Cdn-Firearms Digest Sunday, November 7 2010 Volume 14 : Number 164 In this issue: Tea Party politics could brew in some areas here Re: Cdn-Firearms Digest V14 #156 Controversy over Remington rifle trigger lingers Re: Williams sight CANCELLED: NFA Canadian Firearms Summit in Vancouver Dec. 10-12 ReU.K. cadets banned form carrying rifles RE: Williams sight RE: Williams sight RE: ReU.K. cadets banned form carrying rifles ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 06 Nov 2010 12:18:21 -0600 From: Joe Gingrich Subject: Tea Party politics could brew in some areas here http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Party+politics+could+brew+some+areas+here/3788508/story.html Tea Party politics could brew in some areas here Canadian scene may be too diverse for U.S.-style conservatism By Richard Foot, Postmedia News November 6, 2010 On the surface, Dan Tappin sounds nothing like the angry, American Tea Party protesters that fuelled a libertarian insurgency inside the Republican party and, in Tuesday's elections, reshaped the power structure in Washington. Tappin is a soft-spoken, 36-year-old family man who works as an oilpatch engineer in Estevan. But lurking below his friendly disposition is a seething frustration with Canadian politics and the big-spending Conservative government. "I feel fed up with everybody," he says. "They all seem to spend our money, just as poorly, no matter which party is in power." A one-time Tory election volunteer, Tappin says he was appalled when Prime Minister Stephen Harper poured tens of billions of taxpayer dollars into bailout packages for the auto industry and the faltering economy last year. "I just felt, 'What are you guys doing?' " He poured his own frustrations into a new website, MapleLeafParty.ca, as a "bit of an homage to the U.S. Tea Party movement." Tappin has no desire to start a new political party, and doesn't know whether his blog will ever transform into an actual movement, a northern version of the U.S. Tea Party. But he's convinced there are millions of other Canadians like him, ticked off by deficits and waste and taxpayer abuse, without a real champion of their own in Ottawa. "I know from the emails I get, there are other people just as frustrated as I am," he says. "There's not a single entity in Canada, or a true political party, that represents people with views like mine." Is there enough anger and frustration to fuel a Tea Party movement in Canada? Could similar sentiments lead to a taxpayer backlash that influences the next election, or the one after? Tappin says the Maple Leaf Party is one of the many "green shoots," the very early beginnings of a populist libertarian uprising. He's already been in contact with the Reseau Liberte Quebec (Quebec Freedom Network), a fledgling organization founded by a handful of young, right-wing Quebecois politicos that attracted about 500 people to its inaugural meeting last month. "To have 500 people pay $35 to spend a Saturday in a room in Quebec City, to hear people talk about conservative policies -- I've never seen that. I think it's kind of unique. There is an appetite for those policies," says Eric Duhaime, co-founder of the Reseau Liberte, who once worked for former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day and now writes a newspaper column in Quebec. Tappin and Duhaime also point to the growth of the hard-right Wildrose Alliance Party -- which threatens the hegemony of Alberta's long-lived Conservative government -- and to the recent victory of Toronto's new anti-establishment mayor Rob Ford -- who campaigned solely on turning off the municipal "gravy train" -- as further signals of rising Tea Party sentiment in Canada. Duhaime says Reseau Liberte reflects the rise of a new generation of Quebecers, including those of immigrant families, who care little for the obsessive, "yes-no" sovereignty fights that they say have pushed aside more important discussions, including debates about the economy, from Quebec's public discourse for half a century. Like many Tea Party supporters in the U.S., Duhaime also says he and other young libertarians across Canada detest the growing reach and responsibilities of governments into every corner of citizens' lives. "Our ancestors came to Quebec for many of the same reasons they came to the U.S.," he says. "They came here for freedom, because they wanted to get rid of big governments that were telling them what to do with their lives. Unfortunately over the last 50 years, we have lost that heritage. "Even the immigrants who come to Canada, they're not coming because they want to be taxed to death, they're coming because they want freedom to decide what's best for themselves and their kids." Gil Troy, an American who teaches U.S. political history at McGill University in Montreal, cautions that however passionate Canada's Tea Party wannabes might be, their ideals are unlikely to ignite the same fires in this country as in the U.S. For one thing, Canada's economy is in far better shape. Troy says the wreckage in the U.S. -- high unemployment, shuttered factories, foreclosed homes -- is the real reason behind the Tea Party's success this year. "Their victories are the result of economic distress, and the fear that there's something seriously wrong with the country," says Troy. "If we take out the recession, if we take out the sense that there's serious dysfunction going on, would there be the same kind of phenomenon? I don't think so." In a critique last month in the Washington Post, political scholar Charles Murray agreed with Tea Party claims that American society is increasingly and dangerously divided between ordinary working and middle-class people, and a class of "New Elites" -- both right and left wing -- who control academia, the media and the political system, but are "isolated from mainstream America" and deeply out of touch with the lives and cares of ordinary working people. Troy says not only is that divide less acute in Canada, but that political discourse here remains far more civil. Canadian debate has not yet been hijacked by what he calls the "toxic media culture and the toxic blogosphere" that feed the Tea Party's populist anger. Tom Flanagan, the U.S.-born, Calgary academic and former adviser to Harper, says a Tea Party insurgency is less likely in Canada because in our political system, unlike the U.S. primary system, parties are not required by law to hold free and open nomination contests. The Tea Party succeeded by fielding libertarian candidates, and knocking off establishment ones, in several Republican primaries. That tactic wouldn't work in Canada, where leaders of the major political parties fiercely protect incumbents and, in many cases, simply appoint candidates by fiat. "You could have an insurgency here and there in Canada, but a wide uprising like we saw in the U.S. just isn't possible here," says Flanagan. "What happens instead is that people end up forming a new party, because the control over the existing party is too strong." Which is what happened with the Reform party under Preston Manning in the 1980s. "The Reform Party was basically our Tea Party," he says. "It arose at a time of crisis, when our deficits were spiralling out of control, much like the American deficits are now . . . the people who started the Reform party are pretty much the same kind of people that are energized by the Tea Party." One of Reform's founders, Stephen Harper, has now been in power for almost five years. Yet for voters like Dan Tappin, the Harper government's big spending ways, its retail courting of every conceivable voter group, and its tin ear towards the wishes of fiscally conservative citizens, bear no resemblance to the libertarian sermons Harper and his colleagues once delivered before rising to high office. That may be a hard lesson in the realities of governing -- versus protesting -- but it still rankles Tappin. "I want to say to them, 'Go on a program of slashing spending, paying off debt, paring back all these entitlement programs,' " he says. "Maybe in the next election you'll see more frustrated people like me, standing up at town halls or at nomination meetings, asking candidates to explain their records, and putting pressure on people to recognize true conservative principles. "Maybe that's how the Tea Party will take shape up here." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 12:14:14 -0600 From: Rocky7 Subject: Re: Cdn-Firearms Digest V14 #156 > Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:24:08 -0600 > From: Larry James Fillo > Subject: Re: Mark's comments on Capt. Semrau case. > > Mark > > I suspect that the Prosecuting Attorney in charge could have > decided not to prosecute based on either, it not being in the public > interest, or on insufficient grounds likely for a conviction. > Those are both at their discretion. I'm presuming the same criterion > as civilian prosecutors are supposed to use. > > I think those that have had combat experience or even can > imagine themselves in that position have a much different > view than lawyer types who have not and who can't. > > I'd wager that most anyone who can imagine themselves being in the > position of the Talib, lying there dying with his legs blown off and > his intestines hanging out from an artillery strike, would rather serve > under Capt. Semrau than an Ottawa lawyer type of officer, I'd wager. I have family who fought. They talked. I have no doubt that what you say is true. > Would you, or other soldiers that you know, object if Capt. Semrau's > punishment were set aside and he was re-instated by the Prime Minister? That would be the right thing to do. It would take some guts, however, and guts are in short supply in Ottawa. > > I believe that he did what he genuinely thought to be right, and for > > humane reasons. I hope that he finds peace and fulfilment. Indeed. I expect he is very disappointed that his career was stripped away, but otherwise sleeps well at night. He should. For my part, I am ashamed of the country. This was the worst kind of friendly fire - it was deliberate and it came from the rear, where everybody's safe. > > Mark ------------------------------ Date: Sat, November 6, 2010 12:26 pm From: "Dennis & Hazel Young" Subject: Controversy over Remington rifle trigger lingers THE DETROIT NEWS - NOVEMBER 6, 2010 Controversy over Remington rifle trigger lingers Jim Lynch / The Detroit News - Berkley NOTE: Also includes link to CNBC Television show on this rifle http://www.detnews.com/article/20101106/METRO/11060353/1409/Controversy-over-Remington-rifle-trigger-lingers Dennis and Melinda Cronk might have argued forever over who or what caused their rifle to go off - without anyone pulling the trigger - at a firing range near Vassar last spring. Initially, Dennis thought his wife must have done something wrong. Melinda had other ideas. "She yelled at me," Dennis said of that potentially disastrous day in March. "Her exact words were: 'How can you buy me a gun that goes off when you set it down?'" But when their Remington 700 ADL discharged again in the same manner five months later, they knew it wasn't human error. The Cronks had been introduced to the long-running controversy surrounding the most popular line of bolt-action rifles in the world. For years, Remington 700 series rifles have been suspected of discharging without a trigger pull in rare instances. The Walker trigger, designed more than a half century ago by Mike Walker, is at the heart of the controversy and has been linked to injuries, deaths and property damage in lawsuits. Critics say the trigger allows dirt and debris to collect in the mechanism and keep the trigger connector from resting in a safe position. It's a system used only by Remington. Safety issues have been raised by news organizations over the years, including The Detroit News in 2003. Last month, a CNBC program titled "Remington Under Fire" stirred the controversy again. North Carolina-based Remington fired back with a lengthy video response of its own, challenging the assertion that its product has a potentially fatal shortcoming. "This claim is demonstrably false," the company said in a response to CNBC on its Web site. "Whenever a firearm is not handled properly, tragic accidents can occur. Each of the tragic and emotional personal injury and death cases cited by CNBC involved a breach of one or more important gun safety rules." Mike Ryan, a retired Ford Motor Co. mechanic, has worked as a gunsmith for 13 years and backs the company's position. "It's a good simple design," said the 62-year-old Fenton resident when asked about the trigger. "It's reliable. It's strong because they weren't concerned with making it lightweight back when they designed it." Ryan said he sees four or five Remington 700 models a year, but rarely because of trigger issues. In the two instances where there were questions about the trigger, "One was on a gun that was all gummed up inside . and the other was a gun that had been abused." Different models of the gun can run from several hundred dollars to well over $1,000. Remington officials did not respond to requests for information. In responding to the allegations on the company Web site, officials stress several points: Proper firearm safety would have prevented the most tragic incidents involving unexpected discharges. In lawsuits, plaintiffs haven't been able to duplicate the no-trigger discharge scenario on weapons that had been "properly maintained and which had not been altered after sale." Remington's own researchers also have been unable to duplicate the discharge. Dick Williams, a Saginaw gunsmith who has been working with guns for more than 40 years, including plenty of replacement triggers for Remington 700 rifles, sits in the middle of the debate. Williams said decades ago Remington's 600 series rifles were thought to have problems when oil was allowed to congeal in the trigger mechanism. The company, he said, began using different trigger systems on those models in the 1960s. "With the 700, which is basically the same trigger, they never replaced them (back then)," said the 74-year-old. "That's probably where Remington screwed up a little bit." Since CNBC aired its Remington report, Williams said he has received calls from gun owners with safety questions about their rifles. In many cases, he has done replacement work, sponsored by Remington, installing a new trigger for $20. Dennis and Melinda Cronk's encounters with the Remington discharge issue didn't end in tragedy because both, they said, practice firearm safety. They keep the weapon pointed down-range at all times and never point it at anyone or anything that could be damaged, they added. But their faith has been shaken, and the weapon Dennis purchased for his wife is now gathering dust in storage. "At this point I really don't know what to do with it," he said. "I could probably have the trigger work done, but I'm not sure I could trust (the rifle) again." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 06 Nov 2010 15:20:36 -0600 From: Bill Farion Subject: Re: Williams sight Hi, I had a gunsmith instal a Williams WGRS sight on my low wall. Unfortunately he did not return the package with the instructions. Do any of the 3 screws "set" the other? The screw on the right, is it to move the sight forward? How is windage adjusted? Thks ------------------------------ Date: Sat, November 6, 2010 11:12 pm From: "Dennis & Hazel Young" Subject: CANCELLED: NFA Canadian Firearms Summit in Vancouver Dec. 10-12 FIREARMS DIGEST POSTING NATIONAL FIREARMS ASSOCIATION Canadian Firearms Summit 2010 - "Sorry, this event has been cancelled." http://www.nfa.ca/canadian-firearms-summit-2010-vancouver-bc - -----Original Message----- From: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Sent: November-06-10 9:01 PM To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V14 #163 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 18:54:04 -0700 (PDT) From: N BAZINET Subject: NFA-CSSA Cooperation - My emails to NFA & CSSA To Whom It May Concern: We have two fine organizations representing the Recreational Firearms Community (RFC) in Canada, namely the National Firearms Association (NFA) and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA). Both follow the same basic operating principles and organizational structures. Both organizations compete for a limited number of members and gun clubs across the country. There are benefits to having competing organizations and I think this is healthy for the RFC. One only needs to look south of the border to find countless pro-gun groups using different tactics and approaches (e.g. NRA, GOA, JPFO, etc.). Different groups foster different ideas with varying levels of success. Indeed, the NFA and the CSSA have some philosophical differences. For example, the NFA promotes conceal-carry and the use of firearms for self-defense as well as recreatioanl use. On the other hand, the CSSA promotes the use of firearms purely for recreational purposes. However, these differences do not justify the destructive behavior that is on-going between the two groups. Gun owners are tired of the pissing match between the NFA and the CSSA. The RFC has enough problems without unnecessary conflicts between groups. We have too many important things to achieve without adding in-fighting to our problems. The RFC deserves and expects better than this. We have much in common and have to learn to work together. We recently lost a major battle in the war on gun control with Bill C-391. Another bout of gun controls and confiscations are around the corner as soon as another shooting incident occurs on a Canadian campus. Divide and conquer is a favored tactic of politicians and they love to take advantage of it. On Dec.10-12, 2010, the NFA is holding a Canadian Firearms Summit in Vancouver. I trust that the CSSA will be well represented at this Summit to show that the two organizations can work together to design proactive strategies to protect the interests of the RFC. Sincerely Norm Bazinet NFA Membership #XXXXXXX; CSSA Membership #XXXXXX PS. I received responses from NFA indicating that they have amply notified and invited CSSA to this event. NFA has heard nothing back. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 01:41:11 -0600 From: Larry James Fillo Subject: ReU.K. cadets banned form carrying rifles Since the most popular name for boy babies in the U.K. these days is Mohammed, and the U.K. military has just taken a massive budget cut, just who do they think is going to protect them from... an internal army of little jihadis in twenty years time? Oh, right General Appeasment. It won't belong before NATO drops the U.K. and invites the island of St. Pierre to replace them. On 6-Nov-10, at 9:01 PM, Cdn-Firearms Digest wrote: > Date: Sat, November 6, 2010 12:13 pm > From: "Dennis & Hazel Young" > Subject: UK: Cadets banned from carrying rifles on a Remembrance > Day parade > > TELEGRAPH - NOVEMBER 6, 2010 > Rifles banned from cadet parade > Army cadets have been banned from carrying rifles on a Remembrance Day > parade amid fears the weapons might "upset" onlookers. > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8113041/Rifles-banned-from- > cadet-parade.html > > The young cadets have marched with rifles for decades and around > 100 had > spent months fine-tuning their drill before this year's parade. But > the > cadets were told days before the big day that they would have to > abandon > their guns following complaints from members of the public. They > were warned > the rifle display during the march in Plymouth, Devon, could be > deemed as > ''glamorising'' weapons. > > Cadets were left ''bitterly disappointed'' by the late change, which > organisers yesterday (fri) branded ''political correctness gone mad''. > Basil Downing-Waite, chairman of the Federation of Plymouth and > District Ex > Services Associations, which organised the event, said: ''I am > bitterly > disappointed''. He added: ''It's political correctness gone mad. I > feel > bitterly disappointed because it gives the young people a sense of > responsibility. They are delighted to do these displays.'' > > More than 100 cadets from across Plymouth spent months preparing > for the > annual event which is the highlight in their calendar. The > Remembrance Day > march was still due to go ahead last night (fri) but with the rifle > aspect > withdrawn. A senior cadet instructor said the children had been > left ''very > upset'' by the ruling. Police Chief Inspector Brendan Brookshaw > (corr) said > his son Henry and daughter Rosie re ''very disappointed'' at the late > change. He added: ''This week the commanding officer for Plymouth > cadets > told them they couldn't do it any more because some member of the > public > complained about cadets marching with rifles. They have been doing it > forever. My children have been doing rifle drill displays for the > past four > years and I did it when I was a cadet.'' > > Chief Inspector Brookshaw added that his son was one many Plymouth > cadets > who marched carrying rifles as part of a Freedom of the City parade in > September. > > But Devon Cadet Executive Officer Major David Waterworth (corr) put > an end > to the tradition after he ruled the carrying weapons was ''not good > for the > image'' of cadets. He said: ''There is no need for children to > appear in > public with weapons. It does upset some members of the public. > There is no > need for it. It doesn't reflect our aims and ethos in the Army > Cadet Force. > We are not soldiers. People say it's traditional at Remembrance > parades, but > there is no need to carry a weapon to remember the dead. I stopped > it as > soon as I heard they were doing it. It's not good for our image to > have > children carrying weapons in public. 'We are not members of the > Armed Forces > - - we are a youth movement sponsored by the Ministry of Defence.'' > > He added that a ruling against children carrying rifles had been in > place > for ten years, but had not been enforced until now. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 09:40:14 -0600 From: "Julie A. McNeice" Subject: RE: Williams sight Julie typing in for Lorne McNeice (he's dictating): The little screw on the right, loosen it and then you can move the site up or down and watch the index marks because there's no other way of telling how much you moved it. Windage is accomplished by loosening the GIB screw which would be directly under the aperture - you may have to remove the app to see it. Loosen it and slide it left or right as required taking note again of the index marks, and tighten and reinsert the aperture and check it out. Could also get some info from Williams online. Regards, Lorne McNeice lorne@mccasaenterprises.ca - -----Original Message----- From: owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca [mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca] On Behalf Of Bill Farion Sent: November-06-10 4:21 PM To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: Re: Williams sight Hi, I had a gunsmith instal a Williams WGRS sight on my low wall. Unfortunately he did not return the package with the instructions. Do any of the 3 screws "set" the other? The screw on the right, is it to move the sight forward? How is windage adjusted? Thks ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 09:40:14 -0600 From: "Julie A. McNeice" Subject: RE: Williams sight Julie typing in for Lorne McNeice (he's dictating): The little screw on the right, loosen it and then you can move the site up or down and watch the index marks because there's no other way of telling how much you moved it. Windage is accomplished by loosening the GIB screw which would be directly under the aperture - you may have to remove the app to see it. Loosen it and slide it left or right as required taking note again of the index marks, and tighten and reinsert the aperture and check it out. Could also get some info from Williams online. Regards, Lorne McNeice lorne@mccasaenterprises.ca - -----Original Message----- From: owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca [mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca] On Behalf Of Bill Farion Sent: November-06-10 4:21 PM To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: Re: Williams sight Hi, I had a gunsmith instal a Williams WGRS sight on my low wall. Unfortunately he did not return the package with the instructions. Do any of the 3 screws "set" the other? The screw on the right, is it to move the sight forward? How is windage adjusted? Thks ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 11:07:32 -0500 From: TONY KATZ Subject: RE: ReU.K. cadets banned form carrying rifles Dont be so superior to the Brits as our cadets had their rifles taken away some time ago. The Quebec government objected to it years ago and DND caved and to make life simpler for themselves extended the ban across the country. Cadet shooting programs have focused on air rifles for years now and real opportunities to shoot 22 cal are rare now. This was also caused by the closure of all the indoor ranges at all the armouries across the country and the removal of the old 22cal lee enfield trainers. So they did not have any rifles to parade with and now that is the custom. I belive they only get a chance to shoot at cadet camps during the summer. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V14 #164 *********************************** 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".)