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 #610 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 Wednesday, December 8 2004 Volume 07 : Number 610 In this issue: Windsor Star Editorial: Gun registry: Time to fold the boondoggle SHOT AT REGISTRY WELCOMED KIDS FORGOTTEN IN GUN CALL Man gets six years for two bank robberies MP CULLEN'S LETTER: Firearms centre is doing its job: Education from the barrel of a gun CAB DRIVER SLAIN New York Times: Congress Cops Out on Gun Violence Police seek shooting tips POLICE HUNTING MYSTERY SHOOTER ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:11:18 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Windsor Star Editorial: Gun registry: Time to fold the boondoggle PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: A6 SOURCE: Windsor Star - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gun registry: Time to fold the boondoggle - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NDP MP Joe Comartin has signalled his intention to vote against a motion Thursday that would nix a $97-million payment to the Canadian Firearms Centre. Comartin, who recently argued the bloated rifle and shotgun registry deserved government funding because it made for safer streets, should reconsider. Pumping more dollars into a billion-dollar sinkhole that was originally supposed to cost taxpayers $2 million would be a bad idea even if the registry was run efficiently and actually reduced violent crime in Canada. But wasting more tax dollars propping up a program that can't even meet its stated objectives borders on the irresponsible and absurd. It was revealed late last month the registry was missing out on more than $46 million in fees because it was giving away 777,000 free licence renewals to lessen the burden on bureaucrats bogged down with paperwork. And it was revealed last week the program won't be fully operational until 2007, some 12 years after being approved by Parliament. These are simply the latest in a string of embarrassing gaffes to hit the dysfunctional registry, which is being used by a U.S. firm as a case study in incompetence and financial mismanagement. "What was supposed to be a relatively modest information technology project ballooned into a massive undertaking," Baseline magazine wrote in the study. "At last count, the program had amassed more than $1 billion in costs, and the system has become so cumbersome that an independent review board recommended that it be scrapped." Comartin's vote could prove crucial for the gun registry's future, considering the minority Liberal government is split on the issue and the funding motion came from a Liberal MP. He should exercise it wisely and vote in favour of scrapping the additional funding. Not a single additional tax dollar should be spent registering the rifles and long-guns used by Canada's hunters, farmers, rural residents and First Nations members who live off the land. Too much has already been spent and more will be wasted unless the program is scrapped once and for all. The registry makes criminals out of law-abiding citizens. It doesn't target violent criminals. How could it? Criminals don't register guns. Handguns have been registered in this country since 1934 but are still commonly used by criminals and thugs to kill and maim innocent civilians. The money wasted on the long-gun registry would have been far better spent cracking down on gun smuggling from the United States. Comartin argued the registry is a boon for police officers because it enabled them to check out whether a residence they planned to enter had guns in it. If every weapon in Canada was registered -- including illegal weapons owned by criminals -- and the registry had a flawless history, Comartin might have a point. As it is, only an extremely brave or extremely stupid police officer would rely on registry data with his or her life on the line. If police forces truly believe a list of rifle-toting farmers and hunters will help them fight crime and protect officers, they should offer to pay for the registry from their existing budgets at no increased cost to taxpayers. It's time for Comartin and every other politician in Canada to admit what's obvious: The rifle and shotgun registry hasn't made Canada safer and the registry isn't even about safety at all. It's about nothing but base politics. It's about winning votes in metropolitan centres at the expense of Canada's rural residents. It's time to end this expensive charade. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:11:47 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: SHOT AT REGISTRY WELCOMED PUBLICATION: The Calgary Sun DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Early SECTION: News PAGE: 8 BYLINE: BILL LAYE, CALGARY SUN - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SHOT AT REGISTRY WELCOMED - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Having a Liberal MP take aim at Canada's controversial gun registry has Alberta's firearms lobby hoping the program is on its last legs. MP Roger Gallaway has introduced a motion in the Commons that, if passed tomorrow, would block a $96-million payment to the Canadian Firearms Centre, essentially killing the registry. "It's an entire waste of money and it does nothing to prevent crime," said Harry Isaac, president of the 450-member Calgary and District Target Shooter Association. While Gallaway's motion will likely receive unanimous support from the 99-member Opposition Conservative caucus, it's expected other Liberal MPs -- as well those from the Bloc Quebecois and NDP -- will be enough to vote it down. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:12:20 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: KIDS FORGOTTEN IN GUN CALL PUBLICATION: The Calgary Sun DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 7 BYLINE: BILL KAUFMANN, CALGARY SUN - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ KIDS FORGOTTEN IN GUN CALL SCHOOL LEAVES CHILDREN ON PLAYGROUND AS POLICE RESPOND TO FIREARMS THREAT - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parents of students at a northwest elementary school are angry their children weren't secured from a firearms threat while those at an adjacent junior-senior high school were locked down. On Friday, neighbours of Queen Elizabeth senior, junior and elementary schools, on the 500 block of 18 St. N.W., called police after seeing youths in a car brandishing what they thought was a handgun. As police moved in, they told the high school about the sighting and junior-senior high students were moved into classrooms. But nobody with the board told the elementary school next door, whose students at recess saw the arrest of three young men, one carrying what turned out to be a pellet gun. The suspects had driven into a parking lot next to the elementary school's playground. "I'm disgusted -- I think it was a very grave error," said the mother of one Grade 5 student, who gave her name as Denise. "What if it wasn't only a pellet gun ... it could have been very serious." Angela Descognes said her Grade 3 daughter was "very upset" by seeing police with guns drawn make the arrests. "We've had to talk to her about it," she said. "It is a concern." Another parent, whose child is in Grade 3, said assurances from the school that their children were never in danger don't wash. "They say they were at a safe enough distance but the concern was these people had weapons, like guns," said Tracy Cox, adding it was fortunate the gun was a pellet pistol. "I don't want my child around that, not at all." A Calgary Board of Education spokesman admitted regulations weren't followed during the incident. "We do have a protocol in place ... a threat to one school is a threat to the other," said Graham White. "We've never had a problem in the past and in this case, we did ... we take the oversight very seriously." White said letters were sent to the homes of both high school and elementary students informing them of the incident and the board's response. "It will be corrected in the future," he said. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:12:36 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Man gets six years for two bank robberies PUBLICATION: The Province DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: FINAL C SECTION: News PAGE: A14 BYLINE: Stuart Hunter SOURCE: The Province - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Man gets six years for two bank robberies - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Surrey man was sentenced yesterday to six years in jail after being found guilty of committing two bank robberies. Dennis Savo Stjepanovic, 30, was given credit for the 17 months he's been behind bars after being arrested in July 2003, and Judge Dennis Devitt also imposed a lifetime firearms ban in Surrey Provincial Court. Devitt, as well, ordered Stjepanovic to provide the RCMP with a DNA sample. Court heard that on May 2, 2003, Stjepanovic used a security guard as a hostage during a holdup of a Scotiabank. Stjep-anovic fled in a stolen vehicle and his DNA was found on the steering wheel. On July 25, 2003, Stjepanovic walked into a CIBC and produced a holdup note. He left in a vehicle driven by an accomplice but it was stopped by police. Stjepanovic jumped out of the moving vehicle and tried to car-jack another, but was arrested with the note and stolen cash in his pocket. Crown counsel Winston Sayson sought a six year sentence, noting Stjepanovic had committed eight prior robberies. Defence counsel Ken Beatch sought a conditional sentence, arguing Stjepanovic is now off drugs. Stjepanovic also received a 10-year driving ban. shunter@png.canwest.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:12:54 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: MP CULLEN'S LETTER: Firearms centre is doing its job: PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: Opinion PAGE: A14 BYLINE: Roy Cullen SOURCE: The Edmonton Journal - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Firearms centre is doing its job: Improvements will be phased in over years - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Re: "Throwing good millions after bad," by Lorne Gunter (Opinion, Dec. 3). Gunter suggests the federal government does not intend to hold the line on overall costs of the firearms program. We are committed to reducing costs wherever possible. For instance, whereas costs for the Canada Firearms Centre have been reduced to $103 million in 2003-04 , they will decline a further $18 million in 2005-06. As to his concerns about components of the program not being fully implemented, let me clearly state the firearms system is operational and providing the services Canadians expect. Licensing and registration of millions of gun owners and firearms is complete and police are consulting the firearms information system thousands of times each week. The firearms centre has already produced more than 1,100 affidavits this year to support the prosecution of firearms-related crime, while approximately 12,000 individual firearms licences have been refused or revoked to date by firearms officers. We are implementing new measures including regulations announced recently to improve service delivery, increase cost-efficiency and streamline processes. These will be phased in over the coming years to give those affected the necessary time to implement the changes. Gunter can criticize the system if he chooses. But if he wants to criticize the phase-in of improvements, I suggest he cannot have it both ways. Roy Cullen, MP, Etobicoke North - ------------------------------------------ Hon. Roy Cullen Telephone: (613) 995-4702 Fax: (613) 995-8359 Email: Cullen.R@parl.gc.ca HILL OFFICE House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 CONSTITUENCY OFFICE 815 Albion Rd Etobicoke, Ontario M9V1A3 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:13:13 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Education from the barrel of a gun PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A7 BYLINE: Lianne Hart SOURCE: The Los Angeles Times DATELINE: LAMPASAS, Texas ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Kimber Website / The top prize is a Kimber rifle,like this one, with a scope and ammunition, valued at $1,300 U.S. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Education from the barrel of a gun - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LAMPASAS, Texas - In years past, the Hanna Springs Intermediate School parents' association raised money by selling cookies and pies. Last year, there was a carnival with balloons and games. This year, it's firearms -- two of them, including a top-of-the-line rifle, a scope and two boxes of ammunition -- that will be raffled off today at high noon. "Bake sales are a thing of the past," said Marta Ellison, one of three mothers who thought of the idea over breakfast at a Lampasas, Texas, restaurant. "Parents are sick of having to buy cookie dough and candy for student groups," she said. "If you're going to do a fundraiser, make it something people want to buy." That firearms would be considered a fun prize for a school raffle is not so far-fetched in rural Lampasas (pop. 6,786), where hunting and gun ownership are a way of life. And with deer season in full swing, selling tickets to visiting hunters who pour into town on the weekends was a natural extension of the idea. "It was a business decision," said Ms. Ellison, who, with her friends, state Representative Suzanna Gratia Hupp and Sharon Fehmel, is organizing the raffle. "These guns are a sales tool, and our target audience is hunters who come in droves here every year like clockwork." Last month, Ms. Ellison said, a group of mothers sold 1,000 tickets in one day by standing outside and waving signs at visitors as they stopped to enjoy the town's annual "Welcome Hunters" barbecue. The original 10,000 tickets Ms. Ellison ordered have already been sold. She has ordered an additional 2,000. First prize in the raffle is a Kimber rifle, a Leupold scope and two boxes of ammunition, together valued at $1,300 U.S. Second prize is a Marlin Ducks Unlimited .22-calibre rifle. Ms. Hupp said she's received a couple of e-mails that criticized the raffle, but it's mostly a hit with residents -- especially parents relieved of the burden of peddling candy to their co-workers. Gordon Nelson, a constable whose six-year-old granddaughter shot her first 8-point buck this year, said no one in town thought twice about the unconventional contest. "Most everyone was raised up hunting deer," he said. "Pretty much around here people have two or three rifles in the house already." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:17:28 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: CAB DRIVER SLAIN PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 3 ILLUSTRATION: photo by Marcel Cretain Police talk to bystanders after a shooting yesterday in the Maples which claimed the life of a Winnipeg cab driver. BYLINE: PAUL TURENNE, STAFF REPORTER - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CAB DRIVER SLAIN SUSPECT TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER TENSE STANDOFF ENDS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Winnipeg cabbie and father of two is dead after being shot at close range outside his Maples-area home last night. After a tense standoff with police, the man suspected of the shooting was rushed to hospital in critical condition suffering from an apparently self-inflicted wound late last night. It was unknown whether he was expected to live. It was a dramatic climax to a massive manhunt that stretched across the northern part of the city and ended in a standoff at the Sikh temple at 1244 Mollard Rd. COPS SURROUND CAR Heavily armed police surrounded the lone suspect in his car in the parking lot of the Sikh temple in the northern outskirts of the city after a desperate hunt for a Pontiac Grand Am that witnesses told police they had seen speeding from the scene. Police were trying to avoid the suicide of the suspect and had been ready to wait all night if necessary to bring the standoff to a peaceful conclusion, said police spokeswoman Const. Shelly Glover. The suspect was armed with at least one gun, believed to be a long-range firearm. Police weren't able to say whether it was the weapon used in the shooting of the cabbie or the self-inflicted wound. Because of the possible danger to the public, police blocked off all roads within a mile in every direction of the corner of Mollard and King Edward Street. A police robot was taken to the location of the standoff to carry a phone to the suspect in his car so officers weren't put in danger. "We'll wait till it's over. We won't be leaving till we get this male in custody," Glover said at the time. "Our officers are absolutely at risk. We believe the man has a long-range firearm and they are the closest people to him." Family members identified the dead cabbie as Raja Singh Brar. He was the city's 33rd homicide victim this year. Brar, who was in his late 30s and drove a cab for Unicity Taxi, had a wife and two sons, said one family member. The Brar family, whose home was up for sale, was hoping to move to British Columbia, said a neighbour. About 4:40 p.m. yesterday a woman who lives across the street from 96 Kenville Cr., the site of the shooting, said she ran to her window after hearing a "boom-boom" sound from outside. "The guy was just lying there," the woman said about half an hour after the shooting. "His cousin was out there -- he held him and cried." The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she didn't know her neighbour's name but described him as a "nice guy" who didn't appear to be in trouble with anyone. "It was scary," the woman said. Immediately after the shooting, police began searching for a late model Pontiac Grand Am, but witnesses were unclear on the age or colour of the car. Witnesses also told police the car had Alberta licence plates, but Glover couldn't confirm that. "Our information is that this is not a random shooting. We believe the suspect and the victim were known to each other," said Glover. Police set up roadblocks in Dist. 4, which covers East and North Kildonan and Transcona. For a few hours around dinner time, police were also warning residents in the first block of Kenville Crescent and the 400 block of Adsum Drive to stay indoors and were hoping others would avoid the area, she said. RCMP officers in communities outside Winnipeg were notified as police searched for the suspect inside the city and in rural areas, Glover said. Shortly after 8 p.m., police spotted the suspect car driving north on King Edward Drive and set up roadblocks to keep him from heading into heavily populated areas of the city. By 9 p.m., the suspect's car was surrounded near the Sikh Temple at 1244 Mollard Rd. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:17:45 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: New York Times: Congress Cops Out on Gun Violence PUBLICATION: The New York Times SECTION: Editorial EDITION: Late Edition - Final DATE: 2004.12.08 PAGE: 30 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Congress Cops Out on Gun Violence - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ When President Bush signs off on Congress's fecklessness and approves the $388 billion omnibus spending bill, he will be ratifying the way his fellow Republicans used their juggernaut budget process to undermine one of his most touted programs: special aid to state and local governments to prosecute black-market gun crimes. Mr. Bush had earmarked $45 million for local grants next year, but Congress saw fit to erase these funds in the frenzy of passing the take-it-or-leave-it bill. Congress also erased an additional $106 million the administration wanted for tracking illegal gun purchases by children. These programs subsidize major improvements in the most violently troubled neighborhoods by having all three levels of government coordinate attacks on gun crimes. Pleading "the reality of a lean budget," G.O.P. lawmakers add insult to injury because they gorged on billions in pork before taking an ax to the president's gun-violence programs. No one should believe Capitol assurances that there will be money to be found elsewhere for the job. This subversive budgeting should be received at the White House as a direct insult to Mr. Bush, one that raises more questions about his appetite for fighting Congress. The president can face only more gaming of his priorities in Congress's omnibus bills -- unless Mr. Bush opts to do the nation a favor and actually veto one of these annual monstrosities. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:18:08 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Police seek shooting tips PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Early SECTION: City & Region PAGE: B5 BYLINE: Emma Poole SOURCE: Calgary Herald - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police seek shooting tips - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police are canvassing restaurants and pubs in a middle-class southeast neighbourhood looking for tips into an early morning shooting Tuesday. Det. Jim Rorison said there's nothing to confirm the gunfight near Chaparral Boulevard and Chaparral Drive S.E. was gang-related, but a connection hasn't been ruled out. It's obvious, he said, that the incident is linked to another event, possibly one earlier in the night at a nearby watering hole or eatery. Investigators have recovered several bullet shell casings but say solving the case will be difficult without a victim. Officers have asked for guidance from the police service's community response unit, but have yet to turn over the file. Police have not been able to connect the Chaparral incident to another shooting in Rundle on Saturday. At about 3 p.m., a 911 caller from Rundlefield Close N.E. reported shots fired at a car on the street. The witness told police a vehicle was stopped on the street when a male stepped out from a walkway behind the car and shot at it. Officers found several shell casings. The latest incident comes as police continue to investigate a spate of shootings and a machete fight in November. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. epoole@theherald.canwest.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 14:18:25 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: POLICE HUNTING MYSTERY SHOOTER PUBLICATION: The Calgary Sun DATE: 2004.12.08 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 10 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ POLICE HUNTING MYSTERY SHOOTER - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shell casings are evidence of gunplay, but cops have few details to try to find the trigger-men. Two motorists called cops around 2 a.m. yesterday, saying they saw a man get out of a car in a parking lot at Chaparral Blvd. and Chaparral Dr. S.E. and fired shots at a vehicle as it sped away. Nothing but shell casings remained when cops arrived. Dist. 8 Det. Robert Fraser suspects the incident may have been a continuation of a dispute that began elsewhere and moved into the suburbs. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #610 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:akimoya@cogeco.ca 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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