From: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #33 Reply-To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Sender: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Errors-To: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Precedence: normal Cdn-Firearms Digest Friday, April 6 2012 Volume 15 : Number 033 In this issue: Dead wolf photos stir tensions in U.S. West Editorial: Pistol-free zones still have merit Mexico wants US to ban semi-automatic weapons "Canada will still have one of the toughest licensing systems... Lawyer Solomon Friedman appears today, April 4 2012, on Sun News By a vote of 50-27, senators approved the bill, ... OPEN LETTER TO VIC TOEWS: Law-abiding gun owners ... Former New Orleans cops sentenced in shootings Re: NWEST raids rural Aberdeen gun owner-Digest V15 #29 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, April 4, 2012 2:35 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: Dead wolf photos stir tensions in U.S. West Dead wolf photos stir tensions in U.S. West BY LAURA ZUCKERMAN, REUTERS APRIL 3, 2012 http://www.canada.com/technology/TENSION+OVER+DEAD+WOLVES/6405685/story.html SALMON, Idaho - Photos of dead and maimed wolves have pervaded the Internet in recent weeks, raising tensions in the Northern Rocky Mountains over renewed hunting and trapping of the once federally protected animals. Escalating rancor between hunters and animal rights activists on social media and websites centers on pictures of wolves killed or about to be killed. Many have text celebrating the fact that Western states are allowing more killing of the predators. Commenting on a Facebook-posted image of two wolves strangled to death by cable snares, an individual who identified himself as Shane Miller wrote last month, "Very nice!! Don't stop now, you're just getting started!" A person going by the name Matthew Brown posted the message, "Nice, one down and a BUNCH to go!" in response to a Facebook image of a single wolf choked to death in a snare. Such pictures and commentary have intensified online arguments over the ethics of hunting and trapping wolves. The debate took a threatening turn this week with an anonymous email warning that animal rights advocates will "be the target next." In Idaho and Montana, hundreds of the animals have been killed - mostly through hunting - less than a year after being removed from the U.S. endangered species list. Stripping the wolves of federal protection last spring opened the animals to state wildlife management, including newly licensed hunting and trapping designed to reduce their numbers from levels the states deemed too high. Since the de-listing last May, Idaho has cut its wolf population by about 40 per cent, from roughly 1,000 to about 600 or fewer. Some 260 wolves have been killed in Montana, more than a third of its population, leaving an estimated 650 remaining. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has also proposed lifting the protected status for another 350 wolves in Wyoming. The threatening note received by an anti-trapping group based in Missoula, Montana, this week has drawn scrutiny from federal and local law enforcement. The group says it was likely singled out because it had criticized and widely circulated a snapshot of a smiling trapper posed with a dying wolf whose leg was caught in the metal jaws of a foothold trap on a patch of blood-stained snow. VILLAIN OR VICTIM? Once common across most of North America, wolves were hunted, trapped and poisoned to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1940s under a government-sponsored program. Decades later, biologists recognized that wolves had an essential role as a predator in mountain ecosystems, leading to protection of the animal under the Endangered Species Act. Wolves were reintroduced in the mid-1990s over the vehement objections of ranchers and sportsmen, who see the animals as a threat to livestock and big-game animals such as elk and deer. Environmentalists say the impact of wolves on cattle herds and wildlife is overstated and that the recent removal of federal safeguards could push the wolf back to the brink. Wolves have long been vilified in the region as a menace, symbolizing for some a distant federal bureaucracy imposing its rules on the West. "They're putting us and our way of life out of business," said Ron Casperson, co-owner of Saddle Springs Trophy Outfitters in Salmon, Idaho. "It makes me sick every day I look at this country. These wolves . . . I mean, come on." State wildlife managers had predicted that such passions would ease once the wolves were de-listed and states gained control. But discourse on the Internet and social networks appears to have grown more hostile. Some hunters have expressed discomfort at the apparent bloodlust unleashed on the Internet, which they see as tarnishing the reputation of a sport that attracts less than 15 per cent of Americans. 'SCREAMING FOR MERCY' "There are two groups of hunters - one supports fair chase and ethical hunting, and the other views the reintroduction of wolves and the recovery with venom," said veteran sportsman Rod Bullis of Helena, Montana. Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Gary Power said he was bombarded with letters and emails from people representing extremes on both sides of the debate. "There are some folks out there stirring the pot: 'Get rid of government, get rid of this, they shoved it down our throats, kill them all,' and they are adding to the contentiousness," he said. Animal rights activists said they are sickened at the online flurry of pictures depicting wolf kills, and alarmed by comments suggesting a growing desire to shoot, trap and snare wolves. "Roughly $40 million has been spent on wolf recovery, and now we are witnessing the second extermination of wolves in the West," said Wendy Keefover, director of carnivore protection for WildEarth Guardians. Idaho and Montana are required to maintain about 150 wolves per state each year to prevent federal protection from being imposed again. But Idaho plans to more than double the number of wolves a hunter may take in some areas for the 2012-13 season, raising their bag limit to 10. Montana is seeking to raise its wolf-hunt quotas, and state wildlife managers are discussing allowing trapping, which is currently illegal there. At least one Montana county is considering a bounty for wolves killed by licensed hunters. This week's email threat to the animal advocacy group Footloose Montana raised the acrimony to a new level. The image posted on its Facebook page was taken from the Trapperman.com website, including text that joked about the wolf being shot and wounded by a passersby after it was caught - "lucky they were not real good shots." The photo went viral over the Internet last weekend, and on Monday Footloose Montana received the email threat. The message said "I would like to donate a gun to your childs (sic) head to make sure you can watch it die slowly so I can have my picture taken with it's (sic) bleeding dying screaming for mercy body." Then the email, a copy of which Footloose gave to Reuters, said the recipients would be the next targets. A Missoula Police Department detective, Sergeant Travis Welsh, confirmed this week that investigators were looking into a "report from a local institution about a malicious email." Footloose Executive Director Anja Heister said FBI agents had interviewed a member of her group about the threat, but an FBI spokeswoman declined to comment. By Tuesday, Trapperman.com, a site whose mission statement declares, "Always keep in mind that we are the true protectors of wildlife and the wild places in which the animals live," had removed pictures of dead or dying wolves and commentary. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, April 4, 2012 2:40 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: Editorial: Pistol-free zones still have merit Pistol-free zones still have merit 9:19 AM, Apr. 4, 2012 | Comments http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20120404/OPINION01/304040026/Pistol-free-zones-still-merit?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp OK. Limits on where Michigan residents can carry handguns have been relaxed for more than a decade - and the reforms haven't plunged the state into lawlessness. There is a question, though, about how far the freedom to pack a piece should go. The Legislature changed concealed weapons restrictions more than a decade ago. The law made it easier to get a concealed weapons permit, and more than 300,000 licenses have been granted. But an important provision of this reform established pistol-free zones. The zones - bars, public schools, sports arenas and hospitals - offered greater safety and common sense. It was a fair balance. Gun-rights advocates won new freedom. Gun-rights foes took comfort that the new law firmly established places off limits to concealed firearms. A new legislative push would change those gun-free zones. With an additional amount of training - nine hours and 162 more rounds fired at the range for owners of concealed weapons permits - they can carry their weapons in gun-free zones including churches. The reform is part of legislation to revamp the state's concealed handgun law. In addition to changing gun-free zones, it also would abolish county boards. County sheriffs would issue concealed weapons permits and face penalties if their denial of a permit application is later reversed. The premise of these reforms seems to be that firearms ought to be carried anywhere. That is the point gun-rights advocates have tried to make in wearing sidearms to street festivals such as Royal Oak's Arts, Beats and Eats. Wearing guns to hospitals, schools or churches, as the legislation permits, appears to tilt the balance between packing a pistol and preserving the public safety standards of places where the absence of firearms ought to be a given. The legislation calls for a public debate that should inform this legislation. To his credit, House Speaker Jase Bolger said the issue won't be taken lightly. "This is a very emotional issue," Bolger told journalists last week. "I would not prescribe a timeline. I understand and respect there is significant disagreement among our residents. And I expect that if it comes over from the Senate, the House will need to have its own fact finding and really delve into the facts of these cases." A key point in this debate is the presumption that everyone permitted to carry a handgun always acts responsibly. Churches generally rely on a higher power. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, April 4, 2012 2:46 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: Mexico wants US to ban semi-automatic weapons Mexico wants US to ban semi-automatic weapons By Michael McGuire, US Senate Examiner http://www.examiner.com/us-senate-in-national/mexico-wants-us-to-ban-semi-automatic-weapons Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico, on Monday called upon Congress to ban the sale of semi-automatic weapons in the United States. "During my government, we have seized over 140,000 weapons in four years," he said, according to a U.S. State Department translation of his remarks. "And I think that the vast majority have been assault weapons -- AK-47s, etc. And many, the vast majority of these weapons were sold in gun shops in the United States. Along the border of the U.S. and Mexico, there are approximately 8,000 weapons shops. If we do our accounts, that means that there are approximately nine weapons stores for each Walmart that exists in the United States and Mexico." Calderon made his remarks during a press conference at the White House that included US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada. He realizes stiffer gun control laws represent a difficult political process. "I have a great deal of respect for the U.S. legislation, especially the Second Amendment," but I know that if we don't stop the traffic of weapons into Mexico, also if we don't have mechanisms to forbid the sale of weapons, such as we had in the '90s, or for registry of guns, at least for assault weapons, then we are never going to be able to stop the violence in Mexico or stop a future turning of those guns upon the U.S." There is little chance the U.S. Senate will address additional gun control this year. While Democrats control the senate, not all Democrats support stiffer gun controls; and the Republican-dominated U.S. House of Representatives and House Democrats who oppose additional gun controls would be unlikely to allow the effort to succeed. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, April 4, 2012 2:55 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: "Canada will still have one of the toughest licensing systems... Senator Daniel Lang speaks eloquently about the uselessness of gun registration Apr 04, 2012 by: Christopher di Armani | no comments. http://christopherdiarmani.com/5238/canadas-firearms-act/senator-daniel-lang-speaks-eloquently-uselessness-gun-registration/?awt_l=Abats&awt_m=3hGvt_v8pitLzRJ Senator Daniel Lang is opposed to gun registration, and for good reason. He comprehends history. Senator Lang represents The Yukon, and was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2009. He comprehends the issues that are important to Yukoners and indeed all Canadians. He is one of the sponsors of the bill to end the long gun registry and, to quote him, he looks "forward to being actively involved in ensuring that this legislation is passed by the Senate quickly." He has remained true to that statement and has attacked the uselessness of the long gun registry at every opportunity. His his latest speech on Bill C-19, currently before the Senate, is well worth reading. While I don't agree with everything Senator Lang says, I do agree with most of it. This transcript is from the Hansard - 1st Session, 41st Parliament, Volume 148, Issue 66, Monday, April 2, 2012 [SNIP] Honourable senators, I want to assure these witnesses that with the elimination of the long-gun registry, Canada will still have one of the toughest licensing systems, as well as storage and transportation requirements, for long-gun firearms that will safeguard the public. [SNIP] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, April 4, 2012 8:27 pm From: "todd rudderham" Subject: Lawyer Solomon Friedman appears today, April 4 2012, on Sun News ... discussing Quebec`s challenge to end of gun registry and proposed amendments to the Explosives Regulations Act IMPORTANT TO WATCH THIS AND PASS IT ON!!! Also very important is the proposed changes to the explosives act that effects anyone who has ammunition. "We discussed the Quebec gun registry law suit and the proposed amendments to the Explosives Act Regulations." http://firearmslaw.ca/blog/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, April 4, 2012 10:21 pm From: "todd rudderham" Subject: By a vote of 50-27, senators approved the bill, ... ... marking the last political hurdle needed to kill the registry http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Senate+votes+kill+long+registry/6411295/story.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, April 4, 2012 10:48 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: OPEN LETTER TO VIC TOEWS: Law-abiding gun owners ... ... treated worse than criminals OPEN LETTER April 4, 2012 The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety Public Safety Canada House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 Dear Minister: On Thursday, March 29, 2012 in the House of Commons you said, : "I can indicate our Conservative government does not support treating law-abiding hunters, farmers and sports shooters as criminals." The sad fact is that law-abiding gun owners will continue to be treated worse than criminals even after the long-gun registry is scrapped. If your statement is true, please explain why does your government still treat millions of honest, trustworthy, upright gun owners as more dangerous than the 324,723 persons prohibited by the courts from owning firearms? For example, licensed gun owners who fail to report their change of address within thirty days could go to jail for up to two years while those prohibited from possessing firearms face no such requirement or criminal penalty. Also, the homes and businesses of licensed gun owners are subject to "inspections" but not those convicted criminals on the list of those prohibited from owning firearms. And pity the more than 338,000 unfortunate gun owners who have let their firearms licenses expire or the millions who forgot to get a license in the first place because they wait nervously for the police (and sometimes even a SWAT team) to arrive to search their homes, seize and destroy their legally acquired property and charge them with unlawful possession of a firearm under Sections 91 or 92 of the Criminal Code of Canada. I say "unfortunate" because even though they had no criminal intent and have not committed an unsafe or violent act, they could go to jail for two, five or even ten years simply for failing to get a piece of paper from your government. Before you and your colleagues can honestly say that law-abiding gun owners are no longer treated like criminals, you will have to repeal those "paper crimes" from laws the Liberals rammed through Parliament in 1995 with the passage of Bill C-68. The Leader of Reform Party, the Leader of the Canadian Alliance Party and, according to some of your own constituents, even you used to promise to "Repeal Bill C-68". The gun control regime that was in place in 1994 only cost the federal government $15 million a year to operate and was just as effective at keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals as the new and improved Liberal anti-gun owner regime in place today that continues to cost taxpayers at least four times that amount annually. As you may remember, I worked for Garry Breitkreuz for thirteen years on the firearms file and offer the government my assistance if needed. The evidence clearly shows that law-abiding gun owners are the least likely to be a public safety threat and yet for the last seventeen years the government has placed a very expensive target on our backs all the while ignoring the real threat to police and the public: convicted violent criminals. It makes no sense to spend tens of millions a year to track millions of honest folk like us and not know the whereabouts of a few hundred thousand of the most dangerous persons in Canada. Why are their rights and freedoms more important than ours? Sincerely, [Original signed by] Dennis R. Young 10 Discovery Ridge Close SW Calgary, AB T3H 5X3 cc To all Conservative MPs and Senators ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 00:08:26 -0600 From: "Joe Gingrich" Subject: Former New Orleans cops sentenced in shootings http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/04/five-former-new-orleans-cops-sentenced-in-hurricane-katrina-shootings/#ixzz1r8fdG3tf Five former New Orleans cops sentenced in Hurricane Katrina shootings Published April 04, 2012| Associated Press NEW ORLEANS - Five former New Orleans police officers were sentenced Wednesday to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for their roles in deadly shootings of unarmed residents in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, with the judge lashing out at prosecutors for two hours on their handling of the case. Police shot six people at a bridge on Sept. 4, 2005, killing two, less than a week after Katrina made landfall. To make the shootings appear justified, officers conspired to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports. The case became the centerpiece of the Justice Department's push to clean up the troubled New Orleans Police Department. Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon were convicted of federal firearms charges that carried mandatory minimum prison sentences of at least 35 years. Retired Sgt. Arthur "Archie" Kaufman, who was assigned to investigate the shootings, was convicted of helping orchestrate the cover-up. Faulcon, who was convicted on charges in both fatal shootings, faces the stiffest sentence of 65 years. Bowen and Gisevius each face 40 years, while Villavaso was sentenced to 38. Kaufman received the lightest sentence at six years. Afterward, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt accused prosecutors of cutting overly lenient plea deals with five other officers who cooperated with the civil rights investigation. The former officers pleaded guilty to helping cover up the shooting and are already serving prison terms ranging from three to eight years. "These through-the-looking-glass plea deals that tied the hands of this court ... are an affront to the court and a disservice to the community," Engelhardt said. The judge also questioned the credibility of the officers who pleaded guilty and testified against those who went to trial. In particular, the judge criticized prosecutors for seeking a 20-year prison sentence for Kaufman, yet Michael Lohman, who was the highest-ranking officer at the scene of the shooting, received four years under his deal for pleading guilty to participating in the cover-up. One of Kaufman's attorneys, Steve London, said his client was pleased the judge sentenced him to a few years less than the guidelines, which had called for about eight to 10. "This judge recognized that the government put liars on the stand to testify and convict other people," London said. Engelhardt heard several hours of arguments and testimony earlier Wednesday from prosecutors, defense attorneys, relatives of shooting victims and the officers. Ronald Madison and 17-year-old James Brissette died in the shootings. "This has been a long and painful six-and-a-half years," said Lance Madison, whose 40-year-old, mentally disabled brother, Ronald, was killed at the bridge. "The people of New Orleans and my family are ready for justice." Madison individually addressed each defendant, including Faulcon, who shot his brother: "When I look at you, my pain becomes unbearable. You took the life of an angel and basically ripped my heart out." Madison also said he was horrified by Kaufman's actions in the cover-up: "You tried to frame me, a man you knew was innocent, and send me to prison for the rest of my life." Lance Madison was arrested on attempted murder charges after police falsely accused him of shooting at the officers on the bridge. He was jailed for three weeks before a judge freed him. The Rev. Robert Faulcon Sr. told the judge his son "didn't go looking for trouble." "He was on duty and he was called to do a job, and that's what he did to the best of his ability," the elder Faulcon said. None of the officers addressed the court before they were sentenced. Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, leading to the collapse of levees and flooding an estimated 80 percent of the city. New Orleans was plunged into chaos as residents who hadn't evacuated were driven from their homes to whatever high places they could find. Officers who worked in the city at the time but were not charged in the bridge case on Wednesday told Engelhardt of the lawlessness that followed the flood, and that they feared for their lives. On the morning of Sept. 4, one group of residents was crossing the Danziger Bridge in the city's Gentilly area in search of food and supplies when police arrived. The officers had received calls that shots were being fired. Gunfire reports were common after Katrina. Faulcon was convicted of fatally shooting Madison, but the jury decided the killing didn't amount to murder. He, Gisevius, Bowen and Villavaso were convicted in Brissette's killing, but jurors didn't hold any of them individually responsible for causing his death. All five officers were convicted of participating in a cover-up. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 09:25:20 -0400 From: Norman Lapierre Subject: Re: NWEST raids rural Aberdeen gun owner-Digest V15 #29 <6086D8E7-1CF5-4CEB-814F-A1C71DE8EFB1@shaw.ca> In-Reply-To: <6086D8E7-1CF5-4CEB-814F-A1C71DE8EFB1@shaw.ca> Sender: owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca Precedence: normal Reply-To: cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca Don't you just love it when they use terms like "STASH" and "WEAPONS"? They should have their tongues surgically removed to prevent them from repeating such slanderous phrases. I don't own any WEAPONS, I own FIREARMS. [rant off] Norman Lapierre norman.lapierre2@gmail.com On 2012-04-04, at 3:09 AM, Larry James Fillo wrote: > There is nothing in this article to indicate the arrestee is a > violent criminal. Looking closely as I can at the photograph, I see > a collection of old hunting rifles and shotguns, Browning BLR, a > Thompson Centre Scout muzzleloader. I see a few revolvers, a Ruger > Blackhawk, a Kentucky muzzleloading pistol, some vague smaller semi- > autos. The "black gun", referred to as an "AK-47", has no receiver, > only a barrel assembly and forestock, is one of the shotguns sawed > off or is there a manufactured barrel attached, one can't tell from > the photo. > > Yet, the Saskatoon news indicates three separate attacks of people > being slashed with a machete. An school yard where some youths were > accosted by two adult males, one wielding a firearm shoots and wounds > two of the youth. One news report indicated that the youths refused > to co-operate with the police. (I can't say I blame them. The ghetto > here operates much like the one in Toronto, where the witness to his > own shooting after testifying in court was gunned down on a public > street for his trouble.) > > There may be other facts, but until that is proven to be the case, as > for the government in Ottawa and the provincial government in > Saskatchewan, well their priority is definitely not public safety. > > Our situation, both of our Rights and Liberties and criminal > dominance continues to deteriorate. The public institutions have > their own priorities and exercise them unchecked and unchallenged. > > On 3-Apr-12, at 9:38 PM, Cdn-Firearms Digest wrote: > >> Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 09:40:54 -0600 >> From: "Joe Gingrich" >> Subject: Aberdeen, Sk., man faces firearms charges >> >> http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Aberdeen+faces+firearms+charges/6401042 /story.html >> Aberdeen man faces firearms charges >> >> The StarPhoenix April 3, 2012 >> >> A resident of the Aberdeen area was expected to appear in >> provincial court >> Monday to answer to multiple Criminal Code charges pertaining to >> firearms-related offences. >> >> Saskatoon RCMP along with a member of the national weapons >> enforcement team >> executed a search warrant Friday on a residence located in the >> district. >> >> The search resulted in the police seizing 27 long-barrel rifles, an >> AK-47 >> assault rifle, one sawed-off shotgun, 12 handguns, three swords, >> multiple >> knives and prohibited devices, along with re-loading equipment and >> several >> thousand rounds of ammunition. The man was charged with unsafe >> storage and >> other offences. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #33 ********************************** 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".)