Cdn-Firearms Digest Wednesday, January 28 2009 Volume 12 : Number 996 In this issue: Toews discounts accountability criticism entends tu, les chiens aboyer U.S. Consulate Mistakenly Sells Secret Files in Jerusalem *NFR* Citizens demand accountability *NFR* re: RCMP "scraping the bottom of the barrel ..." Trivia Question of the Week Re: Ont. AG Letter - Gun Frames and Receivers LETTER: SHOOTERS NOT GUNS Property rights, gun laws, Ponzi and the law as a living being U.S.:Nebr.:Kearney Repeals 51-year old Ban On Concealed Handguns U.S.: Apparent robber shot dead at store - Arizona Daily Star U.S.:SACRAMENTO,Calif: Resident Spots Intruder, Fires Shot- MSNBC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:14:00 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Toews discounts accountability criticism [O.K. Who do we believe. The two recent news articles posted on this subject in the past few days and Eduardo's direct, recent experience with his 3-month wait for a gov't response, or someone who's on Harper's 'choke' leash? And I can do even better, I've got the case of my PAL refund issue going back to April 2008 still waiting for a response]. - ---------------- More entities accountable thanks to changes in act > http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Opinion/Letters/2009/01/27/8159261-sun.html Regarding the article Tightest grip yet on fed files (Jan. 23), I would like to correct the record regarding our government's record on the Access to Information Act. Let's look at the facts. It was our government that fought for the right of Canadians to know how their government operates. We increased the public's right to request information by applying the Access to Information Act to dozens of institutions not previously covered, including the CBC and the Canadian Wheat Board. Seventy new institutions are now accountable to Canadians through the Access to Information Act. For the first time, Canadians can see how these institutions spend their tax dollars. Access **requests** are up 14 per cent thanks to our changes -- almost 30,000 requests in 2006-07 from 25,000 in 2004-05. [Yeah but how many requests have been **filled**]. The article creates the impression that decisions on which information to release or protect is driven at the political level. That is absolutely false. [Bull feathers Mr. Toews. I have been ASSURED that my MP can't give me an answer to questions until 'an answer' is formulated and assuaged by the PMO]. Individual requests for information under the act are not processed by ministers or political staff. Every government department has a staff of public servants who are trained in the act. It is these professionals who receive the requests, gather the relevant information, apply exemptions and exclusions, and ensure compliance with the provisions of the act. To suggest otherwise, is blatantly misleading the public. Our record is clear. We have taken tremendous steps forward to increase openness and transparency. Vic Toews President of the Treasury Board, Ottawa - ------------ References: Posted Jan. 25th. >> Subject: Watchdog blames Harper for fog of secrecy >> >> PUBLICATION: The Hamilton Spectator DATE: 2009.01.23 > >> The Conservatives took office in early 2006 partly on the strength >> of promises of new accountability, including reforms to Canada's >> outdated Access to Information regime advocated by Marleau's >> predecessor. > > Chap must have been reading this pundit: > >> A declaration of openness from Harper to match Obama's call for >> transparency would be significant, Marleau said. "It sends a real >> signal. > > And: > >> Marleau said the tone is set in the Prime Minister's Office. > > Also in: > > Tightest grip yet on fed files INFORMATION ACCESS > > By JIM BRONSKILL, THE CANADIAN PRESS > >> http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/CanadaWorld/2009/01/23/8119251-sun.html >> > > OTTAWA -- Canada's information watchdog says the public knows less > than ever about what its government is doing -- a stark contrast to > Barack Obama's push for openness in the United States. > > Information Commissioner Robert Marleau said yesterday the grip on > federal files is tightening, largely because of the Conservative > government's "communications stranglehold" on the bureaucracy. > > "There's less information being released by government than ever > before. And that's alarming." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:11:17 -0800 From: Len Miller Subject: entends tu, les chiens aboyer Joe wrote . . Bill the 'great conciliator' eh. The "great conciliator" along with the other premiers failed to include many of Canadian's historic rights such as property rights and the right to arms for defence. This is the reason Canada's gun owners do not have their historic rights for use today. However, "protection Catholic's had under s. 93" was included into the Charter. The Charter was Trudeau's idea. To get a Charter, Trudeau made deals with the premieres, some of whom were interested in using patriation of the Constitution to advance their own political agendas. When evaluations of the careers of men like Bill Davis, Peter Lougheed, Sterling Lyon, (Blakeney ) Brian Peckford, Bill Bennett, Buchanan, and Hatfield are performed, we must look back and say, at one point in Canadian history these premieres failed Canada. They failed to make certain that the law of the land reflected our fundamental and historic liberties. Yours in Tyranny, Joe Gingrich White Fox - ------------------------------------------------------------------ 'They' broke faith with us . . Which is why . . today . . when we are home invaded we may do what Bob and Bonnie Dagenais were allowed to do: DIAL 911 AND DIE . . see Mary Carpenter , Merced Cal. on the deaths of her grandchildren . . and which idiots made it all possible . . See Dr. Suzanna Hupp on the deaths of both her parents . . http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4069761537893819675 Only the police, the military, and criminals may carry . (criminals get legal aid ) So your politician says, when you are home invaded, he would prefer the criminal to be armed having taken that right from you . . Have you noticed any penalty for the criminal use of a firearm? And they promised, when elected, they would remove the fraudulent gun control legislation . . Well, didn't they? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:10:35 -0600 From: Joe Gingrich Subject: U.S. Consulate Mistakenly Sells Secret Files in Jerusalem *NFR* http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483478,00.html U.S. Consulate Mistakenly Sells Secret Files in Jerusalem Tuesday, January 27, 2009 By Reena Ninan EXCLUSIVE: Hundreds of files - with social security numbers, bank account numbers and other sensitive U.S. government information - were found in a filing cabinet purchased from the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem through a local auction. "We couldn't believe what we found," said Paula, who purchased the cabinets and asked that her last name not be published. "We thought of calling the American consulate right away, and then we thought, you know they'll just hide it and say, 'Oh, we made a mistake.'" The consulate was unaware of the missing files until FOX News contacted U.S. officials. Initially they said that no filing cabinets were sold in the auction, but later they acknowledged the sale. The State Department has now launched an investigation. Click here to see some of the secret documents. http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,6387,00.html The files contained social security numbers of U.S. Marines and State Department employees stationed in Israel, and documentation of how U.S. government money is allocated to fund sensitive programs in the region. Among the papers was also a report labeled "secret" that documented an encounter a U.S. Marine had with an Israeli woman at a bar in Jerusalem. Robert Baer, a former CIA agent who spent years working in the Middle East, calls the incident a serious security failure. "It's a major breach because the government, at all cost, wants to keep these records out of foreign hands, whether Israeli or any other country," Baer says. "We spy on Israel; they spy on us. The Marines are vulnerable because they are young, and they are inevitably single. You're looking at what is called a honey trap. You run a girl into an employee. You actually get him to fall in love and then you get them to break the security clearance and go and steal documents or whatever." Click here to see more on the security breach. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483478,00.html# The head of security at the U.S. consulate approached Paula asking for the documents to be returned. When she refused to turn them in the consulate asked Israeli police to intervene. After she was threatened with criminal charges, she returned the files, but not before FOX News had a thorough look at them. The American consulate in Jerusalem routinely holds furniture auctions to dispose of unwanted items. The woman purchased the cabinets in December of 2005 but decided to come forward with the files after hearing about a Sept. 22, 2008 incident in which a Palestinian teenager crashed a BMW into a group of Israeli soldiers. Paula, whose son's unit was the one that was struck by the car, says she was angered when she heard that the car was purchased from an auction held by the consulate. U.S. officials insist the car was never linked to them. A FOX News investigation also found there was no connection. Paula, an Israeli who also holds U.S. citizenship, says she wanted to expose the incident because her loyalty is to the state of Israel. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:44:08 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Citizens demand accountability *NFR* Once someone opens the door a crack, the mice and rats come scurrying out. The feds have been trying to download a large Lake Erie harbour on a cash strapped, piddling little rural (Mike Harris created) municipality (Central Elgin) for many years. It's become so silted that even shallow draft fish tugs and large pleasure sailboats touch bottom due to lack of dredging. Freighters can no longer enter to get to the grain silos. It's the only substantial harbour of refuge for the entire Central Basin of the lake, between Rondeau and Port Dover, intersected by the 20 mile long, Long Point. The last dredging was conducted via cash funneled from Chretien through the local Lib MP. Negotiations have been conducted under total secrecy for many years but a recent Port Stanley retiree, a retired Navy Admiral, has been able to uncover all kinds of 'sensitive' environmental reports, etc., some even sitting on the Internet. Information has been uncovered unknown to even local elected officials who sit on the Elgin Area Water Service Board. More recently, a study was unearthed that the feds had been sitting on a study detailing concerns about the proximity of the path of toxins from the blob (left over from an old coal gasification plant) to the Lake Erie Water Pipeline intake. The water system serves Central Elgin and south London. For a Free Press 'Special Report' (a collection of 25-articles) on the Port Stanley Harbour/Kettle Creek blob, see: > http://www.lfpress.com/specialreports/portstanleyharbour.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:53:38 -0800 From: "Todd Birch" Subject: re: RCMP "scraping the bottom of the barrel ..." Brace yourself - The RCMP has just announced an "accelerated program" to get more members on the streets. This means less time on a lot of subjects, which means rookie cops on the street with less knowledge, training and background in the fundamental things of policing. What with the recent spate of rogue cop incidents, look forward to more such travesties. Perhaps it's a sign of the frustration of police with the revolving door justice system. A while back, I knew a couple of motivated young people who applied to the RCMP. Both were turned away, he due to debt on a Mustang and she for accumulated debt as a single Mom. In both cases, it was around $10,000. Since they were expected to be able to provide $500 a month for themselves during the then 6 months Depot training period, this was deemed excessive. At least they weren't expected to have degrees in criminology or law, be of an ethnic minority and be fluent in French. And we wonder why we get the cops we do. TB ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:59:40 -0800 From: "Todd Birch" Subject: Trivia Question of the Week On what day in the past 10 days or so did a "gang-related/known to police/targetted hit" shooting or stabbing NOT occur? We no longer hear of the tally of such events as it would be too embarrassing for the police and too alarming for the public. People are now getting shot in home invasions with Yorkshire terriers as the object of the crime. Daylight shootings in public places and on busy streets are the norm these days. It's amazing how tolerant we are of rampant crime while getting all bent out of shape over Bambi getting shot and private citizens that want to own and shoot guns lawfully. TB ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:04:50 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Re: Ont. AG Letter - Gun Frames and Receivers Typical uncreative flatfoot problem solving, it is. Dennis posted: > January 14, 2009 - Ont. AG Letter - Gun Frames and Receivers > http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2009/959.htm > > May 27, 2008 - BACKGROUNDER > > The McGuinty government has a comprehensive four-point plan to stop the > proliferation of gun-related crime. This plan includes: > Require marking of imported firearms to help police trace illegal > guns > > Gun marking helps police trace weapons used in crime to determine > where they were diverted from legal use and to assist in breaking up > gun smuggling rings. Once a firearm is legally imported into Canada, > it should have to be marked by the importer, which helps police speed > up gun crime investigations, trace the origins of guns used in crime, > and identify trends. Isn't the 'marking' referred to as the UN marking program? These kinds of things appear on cop wish lists. If we could trace those nasty guns back to spooky little gun shops in Kentucky, Tennessee or Mexico... But of course, politicians haven't heard of cost-benefit analysis. I recall successfully lobbying my Coast Guard confrère's about mandating registration numbers on all boat above about 16' and certain power specs - - as a means of identifying drunks and idiots who broke NO Wake restrictions, ran down swimmers, crashed into other boaters, tried to outrun the police, CG, Fisheries, MNR, etc. broke fishing restriction regulations, provide a method of identifying distress vessels, lost or stolen boats, etc. I won on this one. Can you believe the number of wives who can't identify their overdue husbands boat? I successfully argued against mandating VHF radio station licences and lost on radio operator licenses; they both inhibited boaters from getting a handy, most useful life saving device. Win some; lose some. I also unsuccessfully argued against legislating 'boat operator licensing' but after years of beating this off I was defeated by a common drunken fool on Lake Simcoe who cut through a small craft with his speed boat and killed some folk. Epilogue: In 1995 I successfully convinced Allan Rock that hunters and target shooters were 'not the problem' with respect to the criminal misuse of guns - and Rock, a lefty lib, would have provided a post-card sized FPCertificate application form which after completion of a CPIC check would have given all of Canada's gun owners, circa 1998, the legal right (permission) to possess firearms. The police lobby in Canada saw this as too loosey goosey as did other unnamed provincial PC premiers and The Plan was trashed because provincial CFO's administered the federal law. The current Libertarian starved gov't with which we aligned is going in the opposite direction, ignoring past promises to give us 'property' rights and relatively 'unfettered access' to firearms. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, January 28, 2009 11:14 am From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: LETTER: SHOOTERS NOT GUNS PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2009.01.28 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 12 COLUMN: Letters to the Editor SHOOTERS NOT GUNS Re: 'Chief blames guns,' Jan. 27. The headline does not accurately reflect the views as expressed by the chief. After reading the article it was clear that he did not blame inanimate objects capable of no malice on their own but a culture of crime that is now transcending generations of urban families. For those that choose only to read the headline I would suggest digging a little deeper prior to demanding further firearms legislation that will do nothing to curb the epidemic of violent crime that is sweeping our nation. Ross Spagrud, Winnipeg EDITOR: Some pretty scary stuff though. http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/letters/2009/01/28/8170716-sun.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:36:52 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Property rights, gun laws, Ponzi and the law as a living being I had said: > I don't think Davis had any strong feelings about > property rights. I'd guess he would have believed if a 'dispute' arose, > he'd sit down and work out a resolution. Bill was the 'great conciliator.' > > If Canada's gun owners had the Constitutional protection Catholic's had > under s. 93, we wouldn't be peeing up a stump. Joe commented: > Bill the 'great conciliator' eh. > > The "great conciliator" along with the other premiers failed to include many > of Canadian's historic rights such as property rights and the right to arms > for defence. This is the reason Canada's gun owners do not have their > historic rights for use today. Wellll. Let's see; the kind of iron clad property rights you want to see are 'history' because they would give an individual rights beyond that of the state. It's a long stretch for progressives to provide that and there's no way Stephen Harper can countenance the thought of Joe Gingrich in White Fox or Lee Jasper in Aylmer standing defiantly in the way of an oil pipeline headed to the U.S. of A. As long as 21st century justices keep repeating that 'armes for our' defence' is not defensible under the Statutes of the Land, knocking the heads of knaves will remain a no-no. > However, "protection Catholic's had under s. 93" was included into the Charter. Now I'm not going to look that up; did you? I thought it was in the BNA or Constitution Act. What s. of the Charter? > The Charter was Trudeau's idea. To get a Charter, Trudeau made deals with > the premieres, some of whom were interested in using patriation of the > Constitution to advance their own political agendas. Whenever you sit down at a table to 'talk' and 'negotiate' you 'wheel and deal.' Whenever you're negotiating with whatever % of the provinces that have whatever % of the population, its a crap shoot. > When evaluations of the careers of men like Bill Davis, Lougheed, Lyon, > Blackney, Peckford, Bennett, Buchanan, and Hatfield are performed, we must > look back and say, at one point in Canadian history these premieres failed > Canada. They failed to make certain that the law of the land reflected our > fundamental and historic liberties. I'll take 'Gray' Bill over humourless Steve any day. I'm totally sympathetic. I can probably speel off a fairly long list of rights/privileges that I believe I've lost and restrictions I don't desire or believe I deserve but I also subscribe to the view that our laws are a 'living beast' subject to influence by everything around us. Aren't fundamental and historic adaptable? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:12:30 -0600 From: Joe Gingrich Subject: U.S.:Nebr.:Kearney Repeals 51-year old Ban On Concealed Handguns http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2009/01/27/497febd2b7010 Kearney Repeals Citywide Ban On Concealed Handguns January 27, 2009 Acknowledging state law trumps a local ordinance, the Kearney City Council has repealed the city's 51-year-old total ban on carrying concealed firearms. The council's 4-1 vote came in the wake of an opinion issued by Attorney General Jon Bruning which said cities and towns cannot effectively override a 2007 statute which allows qualified Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns. Councilman Randy Buschkoetter cast the dissenting vote, the Kearney Hub reported. If a city could make it illegal to have a concealed weapon anywhere within the community's limits, Bruning noted, someone with a state-issued "carry permit" could be ticketed, even though they were in compliance with state law. More than 4,700 Nebraskans had applied for and received carry permits, which are valid statewide, by the end of December, 2008. Among other communities that have total bans on concealed firearms are: Beatrice, Bellevue, Columbus, Crawford, Hastings, Holdrege, La Vista, Lexington, Norfolk, North Platte, O'Neill, Plattsmouth, Scottsbluff, Seward, Sidney, South Sioux City, Wayne and York. Bruning's opinion surprised many lawmakers who had believed, and some still think they were right, that the state law allowed local governments the authority to opt out of its provisions - and ban concealed firearms, period. Some communities have decided to keep their ordinances on the books, at least for awhile, or until the issue is officially settled by the courts. "I believe such ordinances are void as a matter of law," Bruning said shortly after the opinion was issued. "I think that, if brought before the Nebraska Supreme Court, they would be struck down as unconstitutional." "I'm hoping we can have conversations with them (the communities involved) and the league," that would facilitate repeal of the ordinances," he said. "I don't want to end up having to spend money going to court when it shouldn't be necessary to do that." The statute enumerates some specific places where guns cannot be carried; and any business has the right to bar handguns from its premises. It also bars permit holders from carrying guns when they have been drinking, or have any alcohol or controlled substance in their blood. Several communities have adopted standards more strict than those in state law, which is permissible. Bruning simply opined that a community cannot entirely ban those with state permits from carrying concealed weapons anywhere within the city or town limits. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:19:56 -0600 From: Joe Gingrich Subject: U.S.: Apparent robber shot dead at store - Arizona Daily Star http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/crime/277607 Apparent robber shot dead at store By Alex Dalenberg Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona Published: 01.27.2009 An employee at a South Side convenience store shot and killed one of two men trying to rob the store Monday and was himself wounded in the brief shootout, police said. Two men walked into the Grand Market, in the 6200 block of South Sixth Avenue, sometime before 5:30 p.m., said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. They shot at an employee, a man in his early 50s, who fired back, Robinson said. The employee shot one of the would-be-robbers, an 18-year-old, who ran outside into the parking lot where he collapsed and died. The other robber ran away, and police are still looking for him, Robinson said. The employee was also shot. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Robinson said. Witnesses described the missing suspect as in his mid-20s to early 30s. He was wearing a black-and-white football jersey and a red bandanna, Robinson said. Margarita Grajeda lives in the area and drops into the Grand Market from time to time. Grajeda wasn't surprised that someone could get shot trying to rob the market. She said the store had been robbed before, and it was only a matter of time before someone at the store was forced to shoot. "I knew somebody was going to get shot someday," she said. As for the store owners, she said she hoped they were all right. "They're such nice people. So nice," she said. Contact reporter Alex Dalenberg at; adalenberg@azstarnet.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:25:35 -0600 From: Joe Gingrich Subject: U.S.:SACRAMENTO,Calif: Resident Spots Intruder, Fires Shot- MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28843895/ Resident Spots Intruder, Fires Shot Alleged Burglar Seen In Sacramento Yard theKCRAchannel.com updated 2:49 a.m. CT, Tues., Jan. 27, 2009 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A Sacramento resident confronted an alleged burglar in a back yard and fired a gunshot, but the intruder fled and it was not clear if anyone was hurt, police said. A police report said a resident of 2600 block of Ensenada Way saw someone with a flashlight in the home's yard shortly after 1 a.m. Friday. The resident told police he believed someone was trying to break into a shed behind the residence. Authorities said the resident grabbed a handgun and went outside to confront the intruder. The intruder cut the resident in the face with an unknown weapon and the resident responded by firing one shot in self-defense. The intruder left. Police said it was not known if the intruder was injured, adding that no blood trail was found. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V12 #996 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:drg.jordan@sasktel.net List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca FAQ list: http://www.canfirearms/Skeeter/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://www.canfirearms.ca CFDigest Archives: http://www.canfirearms.ca/archives To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next four lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".)