Cdn-Firearms Digest Wednesday, March 4 2009 Volume 13 : Number 097 In this issue: Realistic guns earn teens stern warning from police NP - Letter - Flawed gun control reform (II) Re: Gun Database Ignites Debate In Tennessee "Disbanding of JTF"?? Re: Drop the political pacifier Re: "Disbanding of JTF"?? King's County Record - Bill would more than scrap long-gun registry More Bad News Outdoors Column: Toxic effects of lead can be devastating to the Letter: MP way off target on crime and Liberals' gun registry ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, March 3, 2009 2:13 pm From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Realistic guns earn teens stern warning from police PUBLICATION: Waterloo Region Record DATE: 2009.03.03 EDITION: Final SECTION: Local PAGE: B1 DATELINE: WATERLOO SOURCE: Record staff COPYRIGHT: © 2009 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 120 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Realistic guns earn teens stern warning from police - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Five youths got a lecture from police for carrying replica guns in public. A driver in the area of Weber Street North and Parkside Drive on Saturday afternoon called to report what looked like a teen carrying a handgun, Waterloo Regional Police said yesterday. Officers "disarmed (the teens) without incident," police said. The guns -- which looked like handguns, an assault rifle, a submachine gun and a shotgun -- were so-called "soft guns," which shoot plastic BBs. The officers talked to the youths about the dangers of carrying replicas and returned the guns to their parents. No charges were laid. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 14:35:38 -0800 (PST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: NP - Letter - Flawed gun control reform (II) http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=1346476 Flawed gun control reform National Post Published: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Re: Drop The Political Pacifier, Garry Breitkreuz, Feb. 27. The continuing discussion of the "long-gun registry" does nothing to end confusion over the Liberals' gun control legislation. One need look no further than Garry Breitkreuz's Web site to find that the licensing component was by far the main culprit in the cost overruns, not the registry. However that information has to be ignored if you intend to retain the Firearms Act POL/PAL licensing, which Mr. Breitkreuz's Bill C-301 does. That form of licensing is a people registry that tracks only those who are not criminals. C-301 continues to make criminals out of citizens for nothing more then their "papers" not being in order. The National Coalition of Provincial and Territorial Wildlife Federations, in May, 1995, called POL/PAL licensing an "unjustified, expensive, ineffectual intrusion into Canadians' lives." Perhaps this is the reason the Conservatives hid behind a private member's bill that has little chance of passing, rather than present government legislation that would have a real impact on the Liberal Firearms Act. Al Muir, spokesman, Canadian Unlicensed Firearms Owners Association, Stellarton, N. S. __________________________________________________________________ Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane with All new Yahoo! Mail: http://ca.promos.yahoo.com/newmail/overview2/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:56:32 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Re: Gun Database Ignites Debate In Tennessee Thanks for this info, Dennis: > Tennessee is one of 19 states that allow the public to have access to gun > permit information, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of > the Press. At least 21 states keep such information confidential. Holy smokes, and we think our privacy has been infringed by the FA and previous junk laws. But this is what you get in a 'free market' economy. The 'greater good' folk would recognize that keeping such info secret might save 'even one life.' And then we have the Layton folk wanting the guns all stored in one location to make for handy shopping rather than stashed in locked vaults scattered all over. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 20:35:50 -0600 From: "Lex Winram" Subject: "Disbanding of JTF"?? Jules Slobodian wrote: "The JTF was disbanded, not only because of the sadistic actions of one member of the force, but because his superiors made no effort to control or punish this kind of behaviour until Brown blew the whistle." Did I miss something? It is news to me that the Canadian "special forces unit" JTF2 (Joint Task Force 2) was disbanded. Is Mr. Slobodian by any chance thinking of the Airborn Regiment that was cynically disbanded by Chretien for political reasons a few years ago? I have a son-in-law who was a proud member of JTF2 and I have never heard of any scandal or disbandment of that crack Canadian sniper unit! The JTF2 guys served with distinction in Afganistan and are without a doubt "Canada's finest". They deserve our full admiration and respect. What is up with this? Lex Winram ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:41:29 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Re: Drop the political pacifier Al commented: > Lee as you say we are under attack on all parts of our front. C-301 > does contain bits of breathing space for restricted owners. However > the most clear and present danger is reserved for the untold > 100,000's ( to the tune of possibly 1.5 to 2.5 million) that bear the > direct brunt of C-30 > Most of the conditions related to restricted owners predate the > Firearms Act. Many on this forum are fond of first steps. That step > MUST be towards the portion of the front whose collapse C-301 > completes. Ask yourself if providing that breathing space on one part > of the front assists in the collapse of another part of the front. > Such things are the nature of political pacifiers. Point well made. For some, 'some' gain is a partial victory; for others, if not all is won, than all is lost. Many things in life seem to be partial victories. In respect of C-301, it's awfully ironic that many of us lobbied Rock to include (in those days) Carry Permits with Rock's FPC. He actually saw the light and agreed with RFC activists. What happened? In '96-'97 the feds sat down to negotiate with the provinces about co-operating with all the nifty things the gun hatin' Libs had in mind - like the aforementioned item plus the free and easy post-card sized application and CPIC check for **all** grumpy old gun owners who would apply for Rock's near-freebie FPCertificate. In '95 all the gunners had cheered when Iron Mike declared 'No Truck' with the feds. By '98 we were crying in our powder. Because our PC premier essentially borrowed an infamous phrase from Pierre' and sent the feds packing back to Ottawa. For one thing, we got a cockamamie Ontario CFO's test that failed 89% of owners with no history of careless or unsafe use of firearms. Lemieux correctly argues: > Instead of a 13-page piece of legalese, a realistic effort to restore > our traditional liberties would fit in a one-sentence bill: “The > Firearms Act (1995, c. 39), including its related and consequential > amendments to the Criminal Code and other acts, is repealed.” Such a > bill would have no more and (perhaps) no fewer chances of being > adopted, but it would raise the right questions. In the Breitkreuz backgrounder it states: > http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=112359&sid=e0971d4e26f5811dd560a5694d2742ba > Different jurisdictions have unequal application; And: > Charter requires that federal legislation must apply equally to all Canadians; Don't be fooled by this tripe. Back when I protested the Varying Standards of Alt Cert criteria across Canada I was advised by the Justice Minister, who was as distraught as I about this sorry state of affairs, that while licensing and associated standards had a 'federal template' the administration and application of the fed law under the Nation's division of powers, was under 'Provincial Domain.' As best I know, some of these same 'variances' in criteria still exist. Certainly, Ontario's, now long-standing refusal, to alt cert any owner because they can not meet the 'continuous ownership' provisions of the FA Regs. is out-of-step with other jurisdictions. Our Canadian Civil Liberties Association also had little concern for my complaint. > Merges “Authorizations to Transport” for Licensed Individuals; And: > Combines the Possession Only Licences and “Possession and Acquisition Licenses; Whoaaaaaaaaaa!!!! What did I just write above. The slick PMO has obviously slipped this in too . . . Granting a PAL or POL and any renewal of same, as with ATT's, are totally under the Provinces domain.... The PALs/POLs are only 'issued' by the RCMP-CAFC. So how can our fed gov't 'promise' these tidbits. Am I confident that McGuinty's (and Julian Fantino's) CFO will agree to these changes? This whole thing gets sillier with each passing day. Justice Minister Nicholson is coming in for a fund raiser on Sat.; anyone want to slip me a $100 to get entry to personally ask him. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:06:54 -0500 From: Ian Kidston Subject: Re: "Disbanding of JTF"?? Mr Slobodian,a well known mittel European troll,should not be confused with Mr Sobrian,a well respected advocate of all shooting sports.Who may have inadvertently mixed up the Parachute Regiment for the Joint Task Force2,of whom the less said in public forum the better.OPSEC!! Ian Lex Winram wrote: > Jules Slobodian wrote: > > "The JTF was disbanded, not only because of the sadistic actions of one > member of the force, but because his superiors made no effort to control or > punish this kind of behaviour until Brown blew the whistle." > > Did I miss something? It is news to me that the Canadian "special forces > unit" JTF2 (Joint Task Force 2) was disbanded. Is Mr. Slobodian by any > chance thinking of the Airborn Regiment that was cynically disbanded by > Chretien for political reasons a few years ago? > > I have a son-in-law who was a proud member of JTF2 and I have never heard of > any scandal or disbandment of that crack Canadian sniper unit! The JTF2 guys > served with distinction in Afganistan and are without a doubt "Canada's > finest". They deserve our full admiration and respect. > > What is up with this? > > Lex Winram > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:25:43 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: King's County Record - Bill would more than scrap long-gun registry A Minister of the Crown writes about CPC promises: > Bill would more than scrap long-gun registry > > Published Tuesday March 3rd, 2009 > Greg Thompson Ottawa Report > http://kingscorecord.canadaeast.com/newswithaview/article/589683 Thompson quotes from the "Stand Up for Canada" 2006 Campaign Plank (I do believe they were borrowing from JFK's theme): > The Conservative Party of Canada has been on record for some time in > opposing the registry and it was a campaign pledge in the 2006 > election to eliminate it. This is an example of what Lemieux refers to as 'confusion' jargon. The 2006 Platform actually stated if elected the gov't would: > "Repeal the wasteful long-gun registry legislation (Bill C-68)." We all know that C-68 ceased to exist once it was passed into law and it has been all sorts of things, other than gun legislation, since. Considering the extent to which Party flaks, hacks and word smiths tweak these documents - this was deliberate fabrication designed to elicit support from a fractured voter. The Breitkreuz Bill actually states: > An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act (registration of firearms) The 2006 Platform also said: > Maintain the existing handgun registry and bans on all currently > prohibited weapons I keep asking about the convoluted logic, but Harper's an economics chap; he never studied logic, pity. The Thompson article listed some stat's: > Registered long guns were used in homicides nine times from 1997 to > 2004 and the registry of some seven million firearms did not prevent > any of these deaths. Instead, 84 per cent of the firearms used in the > commission of crimes are unregistered and 75 per cent of those were > illegal guns smuggled into Canada. Where firearms were used in a > violent crime, more than 71 per cent involved handguns and only nine > per cent involved rifles or shotguns. Very few of those were even > registered. Good looking numbers, but it would only take a few more words to point readers to sources for the data so they could fire up Google. Not giving any hint negates the strength and power of his argument. > There were 306 illegal breaches of the national police database > documented between 1995 and 2003 and 121 of those cases are still > unsolved. Many police investigators have publicly voiced their > concerns that the gun registry has been breached and become a > shopping list for thieves. Really, name one! I have vague recollections of one or two possible breaches. But then, the thefts could have resulted from gum flapping owners. I suspect many of these breaches are from police using CPIC for their own unauthorized personal purposes. I've heard tales . . . > Greg Thompson is MP for N.B. Southwest and minister of veterans > affairs. The 2006 platform also promised to: > provide better access to more information; improve the ATIAct Well we know this has proven to be hokey. The platform also said: > The Liberal track record for Candian seniors is a sad story of unfair > taxation, poor government services and now an inexcusable policy blunder > that has destroyed the the retirement savings of Canadians invested in > Income Trusts This bullsh . . is referred to as 'revisionist history.' It was Jim Flaherty who made the "We won't tax . ." promise and it was the same little squirt who announced he was breaking his promise. The research has documented that the 'tax loss' claimed by the gov't was a fabrication. A Conservative gov't will: > Enshrine property rights in the Constitution . . . . It'll be awfully weak and watered down if it ever happens. This'll go the way of the infamous 'Flat Tax' that so enthralled voters .... and that one got buried in shame. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 08:28:47 -0800 From: "Todd Birch" Subject: More Bad News With the latest three deaths in Afghanistan, the current toll is at 111 dead and untold injured. After successfully disarming one IED, a second caught them on their return to base. Cast your mind back to November of last year when the toll was just over 100 and the pictures of the fallen that were broadcast along with their names ...... now add these. More travellers going for the last ride on the Highway of Heroes. God be with their comrades and families, and those of the wounded. There comes a point where the cost in lives and money ($11.5 billion to date) where one must ask if the sacrifice is worth it. That amount of money in a purely humanitarian mission might be justifiable, if unaffordable, but coinciding with a shooting war that is deemed "unwinnable" in a purely military sense? We didn't buy the Liberals "... if it saves one life ..." mantra when they were justifying the then $1 billion cost of the registry and speaking out against the rhetoric came with the risk of being labelled as uncaring and placing no value on human life. Now we have to look at this escalating cost in human and monetary terms and ask some hard questions. In the meantime, God protect our serving soldiers, sailors and airmen, bring them home safely and God Speed to the end of the mission in 2011. TB ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 11:48:06 -0600 (CST) From: owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca (Majordomo) Subject: Outdoors Column: Toxic effects of lead can be devastating to the environment From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Date: Wed, March 4, 2009 11:06 am To: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Sender: owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca Precedence: normal Reply-To: cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca PUBLICATION: Cape Breton Post DATE: 2009.03.04 SECTION: Sports PAGE: B4 COLUMN: Tight lines BYLINE: MacLean, Don WORD COUNT: 552 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get the lead out: Toxic effects of lead can be devastating to the environment - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was cleaning out my tackle box the other evening as I geared up for some winter rainbow fishing and came across a bag of lead split shot. I thought I had replaced all my lead sinkers and split shot with tin and bismuth a couple of years ago but I guess I missed that bag. The uses of lead in sportfishing, and its effect on the environment, is an important issue for anglers. Lead is a heavy metal that can have very toxic effects on plants, animals and the environment. Lead has also been blamed for the death of many species of waterfowl in Canada. It is estimated that thousands of lead sinkers and jigs are lost by anglers in Canadian waters each year. Many species of waterfowl and other birds find food by digging in the bottom of lakes and ponds. The list of birds which may be impacted by lead includes surface feeding or dabbling ducks, loons and grebes, sea ducks, herons, geese and swans. The birds mistake lead sinkers or jigs as food such as snails, mussels, seeds or grit, which they eat to help grind up their food. When a bird eats lead it is usually trapped in the gizzard, a muscular part of the stomach that grinds up food. Once there lead is ground up into very small particles which are then dissolved by acid in the stomach and absorbed into the blood stream where it ends up in vital organs such as kidneys, liver and brain. A bird affected by lead poisoning will have difficulty walking or flying and will have problems feeding, nesting or caring for young. In severe cases the bird will die. In Nova Scotia over the last several years several loons have been found to have died from lead poisoning and in Eastern Canada and the United States it is estimated that half of all loon deaths can be attributed to lead poisoning. Other birds can also be adversely affected. Eagles and hawks may be attracted to sick birds and feed on them. Predators such as mink, racoons, foxes or bobcats may also feed on sick birds. This way lead poisoning can be passed up the food chain. Progress is being made, however. The use of lead shot for hunting waterfowl was banned in 1999 and since 1997 it has been illegal to have lead fishing sinkers or jigs while in a National Park. For a long time it was very difficult to find alternatives to lead in tackle shops but that has changed as more and more fishing tackle companies begin manufacturing alternatives. As a result, today there are more and more products on the market. These range from tin, bismuth, antimony, steel, rubber or clay, all materials which are non-toxic to waterfowl. As you begin gearing up for next season make an effort to get the lead out of your tackle box and replace it with more environmentally friendly sinkers or jigs. The call of the loon will be your reward. Tight Lines. Tip of the Week: Many fly patterns call for the use of lead to add weight. As an alternative use a cone or bead heads. They not only add weight but some flash as well. Cape Breton native Don MacLean is a fisheries biologist and a resident of Pictou. He writes on sportfishing for a variety of publications. You can e-mail him at oldtrout@ns.sympatico.ca ------------------------------ Date: Wed, March 4, 2009 11:15 am From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Letter: MP way off target on crime and Liberals' gun registry PUBLICATION: The Province DATE: 2009.03.04 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial PAGE: A17 ILLUSTRATION: Colour Photo: Reuters / Some of the thousands who protested in Ottawa when the Liberal government introduced the gun registry in 1998. ; BYLINE: John Hunter SOURCE: The Province WORD COUNT: 134 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joyce Murray way off target on crime and Liberals' gun registry - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liberal MP Joyce Murray's criticism of the Conservatives on crime is astounding. I've been around long enough to remember it was the Liberals who shifted the emphasis from caring for victims to the rights of criminals. Secondly, suggesting the "Conservatives' resistance to registering guns"results in a "flood of illegal and untraceable assault weapons" shows a total lack of understanding of the issue. Ms. Murray, give your head a shake. They are untraceable and illegal because criminals don't register guns. The federal Liberals blew a billion dollars on long-gun registration -- which affects only us legal shooters, and all taxpayers. That same money could have saved lives if spent on health or almost anything else. The Liberal's registration bill was all about appearing to take action rather than responding to any intelligent evidence it would do anything useful. John Hunter, North Vancouver - ------------------------------------------- PUBLICATION: The Province DATE: 2009.03.02 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial PAGE: A12 BYLINE: Joyce Murray SOURCE: The Province WORD COUNT: 509 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conservatives on crime are all bark and no bite - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The recent explosion of gang-related violence in the Lower Mainland, including a murder on Vancouver's west side, has shocked and angered many of us, and no wonder. People rightly expect to feel safe on their streets, and they want all three levels of government to work together to that end. That is why the federal Conservative government must act immediately on the key recommendations of the B.C. government to amend the Criminal Code and protect Canadians from gang-related crimes. Thursday's crime-bill announcement is a small step in the right direction, but it doesn't contain the specific measures that B.C. needs. In my capacity as B.C. Intergovernmental Affairs Liaison for the Liberal caucus in Ottawa, I met with senior B.C. provincial government ministers to find out what they felt Ottawa could do to help them end gang-related violence in B.C. The primary recommendations by B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal and Solicitor-General John van Dongen include updating the Criminal Code to deal with modern communications technologies -- an initiative first proposed by the previous federal Liberal government -- and ending 2-for-1 credit for time served awaiting trial, which disproportionately reduces prison sentences for some violent offenders. They are also calling for measures that will reduce the avalanche of bureaucratic paperwork that distracts police and prosecutors from arresting and charging criminals. So, while Liberal MPs will support the measures introduced Thursday by the Conservative government, tougher sentencing can be only part of the solution. Locking up criminals for longer doesn't help when you can't find them or charge them in the first place. B.C.'s Liberal MPs have expressed our support for the B.C. government's crime-fighting proposals and we will be pushing Prime Minister Stephen Harper to act on them immediately. When it comes to crime, the Conservatives' bark is worse than their bite. On their watch the situation has deteriorated, largely due to their own inaction. Crime Bills the Liberals strongly supported, and in some cases initiated while in government, were killed by Harper's prorogation of the House in 2007, and by his election call last fall. Repeated promises to fund more police have been broken. Any serious attempt to curb gang-related crime will require more police officers patrolling our streets; the 2,500 police promised in the 2006 campaign would have made a serious dent in crime right across Canada. The Conservatives' resistance to registering guns has unfortunately unleashed a flood of illegal and untraceable assault weapons on to our streets. Three years in office and communities are suffering from this government's weak record. In all the recent killings in Vancouver -- more than a dozen shootings in February alone -- police haven't arrested a single person. Municipalities are starved for the policing funds they need, and laws that get in the way of taking action must be changed. What good are stiffer sentences if law enforcement doesn't have the tools and resources at its disposal to apprehend the killers? Rather than blaming the Opposition, the Conservative government needs to start working with us. Like the economic crisis, the crisis of gang violence is too urgent to use as a political weapon. I would like to thank ministers Van Dongen and Oppal for taking the time to meet with Liberals in Ottawa, and for enlisting our help in getting Prime Minister Stephen Harper to act. We continue to offer to be part of the solution. I hope the Conservative government can stop barking long enough to hear us. - -- Joyce Murray is Liberal MP for Vancouver Quadra http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MEMBERSOFPARLIAMENT/ProfileMP.aspx?Key=128541&Language=E ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V13 #97 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's email: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca 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".)