From: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V9 #660 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, July 20 2006 Volume 09 : Number 660 In this issue: Re: CPC Founding Principles let cpc feel the heat Homicides up for second straight year Re: reading excel files [LETTER] Scrapping gun licensing system not in works Re: Police shootings show need for gun registry to be Straw men - (Was Re: cPC just like the Liberals and maybe worse Sask. justice minister: Tougher laws needed Street crime and armed mugging are on increase Increase In Child Gun Victims Overnight shooting ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 19:16:32 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Re: CPC Founding Principles Marc Thibault wrote: > In general this list of principles (not all of which are > principles) gives ample evidence of having been whipped together > in a hurry and judged on the basis of including > everybody's pet rabbits rather than coherence. This does not > give me a great deal of confidence in the quality of governance > to be expected from the CPC. I wanted to thank Marc publicly for taking the time to put together this very prescient and insightful analysis of some of the CPC's "Founding Principles". It's not very often that I'm impressed, and this is one of those times. Yours in Liberty, Bruce Hamilton Ontario ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 19:58:31 -0600 (CST) From: "ross" Subject: let cpc feel the heat There is an entrenched bureaucratic will to maintain the gun registry and firearms owners licensing empire. This comes from years of department managers hiring folks with a will to restrict and limit the number of firearms owners in Canada and the legal use of firearms in Canada. Mr. Day is suffering from poor advise from those bureaucrats who are despartely trying to hold on to their power and empire.", THE ABOVE MAY well be true, but now the CPC can read about the disatisfaction in the paper they can then deal with our disatisfaction or ignore us at their peril. I have several more articles to go in to the papers, some of which may cause the media to take notice of the cpc, and link them to the lying liberals. Once you call a control drama it either ends or continues and everyone sees them for what they are. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 20:20:43 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Homicides up for second straight year The other news articles about this glossed over this little fact... http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Law/2006/07/20/1694249-cp.html Homicides up for second straight year By JIM BROWN OTTAWA (CP) - The Canadian homicide rate was up in 2005 for the second year in a row, reaching its highest level in nearly a decade. But figures released Thursday by Statistics Canada show the chances of being murdered were still substantially lower than they were when the rate reached its peak in the mid-1970s. And despite the Conservative government's contention that law-order must become a national priority, the overall crime rate fell last year - largely because property crime dipped to its lowest level in 30 years. The bottom line is that there's no cause for panic about crime in the streets, said Irvin Waller, a criminologist at the University of Ottawa. But there's no cause for complacency either. "These statistics basically show that Canada is not a no-crime country, and it's not even a low-crime country. It's an average-crime country - and is that really what we want?" The Tory crime-fighting recipe includes legislation tabled last spring to increase mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related offences and to rein in the use of conditional sentencing by judges - essentially probation and other sentences served in the community rather than in jail. Justice Minister Vic Toews has also brought in bills to crack down on street racing - something already illegal under other provisions of the Criminal Code - and to raise the age of sexual consent to 16 from 14 in an effort to target adult predators who prey on youngsters. Critics say there's no evidence that tougher sentences or higher incarceration rates will reduce crime. They could, however, cost billions to build more prisons. A more fruitful approach, said Waller, might be to emphasize education, housing and job training in an attempt to keep high-risk youths in school and give them a stake in society once they graduate. That view was seconded by Neil Boyd of British Columbia's Simon Fraser University, who termed the Tory anti-crime measures nothing more than "tinkering." The problem is that addressing the root causes of crime - through social programs for disenchanted youths and people with abusive or otherwise troubled family backgrounds - doesn't pay off quickly, said Boyd. "It's not very attractive for politicians who seek election in four-year time cycles to be thinking about a solution that might take 20 years." The figures for 2005 show 658 homicides across the country, a rise of four per cent on top of the 12-per-cent increase in 2004. But the national rate of 2.0 slayings per 100,000 people was well below the high-water mark of 3.0 reached three decades ago. Sensational news of gang-related shootings in Toronto helped spark Prime Minister Stephen Harper's pledge during the last election campaign to toughen sentences for gun offences. The statistics show, however, that someone in Toronto was less than half as likely to be murdered as someone in Edmonton. The rate was 2.0 victims per 100,000 people in the country's biggest city - exactly in line with the national average - while it was 4.3 per 100,000 in the Alberta capital, the highest homicide rate of any major city. Other urban centres in Western Canada, including Vancouver, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg, were also well above the national average. In Montreal, by contrast, the homicide rate was 1.3 per 100,000, the lowest since 1981. National rates for other serious violent crime, including attempted murders, robberies and aggravated assaults, also rose last year. Non-violent crimes and property offences, including thefts, break-ins, counterfeiting and fraud, were down six per cent. Drug offences and total youth crime - defined as offences by those aged under 18 - also declined. The overall national crime rate fell by five per cent, offsetting an increase of six per cent the previous year. The overall rates dropped in every province and territory in 2005. The highest overall rate for the year was in Saskatchewan, followed by British Columbia and Manitoba. The lowest rates, on a per capita basis, were in Ontario and Quebec. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:15:40 -0600 (CST) From: Christopher di Armani Subject: Re: reading excel files At 10:34 AM 7/20/2006, you wrote: >You can download a program from MS called "XL Viewer", which allows you >to view-only .xls files. When you try to view a .xls file with your >browser, it should download the file and then open it with XL Viewer for >you A free solution that I prefer is OpenOffice. http://OpenOffice.org. It's an EXCELLENT software package, and includes replacements for Word, Excel and Powerpoint, and can read all those formats natively. Yours in Liberty, Christopher di Armani christopher@diArmani.com Licensing law-abiding gun owners CANNOT stop criminal gangs from killing people. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:15:56 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: [LETTER] Scrapping gun licensing system not in works http://www.businessedge.ca/article.cfm/newsID/13095.cfm Scrapping gun licensing system not in works By Reader Feedback - Published: 07/20/2006 - Vol. 6, No. 15 Re: Gun merchants split on rule changes, by Monte Stewart, Business Edge, July 6, 2006. I found your article on the gun registry and the firearms retail industry interesting and I thought it was neat how you polled dealers across the country instead of just one city. However, I was a bit disturbed at the ending of the article and how it took a fairly solid article and ran it off the road. According to Wendy Cukier, scrapping the long-gun registry would "make it easier for criminals, cop killers and abusive men to get access to guns." Nothing could be further from the truth. Scrapping the registry does not include scrapping the licensing system. In order to obtain a possession and acquisition licence (PAL) for firearms, you must have a clean criminal record and you must provide information on your spouse (or spouses if you've been through more than one relationship) and you are subject to a background check including possible interviews with said spouses, as well as the references provided on the application form. As for the "5,000 hits a day" statement, that figure has been debunked over and over again. The registry database is queried every time someone checks the CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre) database, which means that every time a police officer or other law-enforcement person does a search for information, the gun registry gets a "hit" whether or not the person was searching for firearms information. - - Michael Chow, Coquitlam, B.C. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:32:43 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Re: Police shootings show need for gun registry to be Bruce Mills wrote: > Majordomo User wrote: > > >>NOTE: Versions of this Canadian Press article appeared in the Edmonton >>Journal and the Sault Star. >> >>CANADIAN PRESS >>DATE: 2006.07.18 >>CATEGORY: National general news >>BYLINE: TIM COOK >>PUBLICATION: cpw >>WORD COUNT: 659 >> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >>Police shootings show need for gun registry to be maintained: advocates >> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > This story appears on the CANOE.CA news page, so it's a good bet that it > will appear in the SUN chain at some point in time...keep your eyes > peeled, and report any sightings, please. > > > http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Law/2006/07/18/1691187-cp.html > > Shootings help gun registry cause This also appeared on the CTV.ca website: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060719/gun_registry_060719/20060719?hub=Canada RCMP deaths show need for gun registry: advocates Updated Wed. Jul. 19 2006 11:47 PM ET Canadian Press There doesn't seem to be any video associated with it, so maybe it didn't make it to air... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:34:14 -0600 (CST) From: "B&C Beaudoin" Subject: Straw men - (Was Re: cPC just like the Liberals and maybe worse Paul Chicoine wrote: >Yes Brad that would appear to be plain truth but this argument seems >circuitous because some other plain truths are being ignored. >That being a portion of the RFC, mostly in the form or membership >groups, called stakeholders by the government, who are clambering >support for C-21 when it becomes clear a majority of firearm holders are >not in favour. Has it been established that a "clear majority" of firearm holders (Owners?) are against C-21? I must have missed that poll... >The proposal put forward by some stockholders groups are almost worded >exactly like what the government is offering; that is some barter. >So what these groups and government just declare victory and go home, >promise make, promise kept? For one, it gives the optics that the government is proceeding with it's commitment to firearms owners while presenting the opposition with minimal offensive changes (Compromise?) to garner support for passing C-21. before an election. Should C-21 pass, I think the party expects that the RFC will work to assist the CPC to a majority government, where it can fully implement it's commitment to scrap C-68 entirely. If C-21 is not passed before an election, the bill will die and the CPC will not be forced to justify attempting to gut C-68 going into an election campaign.(disaster anyone?) But it would affirm a commitment to the RFC that the CPC has tried, but needs a majority to proceed. In that case the CPC could claim that C-21 died because of the minority situation (& sour grapes from the Liberals), and propose similar responsible legislation during the campaign. Once elected to a majority the government would be free to fulfill a promise made in the last election campaign, and put the fatal blow to the FA by scrapping C-68 and replacing it with what? > Has your club asked your opinion in a clear question? No >Is what was in the Blue Book regarding firearms law reforms close to what is in C-21? No >Do you believe, in this example, CSSA will revisit their position? Maybe >Do you believe that if C-21 is passed that the CPC will revisit the issue of firearm law if they form the >next government? Sure I do! Many RFC members are involved with CPC riding associations, fundraisers, right on up to the party brass. Everyone in the RFC should understand what Rob pointed out "I truly believe that any effective reforms to the CFA require a CPC majority government as a mandatory prerequisite." I would like to add THEY NEED US! Regards, Brad ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:55:26 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Sask. justice minister: Tougher laws needed http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Law/2006/07/20/1694433-cp.html Sask. justice minister: Tougher laws needed SASKATOON (CP) - Chronic and repeat criminals need to face tougher mandatory minimum sentences, Saskatchewan's justice minister said Thursday. Frank Quennell was quick to point out that was already his position before two Mounties were fatally shot near Spiritwood, Sask., earlier this month. Curtis Dagenais, the 41-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in the shootings, has a history of problems with police. "What I am interested in looking at and discussing with my counterparts across the country, is a tougher sentencing regime for chronic or repeat offenders," Quennell said. Constables Robin Cameron, 29, and Marc Bourdages, 26, both died last weekend after being shot while pursuing an assault suspect July 7. Dagenais, who also is charged with the attempted murder of another officer who was not hurt during the chase, turned himself in Tuesday after an 11-day police search. Quennell wouldn't elaborate on what type of sentences he would like to see, only that they should follow some sort of mandatory minimum. He said he wants to discuss the issue when justice ministers meet in October. Quennell also said there will be an opportunity for any issues that arise from the shootings to be evaluated, but now is a time for mourning. "There will be time to look at what occurred here and if the RCMP want to make changes to their policies and procedure . . . I'm not assuming that there are changes that need to be made - there may be. "This is a tragic case and it may not always be a situation that can be prevented where there's going to be violence and police officers voluntarily undertake to protect us from that violence." A funeral for Cameron is being held Friday on her home reserve north of Saskatoon, while a service for Bourdages is Tuesday in Regina. He will be buried in his home province of Quebec. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:55:47 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Street crime and armed mugging are on increase http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2277857,00.html The Times July 20, 2006 Street crime and armed mugging are on increase By Richard Ford, Home Correspondent STREET crime and mugging incidents in England and Wales are heading towards the 100,000 a year mark after a rise of 8 per cent last year, according to official figures published today. The surge in attacks on the streets was driven by a 16 per cent increase in robbery in London and other big increases in some counties. Today’s figures also disclose a 10 per cent rise in gunpoint robberies and an increase in crime where a handgun was used. Overall there was a 2 per cent rise in violent crime to 1.2 million offences in 2005-06. But all crime recorded by the 43 police forces in England and Wales fell by 1 per cent to 5.5 million offences. The British Crime Survey, which interviews 45,000 individuals, showed that the total number of crimes rose by 1 per cent to 10.9 million compared with a peak of 19.4 million in 1995. Today’s figures come after John Reid announced a purge of senior Home Office officials prompted by a devastating Whitehall study that found the department failing in leadership, strategy and delivery. The Home Secretary will reveal details of his overhaul of the criminal justice system including plans to make violent and sex offenders serve longer in prison before they can be considered for early release. He is also bringing in emergency legislation to allow foreign national prisoners to serve sentences in their home countries. Mr Reid blamed the rise in robbery from 90,747 to 98,204 in 2005-06 on the desire of criminals for high-fashion technology such as the latest mobile phones and MP3 players. He said: “I share the concerns of many people that the numbers of violent offences recorded by the police have increased, particularly robbery. “This is largely driven by a rise in the numbers of young people carrying expensive goods, such as mobile phones and MP3 players.” Jon Simmons, head of statistics at the Home Office, said that the 8 per cent rise in robbery was “real”. He said that it was due mainly to a massive 16 per cent surge in street crime in London, which he agreed was staggering. But the figures disclose that other forces, including many in rural areas in England and Wales, reported significant increases. In Bedfordshire robbery soared by 28 per cent, in Gloucestershire by 24 per cent and in both Warwickshire and Northamptonshire by 22 per cent. The figures show the first sustained fall in murders since the 1960s when the number of offences began to climb. There were 765 murders in the year, a fall of 12 per cent on the previous year. The figures included the 52 victims of the London bombings on July 7 last year. The number of murders was still higher than in 1997, the year that Labour came to power, when the total was 739. Overall, violent crime recorded by police has more than tripled since then, with the number of offences now at almost 1¼ million. Violent crime rose by 2 per cent, although serious woundings, which officials said gave the best reflection of violent crime trends, fell by 4 per cent to 18,825. But the figures show that the use of handguns in crime rose 7 per cent to 4,652 offences and that there was a 16 per cent rise year-on-year in serious injuries from firearms incidents. Harassment, including stalking, was up by 11 per cent to 245,337 offences. House burglaries recorded by police fell by 7 per cent from 2005-06 to just over 300,000, a fall that has continued since 1996, when the figure stood at 602,000. The Government can claim similar success with vehicle crime recorded by police in England and Wales, which fell by 3 per cent to 721,469. Vehicle crime has now almost halved since 1996. Both police-recorded crime figures and the results of the British Crime Survey are showing falls in household burglary and vehicle-related theft. But the fall in both is to a large extent the result of better security features in houses and vehicles. Drug offences rose by 23 per cent to 178,000, mainly because of a huge increase in official warnings for carrying cannabis. Such warnings rose from 88,000 to 120,000. Trafficking in controlled drugs increased by 5 per cent. The figures show a 5 per cent rise in the number of crimes detected by the police, although the biggest increase was in on-the-spot fines for disorder, which rose 142.8 per cent. Overall, 1.3 million of the 5.5 million recorded offences in England and Wales resulted in someone being punished. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:03:16 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Increase In Child Gun Victims See if you can spot all the lies and bogus arguments before your head explodes... http://www.qgazette.com/news/2006/0719/features/006.html Increase In Child Gun Victims BY JOHN TOSCANO The Western Queens Gazette, NYC July 19, 2006 A newly issued report on the impact of gun violence on children shows that 131 children were killed by firearms in New York state in 2003, bringing the state up to the fourth ranking in gun-related deaths behind California, Texas and Illinois. In New York City, 62 children under age 20 died by gunfire, according to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., who issued the report jointly with Donna Lawrence, executive director of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF-NY). Vallone, who recently joined with Quinn (D-Manhattan) in introducing four bills to combat illegal guns, stated: "We can protect all New Yorkers from gun violence if we take common-sense steps to keep illegal guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals. "In order for law abiding citizens to own a gun legally, we need to crack down on illegal guns and irresponsible dealers as well as give law enforcement the proper tools it needs." The release of the report follows closely upon the deaths of a 6-and 7-year-old in Harlem and a 7-year-old in The Bronx. In the latter case, the child was killed while playing in his front yard. Quinn said, "This report provides further evidence that gun violence is a serious threat to kids across New York City." The report, "Protect Children, Not Guns," outlines eight recommendations for parents and communities to help reduce gun violence, according to the Quinn/Vallone release. In addition, it calls for imposition of child trigger locks and banning of assault weapons, and outlines new strategies to educate the public about gun violence, such as visiting hospital trauma wards and organizing ceasefires. Urban ceasefire programs, one of which was instituted in Boston, are cited as playing a significant role in reducing youth homicides. The report documents the age, race and manner of 2,827 gun-related deaths of children under age 20 in the United States. Lawrence stated: "The deaths of thousands of children each year is morally obscene for the world's most powerful nation. Our organization applauds Speaker Quinn and Councilmember Vallone for their vision and leadership in introducing critical anti-gun legislation. "We implore our leaders in Washington to seize the opportunity to support these bills and take a stand for common sense gun safety before we lose thousands more children to senseless gun violence." The legislation introduced by Quinn and Vallone, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, limits access to illegal guns. It includes the Gun Offender Registration Act for individuals convicted of criminal possession of a weapon; a one-handgun-everythree months purchase limit; an inventory bill, which would require city gun dealers to physically examine their inventories twice a year, and a ban on gun coloration kits used to disguise real guns so they look like toy guns. Commenting on the legislation and the new report, Councilmember John Liu (D-Flushing) said: "Gun violence is one of the harshest realities facing New York kids today, and as a public health matter, is entirely preventable. "Pro-gun activists talk about protecting the rights of sportsmen to hunt when we all know that guns in New York City end up killing and maiming innocent adults and children. When are they going to talk about the rights of children to a safe neighborhood?" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:24:11 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Overnight shooting http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/07/20/1694334.html Overnight shooting Does not appear to be gang-related By Sun Staff Thu, July 20, 2006 A man is recovering in hospital after he was shot in the leg, police say. Cops found the victim near 104 Street and between Kingsway and 109 Avenue shortly after 3:30 a.m. today after people in the area heard gunshots, said spokesman Jeff Wuite. Police initially believed the man, who suffered a gunshot wound just below his knee, was a victim of gang violence. The gang unit was called in but Wuite later said later shooting does not appear to be gang-related. Read more in Friday's Edmonton Sun ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V9 #660 ********************************** 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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