From: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V8 #454 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 Friday, September 30 2005 Volume 08 : Number 454 In this issue: Poachers spread safety fears on HCA land; Three charged after man swarmed, stabbed Editorial: Minimum term demands foolish BRITAIN: Tony Blair announces sweeping police powers BRITAIN: Tory who left children with guns avoids jail Gun suspect cleared, but judge wary Police probe mysterious shooting; Man fined after losing loaded handgun in pub Effectiveness of the mandatory minimum sentencing? Tories push MacKay to stay in Ottawa Federal Conservatives claw way back - poll ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:28:02 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Poachers spread safety fears on HCA land; PUBLICATION: The Hamilton Spectator DATE: 2005.09.30 EDITION: Final SECTION: Local PAGE: A4 BYLINE: Steve Buist SOURCE: The Hamilton Spectator ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator / Deer often passon the trail below this hunting blind found on private property. WORD COUNT: 419 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poachers spread safety fears on HCA land - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The discovery that poachers have set up a network of sophisticated hunting platforms in the Dundas valley has some residents fearing for their safety. About 10 platforms have been found by a resident who lives next to the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. At least one platform is on the private property of a landowner who doesn't allow hunting, said one resident, Terry, who asked that his last name not be used for fear of retribution. The man also contacted the Hamilton Conservation Authority yesterday because he believes several of the platforms are located on either the authority's rail trail land or in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. Tony Horvat, director of land management for the HCA, said he will be investigating whether any of the platforms are on the authority's property. If so, the police and the Ministry of Natural Resources will be notified, and the platforms will be ripped down. Horvat said hunting is not allowed on the conservation authority's property in the Dundas valley. "Obviously, if they're on our land, we're concerned," said Horvat. "We have a lot of people visiting and hiking the trails. Obviously, we don't want people with whatever type of firearms out there." The platforms have been skilfully built to fit in specific trees. They consist of welded metal frames with metal ladders. The platforms are secured to trees with heavy-duty lag bolts about three to five metres off the ground. The poachers are thought to be after deer and wild turkeys, both of which are plentiful in the valley. Terry was particularly angered because some of the hunting stands he found are located in trees directly above where the deer feed. The animals are fairly docile because of the human activity in the valley. "This isn't hunting," he said. "They just wait until they walk underneath and shoot them." Another man, who didn't want to be identified at all for fear of retribution, said he heard gunshots in his area of the Dundas valley just four days ago. He believes the shots came from somewhere on his 20-hectare property. "I go walking in the bush, so what's to say someone won't mistake a person for a deer?" asked the man, adding that he doesn't allow hunting on his property. It's not the first time poaching has been a problem in the Dundas valley. Last fall, the Ministry of Natural Resources charged two men with five offences each, including careless hunting and trespassing to hunt, after two dead deer were found gutted and abandoned on a piece of private property near the rail trail. The two cases are still before the court, said Guy Desroches, a conservation officer with the local office of the MNR. The MNR alleges at least one of the poachers fired a shot straight across the rail trail, he said. "Someone who passed by on the trail two or three seconds later could still smell the gunpowder," said Desroches. Penalties for careless hunting and trespassing to hunt are usually a combination of fines and hunting suspensions, he said. Jail sentences are rare. sbuist@thespec.com 905-526-3226 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:28:14 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Three charged after man swarmed, stabbed PUBLICATION: The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo) DATE: 2005.09.30 EDITION: Final SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 SOURCE: Record staff DATELINE: CAMBRIDGE WORD COUNT: 81 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Three charged after man swarmed, stabbed in park - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Three Cambridge men have been charged after a swarming last week in which a 20-year-old man was threatened with a firearm and stabbed in the back in a Cambridge park. Shortly before midnight on Sept. 18, the victim was walking in Chaplin Park near Moscrip Road when he was surrounded, hit with a replica firearm and stabbed, regional police said. The robbers took his wallet and Detroit Pistons basketball jersey. The Cambridge victim was treated at hospital for a minor stab wound. The men, ages 17, 19 and 21, have been charged with robbery and using a firearm while committing a robbery. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:28:30 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Editorial: Minimum term demands foolish PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) DATE: 2005.09.30 EDITION: Final SECTION: Forum PAGE: A12 SOURCE: The StarPhoenix WORD COUNT: 679 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Minimum term demands foolish - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's no surprise that, in the wake of the horrible events of March 3 that claimed the lives of four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alta., there would be demands for get-tough sentencing. And it also should come as no surprise that Conservatives MPs from Alberta have picked up the call for minimum sentencing for anyone convicted of running a grow-op, considering that James Roszko, the man who took those lives, had some 283 marijuana plants growing in a Quonset on his farm. It is surprising, however, that Manitoba's NDP Attorney General Gord Mackintosh also tapped into this reactionary solution by demanding this week that Ottawa impose minimum sentences to deter people from smuggling guns across the border. One hopes that federal lawmakers will not be so easily swayed by the emotional call from victims' families to enact legislation that neither will make us safer nor deliver superior justice. Canada already has in place a number of minimum sentence requirements for crimes ranging from importing narcotics, to using a firearm to commit an offence, to murder. In almost every case, the sentences have been challenged because of special circumstances that could not have been foreseen by parliamentarians who enacted them. In fact, Roszko could be a poster boy for the silliness of demanding minimum sentences. A violent man, who was constantly in conflict with the law, disavowed by his family and completely unconcerned with the value of any life including his own, he killed himself rather than be arrested. Had there been a mandatory two-year minimum sentence for running his grow-op, he would not have been punished more. And if the production, distribution and consumption of marijuana were legal, his murders would have instead been committed over stolen car parts. But it is the exception on the other end of the spectrum that proves the absurdity of mandatory sentences. Robert Latimer, who has served only half of his mandatory sentence for what jurors clearly felt was a crime of compassion, is to languish in jail for at least another five years. Had the judge and jury who listened to all the evidence been free to decide his fate, Latimer would have been back as a productive member of society four years ago rather than taking up space in one of Her Majesty's facilities. Similarly, had the bullet travelled a few inches in another direction, an Ontario police officer who shot and wounded a fleeing suspect last year could have been facing a manslaughter charge that carries a mandatory sentence of four years, because his offence was committed with a firearm. Instead he was convicted of "discharging a firearm with the intent to cause harm." And, although parliamentarians insisted on a seven-year minimum sentence to deter people from smuggling drugs into Canada, the Supreme Court eventually considered it unconstitutional. Then chief justice Antonio Lamer wrote that while society would have no qualms throwing away the key on someone who commits a crime that is "responsible for the gradual but inexorable degeneration of many of their fellow human beings as a result of their becoming drug addicts," he wondered what sane person would "sentence to seven years in a penitentiary a young person who, while driving back into Canada from a winter break in the U.S.A., is caught with only one, indeed, let's postulate, his or her first joint?" American legislators enacting minimum sentence laws to curtail a epidemic of crack cocaine use in the 1980s failed to slow crack use, but resulted in locking up a disproportionate number of black Americans. The U.S. is still trying to address the social implications of this policy. Canada's Supreme Court has also recognized that sentencing can disproportionately target Natives and demanded that alternatives to jail be sought. How that washes with this mindless call for minimum sentences isn't clear. Canada has among the highest rates of incarceration in the developed world, indicating that our judges already are sensitive to the public demand for tougher sentences. They also have recognized, however, that exceptional situations require flexibility in sentencing. Better they decide than opportunistic politicians. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:28:50 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: BRITAIN: Tony Blair announces sweeping police powers The Guardian - September 28, 2005 PM announces sweeping police powers Press Association http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,1271,-5306839,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:29:03 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: BRITAIN: Tory who left children with guns avoids jail PUBLICATION: The Daily Telegraph DATE: 2005.09.30 PAGE: 01 SECTION: News BYLINE: Paul Stokes WORD COUNT: 169 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tory who left children with guns avoids jail - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A CONSERVATIVE councillor who left two children alone in his home for three hours with access to a Bren gun and a musket narrowly escaped jail yesterday. John Smith, 49, was told by a judge that his behaviour had been "deplorable and disgraceful''. He was given an eight-week suspended prison sentence. Sheffield Crown Court was told that police forced entry into his locked house and found two distraught boys aged eight and four. Officers found the Bren gun with a loaded clip at the top of the stairs, a rifle in a bedroom, exposed wires on a light switch and electrical socket and a knife with a serrated edge easily accessible in the kitchen. Judge Patrick Robertshaw told Smith: "The care and nurture of two defenceless infants had been entrusted to you and you discharged that trust with reckless, selfish, gross irresponsibility.'' Chris Tonge, prosecuting, said that Smith, a councillor for three years on Labour-run Barnsley metropolitan borough council, left the boys locked in his untidy home at Barugh Green, Barnsley, while he met tradesmen. Smith admitted two offences of child cruelty. Neither gun was capable of being fired, he said, but he regretted the incident. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:29:28 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Gun suspect cleared, but judge wary PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2005.09.30 EDITION: Final SECTION: City & Region PAGE: B2 BYLINE: Daryl Slade SOURCE: Calgary Herald WORD COUNT: 280 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gun suspect cleared, but judge wary - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A judge has acquitted a Calgary man of five weapons offences, because she couldn't conclude he was aware there was a handgun under the seat. Police found the weapon following an incident outside Outlaws Niteclub last Nov. 21. Greg Hyungbien Lee was a passenger in his mother's car at the time. However, provincial court Judge Sharon Van de Veen requested the Crown send a copy of her written decision for acquitting the 22-year-old to his parents. "Having examined the motor vehicle, it is possible the weapons were placed under the seat either by the passenger, which would have been the accused, or from an accessibility point of view, by the occupant seated immediately behind the accused, who was one Mr. Tran," wrote Van De Veen. The judge said Tran had the opportunity to place the weapon in the vehicle without Lee's knowledge. "The accused is entitled to an acquittal and I find him not guilty of the offence," wrote the judge. "I would, however, request the Crown provide a copy of these reasons to the accused's parents who, as owners of the car, ought to be aware that while the Crown has been unable to prove the accused's guilt in this case, there is a high degree of suspicion in the mind of the court concerning the accused's involvement in these offences. Suspicion is not sufficient for a conviction under the law, but this is not a case where I believe the accused to be innocent." It's the second time in recent months that Lee has beaten a series of weapons charges. He and three others, including a 17-year-old male, had a half-dozen weapons charges stayed during the summer relating to a sawed-off shotgun and shells found by police in a rented vehicle on March 7. In that case, Assistant Chief Judge Brian Stevenson ruled police should have obtained a warrant before they searched the vehicle, thus the evidence must be excluded from trial. dslade@theherald.canwest.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:29:43 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Police probe mysterious shooting; PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2005.09.30 EDITION: ONT SECTION: News PAGE: B2 BYLINE: Jim Wilkes SOURCE: Toronto Star ILLUSTRATION: Jim Wilkes toronto star York Region Detective ConstablesBrad Joice, left, and Sean Fitzgerald examine evidence near the Ferrari of a man shot yesterday. WORD COUNT: 292 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police probe mysterious shooting; Man shot near Vaughan plaza Driver's door of Ferrari torn off - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police are not only trying to figure out who shot a 35-year-old man four times, but how the driver's door of his Ferrari was torn off in the process. Police believe the man had been driving the 2002 sports car moments before he was gunned down around 6 a.m. yesterday near a Vaughan plaza that houses a Vietnamese karaoke bar and other businesses. He was apparently able to drive half a block to the corner of Adesso Dr. and Steeles Ave. W., just west of Jane St., where the door was ripped off. It lay on the pavement in front of the abandoned light blue car surrounded by broken glass. Police believe the wounded man was pulled into a silver 2000 BMW, which sped off, eventually pulling into the parking lot of a commercial plaza beside a gas bar at Finch Ave. W. and Weston Rd. in North York, where paramedics were called. Witnesses told police the man's chest was covered in blood and that he slipped in and out of consciousness as they waited for paramedics to arrive. The BMW's front passenger window was also shattered; it was covered with plastic sheeting by police until forensic officers could inspect it. The vehicle was guarded by officers from both York and Toronto. The man, whom police refused to identify, was reported in critical condition in Sunnybrook hospital with what was believed to be a gunshot wound in his chest and three more in his back. Police were unable to say whether the Italian sports car, which is registered to a Toronto leasing company, was stolen. Shopkeepers in the area of the shooting said the car has been seen regularly on nearby streets and often at the plaza where the karaoke bar is located. Police were questioning its driver in an effort to unravel what happened before the shooting and why the victim was driven into North York before police were called. Const. Kim Killby of York police appealed for anyone with information to call detectives at 1-866-5423, ext. 7865. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:29:55 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Man fined after losing loaded handgun in pub DATE: 2005.09.29 CATEGORY: Atlantic regional news PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 78 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Saint John, N.B., man fined after losing loaded handgun in pub - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SAINT JOHN, N.B.- A man who thinks Saint John is so unsafe he has to carry a loaded handgun has been fined $345 for possession of a restricted weapon. David Edward Gallop, 52, was arrested on June 18 at a Saint John pub after another customer spotted a gun on the floor. It was found near a chair where Gallop was sitting and apparently fell out of his coat pocket. Gallop, who recently moved to the city, told officers he carried the gun because he heard Saint John was a violent place. Police found five guns, all unregistered, at his home. (CP)(New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:30:06 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Effectiveness of the mandatory minimum sentencing? June 27, 2005 - LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT: "There is little research dealing with the effectiveness of mandatory minimum sentences in Canada, particularly in the area of firearms legislation." For full report click here: http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2005_lp_minsent_06_27.doc June 27, 2005 - STATISTICS CANADA: "We cannot measure the effectiveness of the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions pertaining to firearms." For full report click here: http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2005_statscan_min_06_27.doc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:30:18 -0600 (CST) From: "Bruce Mills" Subject: Tories push MacKay to stay in Ottawa http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050930/HAM MMACKAY30/National/Idx Tories push MacKay to stay in Ottawa By BRIAN LAGHI Friday, September 30, 2005 Page A1 OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF Tory deputy leader Peter MacKay kept the door slightly ajar yesterday to a possible run for the Nova Scotia premiership, prompting federal Conservative members to lobby the popular co-founder of their party not to go. Sources said yesterday Mr. MacKay is not inclined at this point to try to replace the retiring Premier John Hamm, but Mr. MacKay's departure would be a significant blow to a party that is already being seen as too influenced by the old Canadian Alliance/Reform Party. "I learned a long time ago that you never say 'never,' but this is all about timing and it's all about the commitment that I've given to the party and to the leader and to my constituents," Mr. MacKay said yesterday. "To that extent, I'm very content to carry on in this capacity at the federal level . . . I have every intention of running for the Conservative Party in the next election." Sources said yesterday the MP for Central Nova received several phone calls from political activists in Nova Scotia seeking his political return to the province. "He'll have to think hard about it for a few days," a source said. The influence of the old Progressive Conservatives took a hit earlier this year with Belinda Stronach's decision to cross the floor. Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper could ill afford the loss of his second-in-command at a time when the party is trailing the Liberals in the polls and prone to accusations that its PC wing lacks influence. However, Mr. Harper appeared to give Mr. MacKay his blessing yesterday for whatever he decides, telling CTV Newsnet that his deputy has a bright future wherever it may be. Other MPs said yesterday they will press him to stay. "I love Nova Scotians, but we are not quite prepared to give Peter up and we need him in the House," said the party's finance critic, Monte Solberg. "I know there will be lots of people calling, but I'm urging him to resist the siren call." Although Mr. Harper and Mr. MacKay are cordial, Mr. MacKay's colleagues have complained that Mr. Harper does not confide in his deputy and that he is not intimately involved in party strategy. Earlier this week, Mr. MacKay became angry after an anonymous colleague said he was campaigning for the party leadership. Mr. MacKay is one of the party's most popular MPs and is in great demand as a speaker and fundraiser across the country. A colleague of Mr. MacKay said the deputy believes he is so identified with the start-up of the new party that it would be difficult to leave. "Well, look, the party is always at a critical juncture before an election and the policy work that I have done, the work that I do, travel on behalf of the party and supporting leader and our members and our candidates is going to continue," Mr. MacKay said. Yet another colleague, who played a key role in Mr. MacKay's successful campaign for PC leader in 2003, said Mr. MacKay could easily move to Nova Scotia, serve a term or two as premier, and then return to Ottawa as a potential leader with a significant accomplishment in his back pocket. Mr. MacKay said he is also aware that a federal vote is in the offing. "There could be an election this fall. So the last thing I want to do is lead to instability or speculation about my commitment to the party." Should he run for premier, Mr. MacKay would also face a very crowded field, with a number of Nova Scotia cabinet ministers said to be thinking about the job. "He's a very talented guy," said one senior Nova Scotia Torywho asked not to be named. "I'm sure there will be a lot of people trying to conscript him." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:30:35 -0600 (CST) From: "Bruce Mills" Subject: Federal Conservatives claw way back - poll http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2005/09/30/1242170-sun.html Federal Conservatives claw way back - poll By CP Fri, September 30, 2005 OTTAWA -- The federal Conservatives are climbing back after a bruising few months and have sliced in half the Liberals' lead in public opinion, a new survey suggests. The 13-point lead the Liberals enjoyed nationally in June and their massive 21-point advantage in the vital Ontario battleground are now half of what they were, according to a poll provided to The Canadian Press by Decima Research. The new numbers support a trend reported in private Conservative polls and offer the party qualified hope for an election campaign that is either weeks or months away. But Decima chief executive Bruce Anderson said any predictions based on his recent numbers would be folly. "Anybody who believes they can predict the outcome of an election, based on the numbers we're seeing, should pause," said Decima chief executive Bruce Anderson. "It's an electoral landscape that's becoming easier to analyze from a retrospective standpoint, but more perilous to predict." The numbers offer some relief for Stephen Harper. The Conservative leader came under attack recently from a small group of party members who demanded his resignation because they said he couldn't win. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V8 #454 ********************************** 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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