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 #699 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, December 1 2005 Volume 08 : Number 699 In this issue: Police blame drug trade and gangs for growing number of firearms Fun shoot put on by the Moncton Gun Club BOSTON LAMENTS GUNS AS HOMICIDES HIT 66 Winnipeg: First week of Operation Clean Sweep A brazen daytime shootout yesterday Column: Legalize the sale of drugs Miller defends drop-in closures TEARS FLOW FOR GUN VICTIM Number of young people in sentenced custody decreased by half Letter: Municipal force would be better than RCMP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 08:56:29 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Police blame drug trade and gangs for growing number of firearms PUBLICATION: The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo) DATE: 2005.12.01 EDITION: Final SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 BYLINE: DEIRDRE HEALEY SOURCE: Guelph Mercury DATELINE: GUELPH ILLUSTRATION: Photo: DAVE CARTER, GUELPH MERCURY / Sgt. Paul Crowe ofGuelph Police holds a starter pistol that was seized along with three grams of crack cocaine during a traffic stop on Wellington Street on the weekend. Two men have been arrested for drug trafficking. WORD COUNT: 508 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Guns and replicas proliferate; Police blame rise in drug trade, gang activity for growing number of firearms - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ With the increasing number of people carrying illegal firearms and replica guns in the city, police worry it's only a matter of time before someone is shot. "Years ago, guns weren't something we worried about," said Guelph Police Sgt. Paul Crowe. "But now we are coming across so many illegal firearms. It's only a matter of time before we are confronted with a lethal use of force situation." A loaded .45-calibre handgun in a downtown apartment closet, a .22-calibre handgun lying at the bottom of a Willow Road dumpster and a shotgun hidden in an Alice Street home are some of the illegal firearms police have found in Guelph in recent months. Crowe, who spent close to a decade with the force's tactical team and is now supervising frontline officers, said the number of people carrying real and replica guns around for "protection and intimidation" is escalating. The risk of someone getting shot, whether by police or someone involved in the drug trade, increases with the rising number of illegal firearms and replica guns in the city, University of Guelph professor Ken Menzies said. "Police have a very legitimate concern," he said. "If an officer sees what appears to be a gun and the person is reaching for it, they don't think about if it is loaded or not loaded or if it's a replica or not. They don't have the time." Police say they seize an average of four replica guns a week. The higher-end replicas look identical to real guns, said Const. Brian Voisin, the force's firearms officer. "Some even have the Beretta (gun manufacturer) insignia on them. People will use these replica guns to commit crimes." Police seize an average of 60 firearms a year and as many as five are suspected to be linked to violent crime, Voisin said. "It shows there are certainly more guns out there," Voisin said. "The ones we recover are a small portion of the actual number that are out there. We are so close to Toronto, it would be foolish to think guns aren't coming this way." The amount of tips about illegal firearms coming into police from informants and through Crime Stoppers has also jumped, Voisin said. "It's not a big deal to have a gun anymore," he said. "We are getting a lot of information from people telling us about someone they know who has a gun, but we don't always have the manpower to do the surveillance needed to recover the firearms." An influx in crack cocaine dealers and gang activity has driven up the number of illegal firearms around, he said. Violent street gangs from Toronto and Hamilton are coming to Guelph to deal drugs and some are even setting up shop in the city, he said. "There are so many people carrying guns who are coming in and out of the city," Crowe said. "The drug trade in the city is hot right now." Over the past couple of years, local police have also been dealing with a rising number of criminals carrying knives because of the city's crack cocaine problem. Menzies said it is common for gangs and drug dealers to graduate from carrying knives to carrying guns. "The pattern that has happened in the United States is gangs who previously beat each other up with fists and knives move on to guns," said Menzies, who teaches criminology at the university. "One group will escalate to carrying guns so they have an advantage and the other groups will want to stay in the drug scene so they will start carrying guns too." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 08:58:22 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Fun shoot put on by the Moncton Gun Club PUBLICATION: The Moncton Times and Transcript DATE: 2005.12.01 SECTION: Opinion/Editorial PAGE: D1 COLUMN: Linda Hersey BYLINE: Linda Hersey SPORTS PEOPLE WORD COUNT: 474 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Morton makes mark with guns - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "It was a fun shoot put on by the (Moncton Gun) Club to attract new members," says Ian Morton of Riverview, "and I got hooked. It's really an enjoyable pastime." Employed in the resource recovery, recycling industry, Morton also played basketball in high school, continuing in the sport for two years with college basketball, but as he puts it, "it wasn't a career," though he did enjoy it. He has certainly distinguished himself in skeet shooting, and although a humble man, does share some of his major accomplishments. "I've been fairly lucky," he says. "Things have gone my way most of the time. When it started off I didn't really know what I was doing. I progressed from there and eventually got some training from an experienced instructor and I guess it peaked in 2003 I think it was when I won the collegiate world championship. "I won a junior world championship in 2000, and I won the collegiate world championship in 2003. It's a hobby and if you do good - great, and if you don't, it's a vacation. It's a social thing. It's just like any other hobby." While not an official coach, like most shooters in the club he will help fellow shooting enthusiasts if possible. Through his travels in the United States and Canada, and exposure to different styles of shooting and instruction, he has gained valuable insights, and is only to happy to provide assistance if needed. One of the aspects of this sport that he enjoys the most is the social interaction with other shooters, and he works competitions into his vacation time. As for practice, a very busy work schedule cuts into that, and as he points out "I just don't have time." Family is all part of his enjoyment of the sport, and he acknowledges his father, Richard Morton, as a "major reason why I do so well, or have had the opportunity to do well." His mother, Diane, older brother, Alex, younger brother, Craig, "and all my relatives" also come in for their fair share of praise from this champion shooter. Ian Morton is supportive himself for the most part, of the federal government gun laws. "In order to possess or get firearms or ammunition, you have to have a licence which means you have to do a training course by a certified instructor to pass the test," he says. "That's a great idea, it really is. Anyone who handles firearms should have at least basic knowledge of it, safety and otherwise. The gun control part of it that the government has tried, has been flawed ..." There are few flaws in his shooting however, but when there is, he wisely takes it in stride. There's always tomorrow. "It's frustrating not to do well, because you know you can do well," he says. "But you take the good with the bad, and what's done is done. If you have a bad day or you're not happy with something, the next time you go out is a whole new experience." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 08:59:04 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: BOSTON LAMENTS GUNS AS HOMICIDES HIT 66 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2005.12.01 EDITION: Early SECTION: News PAGE: 27 ILLUSTRATION: photo of THOMAS MENINO "Many guns" BYLINE: AP DATELINE: BOSTON WORD COUNT: 85 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BOSTON LAMENTS GUNS AS HOMICIDES HIT 66 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A pair of shooting deaths raised the number of homicides in Boston this year to 66, matching a 10-year high in a city that has made strides in curbing violent crime. A 17-year-old boy found with multiple gunshot wounds late on Monday in the city's Roxbury section died the next day, police said. Another 17-year-old who was shot in the head, also in Roxbury, was also pronounced dead on Tuesday. Boston, with a population of around 570,000, still has a relatively low rate of violent crime compared to other large U.S. cities. "There's so many guns out there," Mayor Thomas Menino said yesterday. - ---------------------------------------------- "Few Canadians appreciate that over 70% of American murders take place in just 3.5% of counties -- these being the inner-city areas where drug dealers are concentrated." http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2005/664.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 08:59:18 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Winnipeg: First week of Operation Clean Sweep PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2005.12.01 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 20 WORD COUNT: 31 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CLEANING UP THE WEST END - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Numbers from the first week (Nov. 21-27) of Operation Clean Sweep: * 41 -- Arrests made * 28 -- Traffic offence notices issued * 6 -- Small drug seizures * 6 -- People apprehended for being intoxicated * 3 -- Firearms seized * 435 -- Spot-checks done * 230 -- Estimated number of man-hours spent walking the beat * 16 -- Tips from public received - -- Winnipeg Police Service ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:05:40 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: A brazen daytime shootout yesterday PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL DATE: 2005.12.01 PAGE: A26 BYLINE: OLIVER MOORE SECTION: Toronto News EDITION: Metro WORD COUNT: 104 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Toronto in Brief Argument escalates into shootout - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A brazen daytime shootout yesterday appears to have injured no one, but it has police scrambling for witnesses. According to police, a man who had parked his sport utility vehicle behind a building near Dundas and Sackville streets argued with two passersby. The early-afternoon argument heated up and the man is alleged to have taken out a handgun and begun shooting at the other two. One of the other men is then believed to have pulled a gun and returned fire. The two shooters are believed to have fired about 10 rounds each before fleeing. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:06:05 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Column: Legalize the sale of drugs PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2005.12.01 EDITION: ONT SECTION: Opinion PAGE: A27 BYLINE: Ricardo Artunduaga Community Editorial Board WORD COUNT: 656 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Legalize the sale of drugs - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Once again Toronto is rocked by a murder committed with a gun fired by a youth. Once again we hear statements from politicians saying that new measures must be taken to diminish this new wave of violence. Once again the police union pleads its case for more officers to join the force. Once again alarms go off in the communities most affected by this barbarity. Once again mothers are in despair, feeling powerless, asking themselves where they went wrong. Once again, educators propose a return to segregated schools as a long-term solution. And, once again, the people directly concerned say very little out of fear of being the next victims in this ongoing bloodbath. But has any leader dared to say clearly that one of the main reasons for all of these killings is the criminalization of drugs? Of course not. No one mentions this because, in this age of political correctness, no one dares to face sobering truths. Everyone preders to speak from a perspective that is less painful for listeners. But isn't it about time we asked ourselves as a society if it is worthwhile to maintain the absurd policy of criminalizing drugs? Is it worth continuing with the wall of silence trying to hide something that is an obvious fact? Have any of us seen a murder in Canada caused by people trying to battle it out for the control of the alcohol or tobacco business? Behind this recent wave of violence, the hand of the drug underworld is visible. The drug market, with its immense and inflated profits, always will represent a means of escape for those people society has left behind. And it is a hypocritical society that, on one hand, condemns the murder of its younger members while, on the other, maintains the status quo by not coming up with serious alternatives to solve the problem. It is very likely that, with the community's assistance, some of the individuals responsible for the recent shootings could be captured and brought to justice, because the same community that produces the dead also knows where the murderers are. It's also likely that someday the police will show us the faces of the perpetrators of the current wave of violence, but that will not get to the root of the problem. It simply will extinguish the people's wrath for a while. Amnesia will return to our newspapers and our newscasts until new actors appear on the stage, new youngsters made into men by force, willing to put their lives in jeopardy for a piece of paradise here on Earth, for the joys of consumerism that their families are unable to provide. The politicians will go back to blaming each other, the mothers will continue to blame themselves and the educators will rethink alternatives to solve a problem that has only one definite solution. Enough hypocrisy, enough temporary solutions. It's time for a definite solution The legalization of the sale and consumption of drugs - with strict controls by the state. This would finish the gangs and their wicked influence over our most vulnerable citizens. How long will we remain blind to this reality? This is the only way to get to the root of the problems caused by the criminalization of drugs. I grew up in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of one of the world's most violent cities, where three of my school friends were murdered, along with one of my teachers and one of my childhood friends. Years later, I became a prosecutor and my job consisted of putting killers through the judicial system. You could say that I know this story from both sides I was a victim of marginalization and attended too many funerals without understanding why we were killing each other. I had the enormous advantage of realizing before it was too late that easy money was nothing but a mirage and took charge of my education as the only way out of a lost childhood. In the two years that I was a prosecutor, I was assigned to investigate at least 40 homicides and was a helpless witness to the moral degradation of my society. I don't want my Canada to look like the country I left behind. We still have time to straighten our treacherous path, no more Band-Aid solutions, no more "exhaustive investigations" and no more politically correct answers. It is time to question the roots of this violence. And despite the lack of social services, despite the budget cuts of the 1990s, despite the negative role models - despite all of this - there is above all the stupidest policy human beings have ever devised, the most absurd decision ever made by politicians all around the world the criminalization of drugs. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:11:24 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Miller defends drop-in closures PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL DATE: 2005.12.01 PAGE: A1 (ILLUS) BYLINE: JOE FRIESEN SECTION: Toronto News EDITION: Metro DATELINE: Toronto ONT WORDS: 627 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Miller defends drop-in closures - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police, city councillors and the grandfather of slain teenager Amon Beckles called yesterday for the reopening of youth drop-in programs that were shut down after Mr. Beckles was shot, while Mayor David Miller defended the decision. "The people who work there have got to be safe. That's the first priority," Mr. Miller said of the city's decision to close two school-based youth drop-in programs in the Keele Street and Eglinton Avenue area last week for safety reasons. A third centre run by Toronto Community Housing Corp. was also closed. Mr. Miller, who has been a vocal advocate of a community safety strategy that emphasizes programs for young people, added that the centres had been scheduled to close this week because of funding and lease arrangements. He said the programs will resume in January, when funding permits. Police say they want to see the drop-in programs resume as soon as possible. Inspector David Marks, the head of 12 Division, said he's lobbying Toronto Community Housing to reopen the youth drop-in program at the York Square housing complex, where Mr. Beckles and his slain friend, Jamal Hemmings, used to go after school. Insp. Marks said the drop-ins are crucial to building safer communities. "These things are invaluable." "There's just no place for these young people to go." Sheena Notice, a 17-year-old who lives in the York Square housing complex and knew Mr. Beckles and Mr. Hemmings, echoed the inspector. She said the drop-in was a place where young people gathered like a family and could talk about their problems. "When Jamal died, we all went downstairs [to the centre], and we had a big Bristol board where we said our farewells. It was a comfort," Ms. Notice said. Now she worries that younger teens who have lost their after-school programs will drift toward gangs or crime. Desmond Beckles, Amon's grandfather, said something must be done for the young people living at York Square. "There's plenty of kids that depend on that program, and my opinion is that it should be kept open, for them," he said. "Amon is gone. They can't bring him back. I know that he would like the other kids to continue with their activities." But that won't happen until March. Toronto Community Housing said it closed its York Square program a week earlier than planned because employees were too traumatized to work. A four-month renovation project there is about to get under way. Steve Floros, director of property management, said the gym has suffered water damage. In any case, he added, the agency's mandate is to provide housing, not youth programs. Brenda Librecz, general manager of parks and recreation, says she is working with local agencies to find activities to fill the gap. She said field trips and chat sessions are possibilities. At city hall, the closing of the programs was criticized. Councillor Michael Thompson, who has been outspoken on gun violence and community safety, said closing the youth centres was a bad idea, even if there were safety concerns. "We have got to make sure we don't close things down because there's a few gunmen out there. . . . That's living in fear," he said. If staff were traumatized, perhaps a rotation of workers could have kept the centres going, he added. Councillor Jane Pitfield, who recently announced she will be a candidate in the next mayoral election, called the closings "a bit of a knee-jerk reaction." "I would have thought keeping them open made more sense. When a door shuts, you lose participants, and sometimes they don't come back." She said the centres should be reopened as quickly as possible. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:11:24 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: TEARS FLOW FOR GUN VICTIM PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2005.12.01 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 25 ILLUSTRATION: photo of COREY DELLON JOHN Shot to death BYLINE: CHRIS DOUCETTE, TORONTO SUN WORD COUNT: 160 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TEARS FLOW FOR GUN VICTIM COPS 'DON'T KNOW WHOLE LOT' - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Grief-stricken relatives and friends of Corey Dellon John -- the city's latest murder victim -- comforted each other yesterday at his family's home in the city's west end. Inside the two-storey brick house, just a block from where the 24-year-old was gunned down at 3 p.m. Tuesday, tears flowed and loved ones were too distraught to talk about their loss. "They're very upset, as you would expect," Toronto homicide Det. Graham Gibson said yesterday of the family. "They are dealing with it as best as they can." Graham and his partner, Det. Steve Ryan, spent much of the day at the young man's post-mortem examination to find out how John died. But now they need to find out why he was killed. "The autopsy confirmed he died of multiple gunshot wounds," Graham said. "But other than that, we don't know a whole lot. It's too early." John was killed in a brazen daylight shooting at the entrance to an alley on the east side of Perth Ave. a few steps north of Bloor St. W., just west of Lansdowne Ave. -- the same alley where killer Michael Briere snatched 10-year-old Holly Jones in May of 2003. A small bouquet of flowers marked the spot where John died. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:11:24 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Number of young people in sentenced custody decreased by half STATISTICS CANADA Thursday, December 1, 2005 Youth correctional services: Key indicators, 2003/04 The number of young people in sentenced custody decreased by half, and the numbers on remand and probation have been reduced considerably since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/051201/d051201a.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:11:25 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Letter: Municipal force would be better than RCMP PUBLICATION: Red Deer Advocate DATE: 2005.11.30 SECTION: Comment PAGE: A4 COLUMN: Letter WORD COUNT: 439 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Municipal force would be better than RCMP - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This letter will probably open up a big can of worms, but what the heck? God hates a coward. After reading recent newspaper reports that our city RCMP detachment suffers from poor supervision and training, and substandard investigative procedures, I have to ask: why doesn't Red Deer have its own municipal police force? Other Alberta communities - like Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Camrose and Lacombe - seem to function very well with their own police forces. Why a municipal police force as opposed to the RCMP? Cities or communities that have their own police forces must do so for a reason. The biggest one is probably cost. If it costs less per man for your own municipal police services, it's only be logical that for same amount of money you could put more police on the streets. It would create a stronger presence than what we have now. However, that is just my assumption. But I know there would be no costs for transfers or relocations. Another reason, I guess, would be local control of policing and procedures. We can prioritize how we want our police force to function. We wouldn't have to answer Ottawa or some federal body with regards to policing our community. If we had our own police force, it would answer primarily to the people of Red Deer. Here one that's always made me go, "Hmmm." Ever wonder how many Red Deer RCMP members live or own homes in what most people would refer to as the less desirable areas of the city? I'm not sure ,but I'll bet it's less than five per cent. If we had our own police force, could we not make it mandatory that its members be distributed equally throughout the city. Would it be fair to assume that criminal elements might think twice about breaking into a house or stealing something if there were cops actually living in the area? Which areas of the city have the most break-ins, drug problems, domestic violence, etc.? Would those be the areas without police living in them? I don't have the answers to all the policing woes or the problems that ensue, but I feel that, given the size of Red Deer, it's time we had our own police force. We need more emphasis put on crime prevention instead of revenue generation through traffic violations and auto accidents. Our police force has to be more proactive than reactive to crime, meaning stopping it before it starts. However, given all of the above, it doesn't matter who is policing the community if the courts don't hand out harsher penalties to the criminals - especially the repeat offenders. It almost makes you wonder if judges and lawyers have created their own industry by recycling the bad guys through a revolving door at the taxpayers' expense. But that's another concern altogether. Dale Stuart Red Deer ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V8 #699 ********************************** 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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