the acrimonious conversation about custody and visitation rights. Blaine Henkelman, 38, the ex-husband of Seath's wife and the person who taped the conversation, was upset with the sentence. On the tape, which was played in court, Seath tells Henkelman that if he ever bothered him again, he'd make Henkelman's life a misery. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:35:50 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Letter: Law doesn't separate criminals from guns PUBLICATION: The Whitehorse Star DATE: 2001.05.14 SECTION: Opinion PAGE: 6 COLUMN: Letters to the editor - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Law doesn't separate criminals from guns - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Let me take exception to David Austin's letter of May 5 in which he states that Whitehorse resident Doug Lorenzen's letter was misleading with regard to the Canadian Firearms Program. Austin states that the licensing and registration requirements work together to improve public safety. There is no valid proof of this statement. If anything, other countries with similar legislation experience more crime, ie. Britain and Australia. As for ensuring that firearms users are conscious of public safety, firearms safety courses have been teaching this long before Bill -<68> came along to waste over half a billion and growing dollars on making our country safer for criminals. Is Mr. Austin insinuating that our provincial and territorial governments were not interested in public safety? Austin states that registration will make people store their firearms properly. A simple fine would accomplish this goal far better and cheaper for the taxpayer. With over 160,000 motor vehicles stolen each year in this country, one would have to be naive indeed to believe registration will reduce theft. Registration links owners to their firearms. So what? Criminals don't register, and if stolen, the recovery rate historically has been about nine per cent (RCMP report on firearms)or about 300 of 3,000 guns stolen annually. Cheaper for the taxpayer to buy the owner whose firearm/s were stolen, new firearms, even at $1,000 each. That would only be $3 million per year as opposed to the Firearm Centre's cost to us of at least $100 million per year so far. Give the police officers of this country a choice of an additional $60 million per year for other policing initiatives to fight real criminals or a registry which cannot be shown in the case of handguns to having saved a single life since 1934, guess what they would choose? Better still, what should the voter chose? The vast majority of firearms homicides in this country are committed using illegally-owned handguns and other restricted or prohibited firearms (requiring registration) and not the long guns of the ordinary citizen. It is patently clear that registration does nothing to prevent crime and never will. To even contemplate spending hundreds of millions more on another failure reflects a very incompetent government indeed. Austin suggests that the gun lobbyists are wrong saying there are between six and seven million firearms owners in this country. Yet we are to believe this government's figure of 2.3 million, based on a so-called new survey. And of course this one is right; all those earlier taxpayer-funded surveys by this same department are now wrong. The truth is out there, but it sure won't be found in this latest survey, given the fact that the feds' own firearms training manual specifically states that for their own protection, firearms owners are not to tell strangers they own firearms. Talk about misleading. How about that statement by Austin that over 3,000 firearms licences have been refused or revoked, or 26 times more than the five years prior to the feds' firearms program? The RCMP reported 340 licences had been revoked or refused in 1994 out of only 47,000 applications; not the 1.5 million or more that Austin conveniently forgets to mention. If our police and provincial governments had been given the opportunity to process 750,000 applications per year for two years, as is the case with the so-called firearms centre, they would have refused or revoked in the order of 10,000-11,000 licences, not the 3,000 Austin brags about, many of which were revoked or refused in error. Seems federal ineptness has made Canada less safe than it ever was, and assures that future victims will indeed remain to be victims. How can it be otherwise when you have legislation that is, by focus, criminal-friendly? Keeping firearms out of the hands of those who should not have them? There is nothing in Bill -<68> that keeps guns out of the hands of criminals; only out of the hands of the law-abiding. George Penfold Ottawa ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:35:43 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Alliance proposed to split Liberal Omnibus Bill C-15 PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal DATE: 2001.05.15 EDITION: FINAL SECTION: Canada PAGE: E12 BYLINE: Nahlah Ayed SOURCE: CP DATELINE: Ottawa - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Toughen laws for online child porn -- opposition: New crime bill not a priority, say Liberals - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- The government House leader says he's unconcerned about Opposition demands for changes to a bill that fights Internet child abusers because the legislation isn't a priority right now. The omnibus bill would impose tough prison sentences for cyberstalkers who lure children and access child pornography through the Internet. It would also introduce an offence for those guilty of disarming a police officer and double the maximum sentence for stalking. Opposition House leaders want the government to break up the mammoth bill so that controversial sections can be considered separately and uncontentious parts can pass quickly. Some have suggested they'll consider disrupting the Commons if Boudria doesn't agree. But Boudria said Monday it doesn't matter what they plan because the bill is not at the top of his list. Boudria, whose job is to shepherd legislation through the system, added the opposition can't filibuster if he decides not to bring the bill to the Commons for debate. ``It's not a priority bill, so I don't know what difference it makes,'' he said outside the Commons. Opposition members bristled at Boudria's comments. They say Liberals shouldn't ignore an opportunity to pass crucial parts, such as those concerning children. ``These are important things,'' said Canadian Alliance justice critic Vic Toews. ``If Mr. Boudria doesn't think they're important, at least ask him to consider what Canadians think is important.'' The Alliance is proposing the legislation be divided into three parts: one dealing with tougher offences for animal cruelty, a second for proposed changes to the Act, and a third for the remaining provisions. Opposition House leaders agree that elements relating to Internet abuse of children and disarming a police officer could pass very quickly if considered separately. ``There are things in there which I think we could pass without delay,'' said New Democrat House leader Bill Blaikie. ``If (opposition) think the government is doing the wrong thing...in some area, they shouldn't be forced into looking like they're voting against penalties for luring children on the Internet.'' Tory House leader MacKay said a filibuster may be an option if the government resists. ``There's always strategic ways that you can make life difficult for the government. We don't have to go down that road, yet. We're still talking about it in good faith.'' Boudria said McLellan should be the one to answer questions about the proposal. McLellan wasn't in the Commons on Monday. But a spokesperson noted this isn't the first time Parliament has faced an omnibus bill. Farah Mohamed also noted that some elements of the bill had already been debated before they died on the order paper after the fall election call. ``These are important changes...and the bill should be treated as such rather than as a political football.'' The bill, introduced in March, would also force judges to consider home invasion as an aggravating circumstance when sentencing for break and enter. It would also give the Justice minister new investigative powers to look into wrongful convictions, and introduce several changes to trial procedures. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:45:12 -0600 From: "Paul Chicoine" <701506@ican.net> Subject: Re: ECONOMIC COST OF THE GUN REGISTRY? Its bad enough the government is not telling the truth or anything else about the economic impact of the gun laws but this is only one part of an ongoing story. The story of how the anti-gunning, anti-hunting attitude has come to pervade the government and its marketing efforts. I spent some time investigating the travel Canada web site: http://www.travelcanada.ca/travelcanada/index.cfm The recent announcement of some $200M for the Internet looks like little will be invested in the now politically incorrect pursuit of hunting. An examination of the travel Canada site reveals NO information for hunting opportunities in Canada, unless you want to "view wildlife " only. There are a few links for fishing. If operators of fishing outfitting operations feel they can take a sigh of relief, it could be a short one. There is already taking shape a foundation that would see the end of sport fishing because of its "cruelty". The late Linda McCartney was a spokeswoman for this cause. if you think it has gone away because Mrs. McCartney has passed on, don't count on it. also I would like to offer my thanks to the Hon. Garry Breitkreuz and his most able assistant Mr. Dennis Young for the information regarding denied ATI request along with an endless list of critical information from their office. Simply stated one could not have a better team working in Ottawa on our behalf. __________ Paul Chicoine (DSS) 0x3B0DB246 *Illegitimi non Carborundum* Non Assumsit Contract, All Rights Reserved, Without Prejudice ________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:35:30 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Bush vows crackdown on gun crimes, violence PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2001.05.15 SECTION: NEWS PAGE: A12 SOURCE: REUTERS NEWS AGENCY BYLINE: Patricia Wilson DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Bush vows crackdown on gun crimes, violence; Plans to hire scores of new attorneys to prosecute offences - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Wading into the contentious issue of guns in America, President George W. Bush announced a plan yesterday to hire scores of new federal, state and local attorneys to boost prosecution of gun crimes. The program, called Project Safe Neighbourhoods, would cost more than $550 million (U.S.) over two years. A portion of the money has already been budgeted, while some would have to be approved by Congress. "We're going to reduce gun violence in America, and those who commit crimes with guns will find a determined adversary in my administration," Bush said in making the announcement in Philadelphia to an audience made up largely of police officers and associations. The program would carry through on a Bush campaign pledge to enforce existing gun laws, the typical Republican answer to appeals from Democrats for more gun control. "We think this is a good first step, but prosecution alone will not make our communities safer from gun violence," said Michael Barnes, president of Handgun Control. "Punishment after the fact is no panacea for gun crimes." Bush blasted then-president Bill Clinton last year for failing to enforce current gun laws and said there had been a 46 per cent decline in prosecutions under his administration. Former Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart disputed the figure, saying prosecutions were up 16 per cent over his eight years in office. He said Clinton had proposed $280 million to hire 1,000 new prosecutors but Republicans cut the money out of the budget. As Bush made his visit, an anti-gun group called Americans for Gun Safety ran a 60-second radio ad attacking him for not doing more to require background checks at gun shows. "No one may buy a gun at a Pennsylvania gun show without a background check," the ad said. "But felons in 32 states can get guns at gun shows with no questions asked and resell them on the street." Bush supports requiring gun dealers to conduct instant background checks at gun shows but opposes the extended check of up to three days allowed under the Brady handgun law. Nineteen senators introduced a bill last month to plug the so-called gun-show loophole. A similar version died in Congress last year. Under details of the plan announced by Bush and Attorney-General John Ashcroft, the program will include the hiring of 113 new federal prosecutors at a cost of $15.3 million to work full time on gun cases. And $44 million would go to improve state criminal record keeping, and another $28.8 million would expand and integrate federal computerized ballistic testing. Another $19.1 million would expand a program by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and aimed at preventing youths from obtaining guns. The program is based on Project Exile, which originated in 1997 and is supported by the National Rifle Association, one of the most powerful lobbies in the United States and a major contributor to Republican candidates. 'Those who commit crimes with guns will find a determined adversary . . .' ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:35:36 -0600 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: U.S. buyer holsters Smith & Wesson PUBLICATION GLOBE AND MAIL DATE: TUE MAY.15,2001 PAGE: B13 BYLINE: STEVE JAMES CLASS: Report on Business S EDITION: Metro DATELINE: New York NY WORDS: 431 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- U.S. buyer holsters Smith & Wesson Saf-T-Hammer acquires storied gun maker - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- STEVE JAMES Reuters News Agency, with files from Associated Press NEW YORK Gun maker Smith & Wesson Corp. , a U.S. institution that dates from the days of the Wild West, came back home yesterday after being in British hands for 14 years. Saf-T-Hammer Corp. , a maker of safety locks and other equipment for , has acquired Smith & Wesson from Britain's Tomkins PLC for $15-million (U.S.). The price is a fraction of the $112-million Tomkins, an engineering conglomerate, paid in 1987 for Smith & Wesson -- a name that has come to symbolize the gun culture in America. Observers linked the relatively low purchase price for Springfield, Mass.-based Smith & Wesson to lawsuits filed by communities seeking costs from crimes committed with guns. Since 1998, more than 30 U.S. cities and counties have sued gun makers for millions of dollars, said Dennis Henigan, legal director of the anti-gun Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. Under the agreement, Saf-T-Hammer assumes liability for the numerous lawsuits filed against Smith & Wesson. "That is reflected in the price," said Michael Blogg, an analyst at the London brokerage Charterhouse Securities. Last year, in an attempt to extricate itself from pending liability suits, Smith & Wesson signed an agreement with the Clinton administration to install safety locks on all its guns and adopt other safety features and marketing changes. Gun rights supporters accused Smith & Wesson of selling out. Some vowed to boycott the company. Smith & Wesson's sales were cut roughly in half, according to Ken Jorgensen, a spokesman for the gun maker. Saf-T-Hammer's stock fell 25 cents, or about 17.9 per cent, to close at $1.15 on the electronic bulletin board yesterday. Tomkins rose 73 cents to $10.89 on the New York Stock Exchange. Smith & Wesson was formed in 1852 by Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson, who developed a revolutionary pistol that could be fired as rapidly as the lever that loaded the chamber and cocked the hammer could be manipulated. Saf-T-Hammer said it would incorporate its safety features in Smith & Wesson , which include the famous .357 Magnum and the .44 Magnum wielded by actor Clint Eastwood in his Dirty Harry movies. Bob Scott, president of Saf-T-Hammer and former vice-president of Smith & Wesson, said the company planned to increase Smith & Wesson revenue through expanded branding and strategic acquisitions. "Smith & Wesson, a brand name for 147 years, would be at the top of any list of immediately identifiable corporate logos recognized worldwide," he said. Tomkins PLC ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V3 #765 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:acardin33@home.com List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca FAQ list: http://www.magma.ca/~asd/cfd-faq1.html and http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/homepage.html FTP Site: ftp://teapot.usask.ca/pub/cdn-firearms/ CFDigest Archives: http://www.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca/~ab133/ or put the next command in an e-mail message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca get cdn-firearms-digest v03.n198 end (198 is the digest issue number and 03 is the volume) To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next five lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-alert unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".) 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