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 #81 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 Monday, April 19 2004 Volume 07 : Number 081 In this issue: Editorial: REPORTING A DUTY KNOW HOW TO RECOGNIZE A GANG MEMBER Sugar-shack party turns sour as man shot in chest DOCS SPLIT OVER GUNSHOT REPORTING USA - Cheney Tells NRA Kerry Will Target Guns: ONE KILLED IN YELLOWKNIFE-AREA SHOOTING Column: Gun control program doesn't add up GUNSHOTS, STANDOFF HAD MAN FEARING FOR FAMILY Columbine dad wants gun ban SHOTGUN BUST TURNS UP MORE CROOKS RIFLE THROUGH HOME, STEAL GUNS Washington Post: Activists Decry Growth Of Canadian Seal Hunt: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:29:06 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Editorial: REPORTING A DUTY PUBLICATION: The Province DATE: 2004.04.19 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial PAGE: A18 SOURCE: Ottawa Citizen - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In other words - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REPORTING A DUTY The misuse of firearms is a clear threat to public health. As such, a law requiring all Ontario hospitals to report incidents to police is a justified intrusion into patient-doctor confidentiality. Dr. Howard Ovens, head of the Ontario Medical Association's emergency-medicine section, is calling for mandatory-reporting legislation and the Ontario government has passed a motion to introduce just such a law. This has created controversy in the medical community. Ovens has had to face off with colleagues who believe such legislation is an unnecessary and dangerous intrusion into doctor-patient confidentiality. Opponents of mandatory reporting claim most gunshot incidents are the result of suicides, attempted suicides and accidents, not homicides or attempted homicides. They question whether all gunshot wounds pose immediate risk to the public and point out doctors do not work for the police. Intrusion into confidentiality means patients might be less comfortable confiding in their doctors. Clearly, hospitals and doctors should not report all criminality. So why make all gunshot cases reportable? Because they pose a potential threat to public safety. Reporting a shooting enables police to investigate and determine the extent of the public risk. Hospitals aren't in the business of investigating criminal behaviour, but they do have a duty to be vigilant in matters of public health and safety. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:29:44 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: KNOW HOW TO RECOGNIZE A GANG MEMBER PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 23 Every week, the Edmonton Sun, in conjunction with Crime Stoppers and the Edmonton Police Service, will publish articles on unsolved crimes in the city. This feature can be found in the Sunday Sun. If you have information on any of these crimes, you do not have to reveal your identity when calling Crime Stoppers. If your tip leads to an arrest, you qualify for an award of up to $2,000. If you are in Edmonton or northern Alberta, call 1-800-222-TIPS (1-800-222-8477). COLUMN: Gang Unit TYPE : Chart - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KNOW HOW TO RECOGNIZE A GANG MEMBER - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keeping your kids and family out of a gang can be tough. But it's a lot tougher if you don't recognize the warning signs. Possible traits of someone being suited to gang membership include: - - LOOKING FOR A SURROGATE FAMILY. People join gangs to receive the attention, support and protection they lack at home. - - FAMILY BREAKDOWNS. Many youngsters do not have positive adult role models. Many see domestic violence, alcohol and other drug use in their homes as the norm. - - IDENTITY OR RECOGNITION PROBLEMS. Because of low self-esteem, some youth join gangs seeking the status they lack due to unemployment or low achievement at school. - - GANG FAMILY HISTORY. Many street gang members are carrying on a family tradition. - - NEED FOR MONEY. The monetary allure of gang membership is difficult to counteract. Gang members share profits from drug trafficking and other illegal activities. To a teen, money translates into social status. - - POVERTY. Many initiates are without jobs or a source of income. Becoming a gang member can provide a youth with an opportunity to make money quickly because many gangs are involved in the illegal sale of drugs and firearms. - - USE OF INTIMIDATION AND VIOLENCE. To coerce others to join their gang, members may recruit through scare tactics. - - NEED FOR SURVIVAL. Gang membership could be viewed as a safe haven to a youth living in a dysfunctional family or in an environment that already features a gang presence. Gang activity hurts us all but you can do something to help. Pick up the phone and report gang activity. Your tip could help save a young person's life. Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:29:59 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Sugar-shack party turns sour as man shot in chest PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette DATE: 2004.04.19 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A6 COLUMN: In Brief SOURCE: The Gazette - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sugar-shack party turns sour as man shot in chest - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A party at a sugar shack in the Laurentians turned violent yesterday morning when a man was shot in the chest. The shooting occurred about 1:30 at a gathering of about 175 people in St. Lin. Police were initially alerted about a fight, said Constable Jayson Gauthier, a Surete du Quebec spokesperson. Shortly after they received a a request for ambulances for two injured people, Gauthier said. One man was shot with a .22-calibre firearm and was taken to a hospital in Joliette, Gauthier said. His life is not in danger. The other man was cut on the head. Police are looking for a man who left the scene. It was not clear what sparked the dispute or how many people were involved, Gauthier said. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:30:23 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: DOCS SPLIT OVER GUNSHOT REPORTING PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2004.04.19 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 35 BYLINE: SHARON LEM, TORONTO SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOCS SPLIT OVER GUNSHOT REPORTING - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doctors are split on whether mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds is a bad idea or not. In articles published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, doctors debate a proposed law that would make it mandatory for physicians to report gunshot wounds to police. Ontario is considering introducing legislation that would require hospitals and physicians to report gunshot wounds and knife wounds to police in hopes of reducing homicides and accidental shootings. The proposed legislation responds to a call by the Ontario Medical Association's section on emergency medicine calling for mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds; the OMA, however, is not calling for mandatory reporting of knife wounds. Dr. Howard Ovens, a member of the OMA's section on emergency medicine, points out in his commentary that patient confidentiality is not an absolute right and exceptions exist to protect the public good. An opposing commentary by Dr. Merril Pauls, an emergency physician at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax and assistant professor of emergency medicine and bioethics at Dalhousie University, argues that physicians will simply be seen as an extension of the police and that the negative effect on the patient-physician trust will result in vulnerable patients not disclosing underlying health issues for fear of being reported. "If you look at the spectrum of gunshot wounds, most are accidents, suicide attempts, and even when it is violence related, it rarely involves hardened criminals; it usually involves personal disputes," Pauls said. Statistics show that in 1997 in Canada, 4% of firearm related deaths were accidental, 77% were suicidal and 15% were homicides. Of firearm related injuries requiring hospital admission, 38% were accidental, 26% were self-inflicted, 26% were inflicted by others. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:30:42 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: USA - Cheney Tells NRA Kerry Will Target Guns: PUBLICATION: The Washington Post SECTION: ASection DATE: 2004.04.18 PAGE: A04 BYLINE: Mike Allen - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheney Tells NRA Kerry Will Target Guns: Speech an Effort to Regain Momentum Lost in Dispute Over Assault Weapons - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vice President Cheney worked to mend White House relations with gun activists yesterday by warning a National Rifle Association convention in Pittsburgh that Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) would roll back rights of gun makers and users. "John Kerry's approach to the Second Amendment has been to regulate, regulate and regulate some more," Cheney said. The NRA worked enthusiastically for President Bush in 2000, but the group disagrees with his willingness to sign an extension to the 1994 ban on military-style assault weapons, which is set to expire in September. Some of the group's 4 million members, concerned about personal freedoms of all kinds, have also complained about the USA Patriot Act, which makes it easier for the Justice Department conduct surveillance on suspected terrorists, and oppose additional restrictions that have been imposed on air travelers since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Bush campaign is scrambling to be sure it can count on NRA muscle again this year, especially as some of the states in which hunting is most popular are also swing states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. Cheney, speaking at the group's 133rd annual meeting after returning from Asia, said Bush's executive branch "understands that the Second Amendment affirms more than a symbolic principle." Quoting selectively from past Kerry remarks about the NRA, Cheney said Bush is the only one of the two candidates who "has shown you respect, earned your vote, and appreciates your support." Kerry has tried to learn from mistakes made in 2000 by Vice President Al Gore and has avoided playing up anti-gun positions that could alienate swing voters. He let reporters watch him blast pheasants in Iowa on Halloween and has stressed the importance of responsibility as a component of the right to bear arms. "There's a testosterone threshold -- a cultural debate over manliness," said a Democratic official who refused to be identified so he could talk candidly about Kerry's strategy. The official said that because of primary opposition from Bill Bradley, Gore "ran so far to the left on guns that he left the political center wide open to George Bush." "Bush wisely softened his conservative edges with a commitment to extend the assault weapons ban, the most popular gun safety protection on the books," the official said. A Kerry campaign statement responding to Cheney's speech said the senator "is a lifelong hunter, supports the Second Amendment and will defend hunting rights." The statement asserted that Bush and Cheney were "breaking their promise to renew the assault weapons ban." The Senate voted March 2, the day of the Super Tuesday primaries, to extend the ban by 10 years, and Kerry flew back from the campaign trail to vote for the extension. The White House said it supports the concept but opposed some provisions of the Senate bill. House leaders said they do not plan to take up the measure. Kerry also supports closing a loophole that allows people to evade background checks by buying weapons at gun shows, and would ban the ammunition known as "cop-killer bullets." NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in a telephone interview that while the group has differences with Bush, most members "still consider him a friend." LaPierre said Kerry is "probably the most anti-Second Amendment candidate in the country's history," and would "go after every semi-automatic firearm in the country." The three-day convention, which began Friday and was billed as drawing more than 50,000 people, is called "Freedom's Steel" in a reference to the iconic Pittsburgh product. The meeting, held at a convention center, has had 360 exhibitors, with 900 booths offering goods ranging from antique guns to hunting garb. A sign-up sheet for a grass-roots workshop at the annual meeting invites NRA members to "begin laying the groundwork for the 2004 elections" and warns that "anti-gunners are re-doubling their efforts to try and take back what they have lost in past years." In 2000, a gun control group put the Bush campaign on the defensive by running an ad showing an NRA official saying that he would be "a president where we work out of their office." Now, Bush would like to restore some of that passion. LaPierre was among the officials from sporting groups who were included this month in a tour of Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex. The Bush-Cheney campaign has signed up 27,000 "Sportsmen for Bush," and the group's regional and county chairmen are working to recruit leaders at every wildlife organization, shooting range and gun club in every competitive state. The NRA estimates that the nation has 80 million hunters. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:31:00 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: ONE KILLED IN YELLOWKNIFE-AREA SHOOTING PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 26 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ONE KILLED IN YELLOWKNIFE-AREA SHOOTING - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 55-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder following a shooting death near Yellowknife early Friday morning. RCMP were called to a home about 40 km west of the city, just off Highway 3, around 2 a.m. Friday to investigate a reported shooting. Two men and a woman were taken to Yellowknife for questioning. Timothee Charles Caisse, 55, is charged with murdering 33-year-old David Austin. He also faces a charge of being in possession of a firearm while prohibited. Caisse has been remanded in custody and is due to appear again in court Tuesday. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:31:26 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: Gun control program doesn't add up http://www.primetimecrime.com/columns/Columns%202003/20030903.htm (This column was published in the North Shore News on Sept. 03, 2003) Gun control program doesn't add up By Leo Knight *** "Apparently, every Ruger firearm in the system is registered incorrectly." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:31:58 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: GUNSHOTS, STANDOFF HAD MAN FEARING FOR FAMILY PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 14 BYLINE: DAN PALMER, EDMONTON SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GUNSHOTS, STANDOFF HAD MAN FEARING FOR FAMILY - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A father feared for his family yesterday but took comfort in knowing his dog was with them, after a police standoff that started with gunfire separated him from his loved ones. "I'm worried, but there's a dog with them," Rob Szamosi, 29, said yesterday, referring to his Rottweiler Bear protecting them. City police Insp. Dennis Pysyk said authorities were called to the area near 120 Avenue and 45 Street around 11:20 a.m. after getting reports of two men struggling at a home. Shortly after that, a man came out of the house and fired two shots into the air with a handgun, said Pysyk. When police arrived, they said they found a man in front of the house with the hammer cocked on a loaded handgun. The man dropped the weapon. "He's a very lucky man he obeyed commands from police," said Pysyk. Szamosi was coming back from a welding job around 11:50 a.m. yesterday, but found out from city police he couldn't get into his house near 120 Avenue and 45 Street because of the armed standoff next to his house. Inside his home were his fiancee, two sons aged two and six, and Bear. Police told Szamosi to call his wife using his cellphone and tell them to go in the basement. "She was hysterical," said Szamosi. "I told her not to worry. I told her I loved her." A 46-year-old man was arrested at the scene. Because the house where the standoff took place had no phone, police had to use a bullhorn to order two other occupants to come out. The two were later questioned. Police are still investigating. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:32:16 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Columbine dad wants gun ban PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2004.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A2 SOURCE: Herald News Services ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Dick Cheney - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Columbine dad wants gun ban - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A man whose son was killed in the Columbine High School shootings literally walked in his child's shoes to the National Rifle Association convention, where he hoped U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney would address the federal assault weapons ban set to expire in September. Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was killed with an assault weapon in the Littleton, Colo., killings five years ago Tuesday, said continuing the ban is common sense. Assault weapons "are the weapons of gangs, drug lords and sick people," Mauser said before his three-block march in Denver to the convention, which runs through today. "It is a weapon of war and we don't want this war on our streets." Mauser challenged Cheney to speak about extending the ban when the vice-president delivered the convention's keynote address Saturday night. However, there was no indication that Cheney would mention the matter. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:32:35 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: SHOTGUN BUST TURNS UP MORE PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2004.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A4 BYLINE: STAFF - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHOTGUN BUST TURNS UP MORE - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four people were facing weapons-related charges in an investigation that began Friday night in Transcona. Two males were walking past a Mohawk gas station at Regent Avenue and Starlight Drive shortly after 8 p.m. when someone noticed they may have had a weapon and called police. Cops discovered one of them men was concealing a sawed-off shotgun under his shirt. They were arrested and the shotgun was seized. During the ensuing investigation, police were led to two residences, including one in the 300 block of Beverley Street in the West End, where they executed search warrants. In one of the raids, police seized a .22-calibre rifle and a pellet pistol, while arresting two more people. Police said the suspects don't appear to have gang affiliations. No other details were released yesterday. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:32:56 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: CROOKS RIFLE THROUGH HOME, STEAL GUNS PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 23 Every week, the Edmonton Sun, in conjunction with Crime Stoppers and the Edmonton Police Service, will publish articles on unsolved crimes in the city. This feature can be found in the Sunday Sun. If you have information on any of these crimes, you do not have to reveal your identity when calling Crime Stoppers. If your tip leads to an arrest, you qualify for an award of up to $2,000. If you are in Edmonton or northern Alberta, call 1-800-222-TIPS (1-800-222-8477). COLUMN: South Division - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CROOKS RIFLE THROUGH HOME, STEAL GUNS - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When crooks rifle through a home, the last thing you'd hope they'd steal is a rifle. But that's what police are facing after a home near Rabbit Hill and Carter Crest Road was robbed April 12. Crooks broke into the home by using a rock to smash the front entrance side window. It appears they may have tried kicking the front door first, as there was frame damage and a boot print on the door. >From footprints found at the scene, it also appears one of the thieves stood inside the front door as a lookout while the other person collected the property. The thieves likely had a vehicle due to the amount and bulk of the property stolen. Stolen were a 27-inch TV, a DVD player, a stereo, a CD player, a computer, a Sony Playstation, jewelry, a compound bow and arrow in a black case, a .22 calibre rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. Help shoot down these crooks and get some guns off the street. Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:33:12 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Washington Post: Activists Decry Growth Of Canadian Seal Hunt: PUBLICATION: The Washington Post SECTION: World DATE: 2004.04.18 PAGE: A18 BYLINE: DeNeen L. Brown - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Activists Decry Growth Of Canadian Seal Hunt: High Quota, 'Cruelty' and Lax Oversight Cited - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island -- The film image shows a hulking seal hunter walking across the ice in pursuit of a baby seal as it wobbles to escape. The hunter stomps on the seal's tail, raises his hakapik -- a spiked club -- and bangs the baby seal on the head, once, twice, until the animal lies still. The hunter turns the club, hooks the seal's silvery head and drags it away, leaving a line of bright red blood in the snow. The camera cuts to a seal appearing to gasp for air, blood running from its nose as it lies on an ice floe. Not far away, a sealer sharpens his knife blade. The seal seems to be thrashing as its fur is sliced from its torso. Behind it, a pile of carcasses rises, bloodied seals without their fur, black eyes like marbles without lids, left behind in the Atlantic sun. "This hunt is back, and bigger and crueler than ever," said Rebecca Aldworth, a spokeswoman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which filmed the seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in March. She said the images are proof that this year's seal hunt in Canada was the most brutal the world has seen in three decades. "I witnessed the terrible cruelty and almost no government monitoring for the hunt," Aldworth said in an interview. "Just meters from me, seals were sliced open as they struggled, showing signs of conscious response to pain. I noticed several seals still alive. They were breathing and flippers still moving. An injured seal lifted her head and cried at us. Blood was coming from her mouth and nose, and she was making horrible sounds. She was trying to crawl, clearly in agony." >From Monday morning, when the last phase of Canada's harp seal hunt officially opened, to 8 p.m. Tuesday, when the hunt was closed to major vessels -- more than 200,000 seals were slaughtered off Canada's Atlantic coast. Smaller operations are permitted to continue until the full quota has been reached. This year's seal hunt in Canada has also been called the biggest in decades. Last year, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans increased the quota for the harvest of harp seals, allowing 975,000 seals to be killed over three years, from 2003 to 2005, with a yearly maximum set at 350,000 seals. "The last time we saw levels this high was back in the 1950s and '60s, when the hunting reduced the population of seals by up to two- thirds," said Aldworth, whose organization wants the slaughter of baby seals stopped. "If the full quota is reached this year, it will be the largest slaughter we have had in Canada in close to 50 years." The increased quota has sparked a new outcry among anti-hunting and animal rights activists that is reminiscent of worldwide protests in the 1970s, when images of hunters bashing white baby seals nearly shut down the sealing industry in Canada. The United States banned seal products in 1972. Eleven years later, the European Union imposed a partial ban on seal fur. In 1987, Canada halted the slaying of baby harp seals, which unlike older harp seals have white fur. Since then, according to the Canadian government, the rules have been changed to make the hunt more humane. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans raised the quota for the harvest of harp seals because, it said, the herds were healthy and abundant, their number "nearly triple what it was in the 1970s." Steve Outhouse, a department spokesman, said the seal population off Canada's East Coast had grown to about 5.2 million. "That is why it was decided we would allow a larger hunt," Outhouse said. "We are a department that is science-based. We would say, what do the numbers say? How much can you take and let the population still remain in a healthy position? It is up to the fishermen to make the decision whether it is worthwhile to hunt." Until last year, the seal quota was 275,000 per year, but because of low market prices for seal fur, the kill was lower. This year, as the demand in European markets increased for seal oil and fur for clothing, there was more hunting. Seal pelts can cost as much as $45 each. Canadian officials said it is no longer legal for hunters to slay the youngest baby seals, known as whitecoats. Nor is it legal for hunters to harvest harp seal pups or hooded seals. But slightly older seals that have just lost their white fur are considered fair game for hunters. These seals are called beaters, named for the way they beat the water with their flippers. Beaters are hunted when they are about 13 days old, and are identifiable because their coats have begun to molt by that age and their undercoat has a silver hue. Adult seals cannot be taken in breeding grounds, and hunters are required to "administer a blinking-eye reflex test for a clear determination of death," according to regulations set in 2003 by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Hunters are required to ensure that seals are dead before they are bled and skinned, a regulation that "is meant to ensure that all animals are checked quickly for death after they are shot or clubbed, as suggested by veterinarians," according to the regulations. The new rules prohibit the use of nets for commercial sealing. Canada also outlawed killing a seal only for small parts such as organs. Sealers are required to obtain licenses before they are allowed to hunt, and they must use rifles, clubs and hakapiks approved by the government. "Over 98 percent of seals are killed humanely, meaning their death was relatively quick," Outhouse said. "Really, the sealing industry has come so far in working so hard to undo damage done by negative images shown two decades ago, when things were not so good." But animal rights groups say seals are still being hunted by barbaric means and skinned alive by hunters. "They will hook a seal and drag it across the ice," Aldworth said. "They are hooked through the tail, jaw and flippers and dragged across the ice. Seals in Canada are considered fish." To hunters, "it's the same as hooking a fish." Department of Fisheries documents describe seal hunting as not fundamentally different from the slaughter of other wild or domestic animals. "After death, seals, like chickens and other animals, often undergo a period of convulsions which have been mistakenly interpreted by some as indicating that the animal is still alive," the department said in a report. Officials say the seal hunt provides needed income to about 12,000 hunters who live in remote communities in eastern Canada, where jobs are hard to come by. In Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec, 100 miles north of here, seal hunters say theirs is an honest profession. "The protesters think it's sport. It's not sport. It's the hardest work we can do," said Richard Sweet, a fisherman. Sweet doesn't claim a seal hunt is a pretty sight. "It is as humane as it can be when you are killing something. You hit them over the head or nose. They don't know what hit them," he said. "But do you think it's humane the way they hunt foxes in Europe for sport?" Sweet said that recent hunts have been better than those of the '70s. "It is a gory sight, but it was worse [then] because they were killing whitecoats. Now it is not so bad. They kill the beaters." ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #81 ********************************* 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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