From: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #60 Reply-To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Sender: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Errors-To: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Precedence: normal Cdn-Firearms Digest Thursday, April 8 2004 Volume 07 : Number 060 In this issue: 'RURAL REVOLUTION' HEADED FOR DOWNTOWN OTTAWA Taser guns stolen GUN PANEL MEETS WEAPONS IN CLASS NOT HUGE PROBLEM Cambodian art students turn weapons into messages - of pea COPS TARGET CRIPS, RECOVER CRACK, MACHINEGUN M-1 RIFLE STOLEN IN CITY Column: Lead disappearing from anglers' tackle box ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:26:02 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: 'RURAL REVOLUTION' HEADED FOR DOWNTOWN OTTAWA PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Sun DATE: 2004.04.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 10 ILLUSTRATION: photo by Jean Brasseur LANARK LANDOWNERS Association president Randy Hillier speaks at a recent information picket. The rural rights' group will be protesting on Parliament Hill today. BYLINE: TOM VAN DUSEN, OTTAWA SUN DATELINE: CARLETON PLACE COLUMN: The Valley - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROTEST HITS ROAD 'RURAL REVOLUTION' HEADED FOR STREETS OF DOWNTOWN OTTAWA - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dubbed the "rural revolution" by its chief instigator, a property owners protest movement with a bucketful of grievances has tapped into a feeling of alienation out in farm country and is running hard with it. After three warm-up editions just beyond the fringe, the revolution hits the streets of downtown Ottawa today, with lead organizer Randy Hillier promising busloads of protesters, hundreds of tractors and other farm machinery, and an assortment of horn-blaring big rigs. Also part of the Wellington St. demonstration are an auction of cattle rendered close to valueless by mad cow disease. There will also be a ceremonial sentencing of what Hillier sees as "unaccountable bureaucrats," a graveyard representing a lost rural lifestyle, and a barbecue of farm-fresh and healthy foods. The main convoy is set to leave a commuter parking lot at the intersection of Carp Rd. and Hwy. 417 at 8:30 a.m., arriving on Wellington St. below Parliament Hill about 90 minutes later. Hillier, who expects the demonstration to clear out by 2 p.m., said downtown streets will be closed off to accommodate the demonstration. NO PERMIT Ottawa police Staff Sgt. Rick Lavigne confirmed that Wellington between Lyon and Elgin streets will be closed from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The OPP will escort the convoy along Hwy. 417, with Ottawa police taking over when it gets to Kent St. Demonstration organizers don't have a permit, Lavigne said, explaining that's typical of many such events. "They don't request a permit because they know they won't get one," he said. Lavigne said about 25 officers have been assigned to monitor the demonstration. He added he expects it to be peaceful. His greatest concern is that one of the cows on hand might become a threat to a passerby. "The protesters will certainly lose public support if there's any incident involving harm to an animal, or to someone because of an upset animal," Lavigne said. Owner of a 100-acre bushlot in Carleton Place, the articulate and charismatic Hillier has, over the past year, sprung to the forefront as one of Eastern Ontario's most forceful rural leaders. His general crusade is against bureaucratic intervention in the rights of private property owners which, he laments, aren't officially recognized under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As president of the Lanark Landowners Association, he has spearheaded an illegal deer cull and a blockade of the Kemptville offices of the Ministry of Natural Resources, one of the organization's main targets. Hillier has found plenty of adherents as witnessed by three peaceful Friday afternoon information pickets held outside of Ottawa last month. Each drew several hundred protesters along with dozens of pieces of equipment and live cattle which were penned along the roadway. While participants didn't actually block traffic with the rural rallies, they slowed it to a crawl while they handed out literature describing various burs under the collective saddle of farmers and other landowners to mostly supportive motorists. JUST THE BEGINNING As proof motorists were onside, Hillier pointed out they dropped more than $2,000 in a rubber boot collection during the LLA's last Carp-area picket on March 26. Far from being the conclusion of a series of protests, Hillier said the Ottawa rally could be just the beginning, depending on the response to LLA concerns. Lack of response will bring further actions such as "manure and sawdust" blockades of downtown government office buildings, he warned. In addition to mad cow, hot-button topics for LLA members include property tax reassessment, municipal amalgamation which they believe led to a loss of democratic representation, the Ministry of the Environment crackdown on family-operated sawmills, MOE enforcement of the Nutrient Management Act, ramifications of Species at Risk legislation, MNR "mismanagement" of wildlife, firearm registration, buffer zones which deny the use of private property, and mining legislation which the LLA believes strips away rights and privacy. The latest irritant is bureaucratic interference with private wells: "The Ontario government has announced a host of new rules ... the consequence of which is that private wells will become the public's interest but the individual's burden," Hillier said. His expanding following is understandable, Hillier said, because there's a general sense of malaise at being unrecognized, unappreciated and overlooked permeating the rural concessions. "There's growing resentment against officialdom, of finding a bureaucrat at every turn trying to lay down some pointless law or other with little or no appreciation of the ramifications." In fact, he emphasized, bureaucrats found in future on the private property of LLA members without a warrant will be run off. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:26:31 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Taser guns stolen PUBLICATION: The Record (Waterloo Region) DATE: 2004.04.08 SECTION: Local PAGE: B2 SOURCE: RECORD STAFF DATELINE: WATERLOO - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taser guns stolen - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thieves broke into a Waterloo home Tuesday and stole two Taser guns, which are prohibited weapons. Waterloo regional police said the intruders entered the home on Pinerow Crescent through a garage door, which was left open. The theft occurred sometime between 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:26:59 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: GUN PANEL MEETS PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2004.04.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 5 COLUMN: SUN Briefs - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GUN PANEL MEETS - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAYOR DAVID Miller's community safety panel got down to work yesterday on trying to deal with guns and gangs. The committee, chaired by Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, met for the first time behind closed doors at City Hall. "It's a very important group. We face a very important task," Miller said. The creation of the panel is one of the initiatives in Miller's community safety plan, which recently won the support of city council. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:27:20 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: WEAPONS IN CLASS NOT HUGE PROBLEM PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Sun DATE: 2004.04.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 12 BYLINE: HOLLY LAKE, OTTAWA SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEAPONS IN CLASS NOT HUGE PROBLEM SCHOOLS REPORT TREND ON DECLINE - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While there may be weapons in schools, at least one expert says the number is nothing to get fired up about. The 2003 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (OSDUS) released yesterday by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found that one in 10 students in Grades 7-12 reported carrying a weapon to school at least once in the past year. That represents 9.6% or 90,200 students across Ontario and is not significantly different from 2001, when about 10.6% of students reported carrying a weapon. "This isn't an alarming figure if you look at the little data that is available," said Patricia Erickson, a CAMH senior scientist. "It's not unexpected in an adolescent population." What the data doesn't show is if there are now more guns than knives in schools than there were 10 years ago, but an OSDUS trend data study did find weapon carrying among students has steadily declined in the past decade. Erickson noted that in this latest study, weapon was loosely defined to include more than just guns and knives. It also found 7.7% (73,200) of Ontario students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in the past year. 'NO ONE HIGH-RISK AREA' Male students (about 10.1%) were more likely to be threatened than females (5.5%). They were also more likely to carry a weapon (14.9% vs. 4.9%). However, there were no major differences among grades or regions of Ontario. "There really isn't a significant variation around the province, so there's no (one) high-risk area," Erickson said. At the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board, deputy director of education Julian Hanlon said he believes being "proactive" has paid off for the board. "We have very few instances relating to weapons. It's not something as a school system that we perceive as a problem," he said. "We certainly think we're fortunate, but we'd like to think it's because we're proactive. Perhaps we've helped make the situation better." The board's safe schools program is both school- and system-based and involves players at all levels, including police. Each school has its own committee that deals with issues on a regular basis. The anonymous in-class survey of 6,616 Grade 7-12 students involved 383 classes in 126 schools across 37 public and Catholic school boards. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board did not return calls for comment. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:27:44 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Cambodian art students turn weapons into messages - of pea PUBLICATION: The Chronicle-Herald DATE: 2004.04.08 SECTION: Living PAGE: F1 SOURCE: The Associated Press BYLINE: Miranda Leitsinger ILLUSTRATION: Andy Eames / AP Cambodian art student Kim Samdy poses withhis figure sculpture made from pieces of destroyed AK47 assault rifles on display at the Peace of Art Cambodia project studio last month in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Twenty-three Cambodian art students are learning how to transform these symbols of violence in this war-torn country into messages of peace. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guns of peace; Cambodian art students turn weapons into messages - of peace - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The sparks are flying and the metal cutting machines whirring in a workshop where rusty guns lie strewn on the floor. Around the sculptors - who cut, bang and bend the battered AK-47 and M-16 assault rifles - stand life-size horses, birds, an elephant and crabs, as well as a functioning bicycle: works of art they've crafted from the remnants of 30 years of conflict that wreaked havoc on Cambodia. At the Peace of Art Project Cambodia studio, 23 university art students are learning how to transform weapons of war into messages of peace. "To help promote a weapon-free society is one of the main aims, just to try and get it into the Cambodian mentality that guns aren't the answer to everything. And this is a way," says Sasha Constable, a British artist who runs the project. In Cambodia, civilians own 500,000 to one million handguns and military rifles - contributing to widespread public fear, according to a report issued last fall by the human rights groups Amnesty International and Oxfam. Many of the arms are left over from the Vietnam War and three decades of civil war - which also left behind unexploded bombs, land mines and other ordnance. Since the government started collecting weapons from Cambodians in 1999, it has destroyed about 120,000 either by crushing or burning. The sculptors obtained nearly 900 destroyed guns from the government, and a British mine removal group also donated weapons and spent ammunition. The work isn't easy. Some students say the guns' hardened metal is not easy to forge or weld into a sculpture, or cut into a desired shape. Rust-covered guns have been peeled apart to get at smaller pieces - triggers used as hand brakes for a bicycle, rifle barrels for animal legs. The students also plan to try their hand at turning guns into furniture. "Although the weapons haven't lost their significance ... it has just become a material for making a beautiful object," says Constable, a descendant of John Constable, the 19th century English landscape painter. For some students, the guns are meant to retain their meaning. One of Toun Thorneakea's sculptures depicts a woman who has lost a leg to conflict and is holding a child. A rifle balanced on her shoulder symbolizes the burden of weapons on humankind, the 24-year-old artist says. "When I was young, I hated guns a lot because I experienced a lot of people getting killed in the violence, especially war," he says. "That is why I want to turn all the weapons in this workshop into sculptures to contribute to the awareness of peace." Sophon Samkhan's praying mantis, a towering work made from about 50 guns that stands about two metres high and is more than two metres long, shows the insect breaking a gun in half. "Before, I wanted to make a sculpture of a man holding a gun and breaking it. Later on, I thought that it's not only people that don't like war ... animals don't either," he says. The project is not the first of its kind. Artists have crafted sculptures out of weapons from Mozambique; two Canadian artists created a sculpture made of more than 7,000 guns and cartridges donated by police and armies worldwide. The Cambodian project, which began in November, has about $55,000 US in funding from the European Union's weapons collection program, actresses Angelina Jolie and Emma Thompson, and Australia's Griffith University. Constable brought in local engineering technicians as well as British sculptor Joe Rush and Idaho blacksmith Mark Solomon to help teach the students how to use a forge, work with tools, weld and shape metal. "Basically they were starting from scratch with no experience at all, which is why it's so impressive," Constable says. "It's incredible, really, how quickly they've picked up the techniques and how complex their structures are so quickly." The group has had two exhibits in Phnom Penh and is planning one at Griffith University. It also hopes to take the sculptures to even more countries. For Cambodians, the art will help reinforce "that the violence of the weapons is now a thing of the past," says David de Beer, manager of the EU weapons program. "The future is the culture which is embodied by bending the weapons and using them for pieces of art." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:29:17 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: COPS TARGET CRIPS, RECOVER CRACK, MACHINEGUN PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Sun DATE: 2004.04.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 6 BYLINE: ANDREW SEYMOUR, OTTAWA SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GANGSTERS BUSTED DURING RAIDS COPS TARGET CRIPS, RECOVER CRACK, MACHINEGUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THREE members of a south-end street gang are behind bars after police recovered more than a $100,000 in cash and crack cocaine and a fully automatic machinegun. The three members of the so-called Ledbury-Banff Crips, including one of the gang's high-ranking members, were arrested late Monday night and early Tuesday morning by Ottawa police major crime detectives. Two gang associates were also arrested during the sweep. During a subsequent search of one of the suspects' homes, police recovered an Intratec 9-mm machinegun, more than $62,000 in cash and 11 oz. of crack cocaine with a street value of $39,000. A small amount of U.S. currency was also seized. Police believe the drugs were destined for sale on Ottawa's streets. But what really concerned them was the lightweight, fully automatic machinegun and about 100 rounds of ammunition. 'DESIRED WEAPON' "It's not a common weapon but it's a desired weapon," said Ottawa police Staff Sgt. Dave Lengacher. "It's basically a hand pistol with a clip of 32 rounds that can be discharged in seconds." One of the accused gang members, 22-year-old Nnanyere Obiorah, was convicted in 2001 of carrying a fake handgun and sentenced to three months in jail followed by 18 months' probation. He has also been the victim of gun violence, having been shot in the leg during a June 1999 fight at a basketball court on Fairlea Cres. near Heatherington Ave. Obiorah is considered one of the Ledbury-Banff Crips' most senior members and is facing a series of drug and weapons charges, including possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition, possession of the proceeds of crime and trafficking crack cocaine. Police said the arrests were the result of the seven-month investigation into the August murder of Bashir Sahal. MORE ARRESTS EXPECTED Two weeks ago, police charged Ahmed Mohamed Ali, 22, with first-degree murder in the 23-year-old's slaying. A second suspect, Ahmed Shurk Aden, 20, also known as "Mojo," is still wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant. "This is all a result of the murder investigation," said Lengacher, adding police collected the evidence that led to the arrests during the Sahal investigation. Lengacher said police expected to arrest as many as four more gang members during another series of arrests carried out last night. Jessica Ryan, 19, and Dinardo Jones, 21, both of Ottawa are considered gang associates and are charged with possession of crack cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, conspiracy to traffic in a narcotic and possession of proceeds of crime. Gang member Burham Hassan, 22, of Ottawa, is charged with breach of probation and conspiracy to traffic in a narcotic and trafficking a narcotic while Adil Omar, 20, is charged with breach of parole. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:29:58 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: M-1 RIFLE STOLEN IN CITY PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 12 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- M-1 RIFLE STOLEN IN CITY - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An M-1 semi-automatic rifle was stolen yesterday from the city's north end say cops, who are worried about their safety if it hits the streets. "It would be a very sought-after addition to any gangster's toolbox," said city police Staff Sgt. Brian Nowlan. "It's extremely dangerous." The rifle was stolen from a home in the Hermitage area between 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m., while a family was away, said police. The weapon, which was lawfully owned by a collector and registered, had been locked in a safe, said police. Two magazines for the rifle were also taken, along with other items valued at $4,500 in total. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:31:22 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: Lead disappearing from anglers' tackle box PUBLICATION: The Chronicle-Herald DATE: 2004.04.08 SECTION: Sports PAGE: D2 SOURCE: Fishing BYLINE: Brian Medel Hunting - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lead disappearing from anglers' tackle box - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOOK THROUGH A typical angler's selection of lures and accessories and you'll likely exclaim, 'This is not my father's tackle box.' In addition to spinner blades with holographic light-reflecting designs and scent impregnated plastic worms, we now, or soon will, have a variety of fishing weights and sinkers made from anything and everything but lead. Just think of the fun you and your buddies can have creating your very own non-toxic tackle boxes. Will you eventually use weights made of ceramic or stainless steel or tungsten nickel alloy or pewter or densified plastic? Can you pinch a ceramic or a plastic split shot around a line? Tin and bismuth work well enough I'm told, so I won't worry. I have some tin sinkers but haven't used them. Why are we alienating ourselves from lead? Lead is toxic and lead sinkers and jigs lost while fishing account for about 18 per cent of all direct lead releases into the environment, Canadian statistics reveal. Studies show that up to 30 per cent of reported adult loon deaths during the breeding season in eastern Canada are the result of lead poisoning. Loons and other waterfowl mistake lost sinkers and jigs for the gravel they regularly dine on to aid digestion. They also consume lost baitfish with lead fishing gear attached. When lead mixes with the stomach acids of birds, it produces a lethal substance. If you've fished in a Canadian national park recently you likely know that in the fall of 1996, Parks Canada banned lead fishing sinkers and jigs. Now Environment Canada is planning to stop the lead sinker trade. Before anyone panics, it should be stated that this is all very preliminary on the part of the federal government. Federal Environment Minister David Anderson announced on Feb. 17 that he would soon propose regulations that will bring about an eventual prohibition on the import, manufacture and sale of fishing sinkers and jigs containing lead. Note that he hopes to propose changes for the eventual prohibition. This won't happen overnight. In fact, Anderson said his department would spend six months consulting Canadians on the subject before he introduces regulations that will eventually ban lead from fishing gear. In Nova Scotia, the provincial fisheries department has no immediate plans to ban the use of lead fishing weights. But the Nova Scotia government wants us to begin thinking about non-lead solutions. "We encourage anglers to contact their local tackle supplier to try to get them interested in bringing in alternatives," said Jason LeBlanc, a biologist with the provincial fisheries department's inland division. Several tackle stores have been doing this for some time. >From an angler's point of view, other products are lighter than lead and if you want to have the same weight taking your line down you need to go to a larger sized weight. Some anglers may be a bit reluctant to change their systems. In Nova Scotia the inland fisheries division has distributed 5,000 packages since the spring of 2001 containing a couple of tin split shot sinkers and a jig head made of bismuth. "They're relatively inert," LeBlanc said about tin and bismuth. If a loon were to ingest some the bird would not likely suffer any ill effect. Tin will also oxidize but the product of the oxidation is not harmful where lead, during the process of it breaking down, can attach to blood molecules through the digestive system, he said. The provincial fisheries department's inland division still has a few hundred sample packs of the non-toxic sinkers. If you haven't tried alternatives to lead why not contact the division. They may send you a few samples for you and your friends to try. Other jurisdictions, including Great Britain, way back in 1987 and later, American states such as Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts curtailed the use of lead sinkers and jigs. New York State will introduce restrictions this spring. Four years ago the Maine Audubon Society began trading lead sinkers used by anglers for lead-free samples. The Maine chapter exchanged lead sinkers at 10 popular fishing spots over a six-week period. Anglers who turned in lead-headed jigs and other fishing tackle were given samples of new lures made of bismuth and other non-toxic metals. It seems as if responsible anglers everywhere are embracing the switch from lead and that's a good thing. Brian Medel is an avid angler and hunter living in Yarmouth County. His column appears every Thursday. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #60 ********************************* Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:moderator@hitchen.org 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 v04.n192 end (192 is the digest issue number and 04 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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