From: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #159 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 Saturday, June 30 2012 Volume 15 : Number 159 In this issue: CBC - U.S. Attorney General held in contempt of Congress ... HILL TIMES: Feds' move to close world-renowned freshwater ... House could arrest Holder with inherent contempt power Retailers welcome self-defence and defence of property legislation Battalioin commander dead in Fort Bragg shooting Re: Retailers welcome self-defence and defence of property ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, June 29, 2012 10:03 am From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: CBC - U.S. Attorney General held in contempt of Congress ... ...for 'gun-walking' scandal CBC - U.S. Attorney General held in contempt of Congress Eric Holder failed to release records in Fast and Furious 'gun-walking' scandal The Associated Press - Last Updated: Jun 28, 2012 6:30 PM ET http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/06/28/eric-holder-contempt.html The House on Thursday held Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents related to a failed gun-tracking operation. It is the first time a sitting Cabinet member has been held in contempt. The vote was 255-67, with more than 100 Democrats boycotting. They said the contempt resolution was a political stunt. African-American lawmakers led the walkout as members filed up the aisle and out of the chamber to protest the action against Holder, who is the nation's first black attorney general. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California joined the boycott, saying Republicans had gone "over the edge" in their partisanship. Seventeen Democrats voted with Republicans in favour of the contempt vote, while two Republicans - Reps. Scott Rigell of Virginia and Steven LaTourette of Ohio - joined other Democrats in voting No. The National Rifle Association pressed hard for the contempt resolution, leaning on members of both parties who want to stay in the NRA's good graces. Holder said afterward the vote was merely a politically motivated act in an election year. Republicans cited Holder's refusal to hand over - without any preconditions - documents that could explain why the Obama administration initially denied that a risky "gun-walking" investigative tactic was used in Operation Fast and Furious, which allowed hundreds of guns to be smuggled from Arizona to Mexico. EFFORT TO FORCE RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS The vote on a criminal contempt resolution sent the matter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who is under Holder. A separate vote on civil contempt will allow the House to go to court in an effort to force Holder to turn over the documents. In past cases, courts have been reluctant to settle disputes between the executive and legislative branches of government. During the debate before the vote, Republicans said they were seeking answers for the Michigan family of Brian Terry, a Border Patrol agent killed in December 2010 in a shootout with Mexican bandits. Two guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene. Democrats insisted that they, too, wanted the Terry family to have all the facts, but argued that only a more thorough, bipartisan investigation would accomplish that. The NRA urged House members to vote for contempt, contending the administration wanted to use Operation Fast and Furious to win gun control measures. Democrats who normally support the NRA but who vote against the contempt citations would lose any 100 per cent ratings from the group. That could affect whether they get endorsements from the powerful organization, particularly if Republican opponents surface who are strong NRA backers. But a former NRA board member and the longest-serving House member, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, argued gun control was not at issue. He failed in attempt to head off the contempt votes. DENIAL GUNS WOULD 'WALK' TO MEXICO The Congressional Black Caucus, explaining its boycott, said in a letter to the House that "Contempt power should be used sparingly, carefully and only in the most egregious situations" and the GOP leadership had "articulated no legislative purpose for pursuing this course of action." The dispute is both legal and political. Republicans asserted their right to obtain documents needed for an investigation of Operation Fast and Furious - focusing on 10 months in 2011 after the Obama administration initially denied guns were allowed to "walk" from Arizona to Mexico. By year's end, the administration acknowledged the assertion was wrong. President Barack Obama asserted a broad form of executive privilege, a legal position designed to keep executive branch documents from being disclosed. The assertion ensures that documents will not be turned over any time soon, unless a deal is reached between the administration and congressional Republicans. In the debate, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said the contempt motions were "Fast and foolish, fast and fake." Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Fla., took the opposite view, arguing, "A man died serving his country, and we have a right to know what the federal government's hand was in that." For the past year and a half, some Republicans have promoted the idea that Holder and other top-level officials at the Justice Department knew federal agents in Operation Fast and Furious had engaged in gun-walking. 'REAL ANSWERS' SOUGHT Two of Holder's emails and one from Deputy Attorney General James Cole in early 2011 appear to show that they hadn't known about gun-walking but were determined to find out whether the allegations were true. "We need answers on this," Holder wrote. "Not defensive BS. Real answers." The Justice Department showed the selected emails on Tuesday to Republican and Democratic staffers of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, in an effort to ward off the criminal contempt vote against the attorney general. The full contents of the emails were described to The Associated Press by two people who have seen them. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about them publicly. In Operation Fast and Furious, agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives abandoned the agency's usual practice of intercepting all weapons they believed to be illicitly purchased. Instead, the goal of "gun-walking" was to track such weapons to high-level arms traffickers who had eluded prosecution and to dismantle their networks. Gun-walking long has been barred by Justice Department policy, but federal agents in Arizona experimented with it in at least two investigations during the George W. Bush administration before Operation Fast and Furious. The agents in Arizona lost track of several hundred weapons in that operation. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, June 29, 2012 10:12 am From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: HILL TIMES: Feds' move to close world-renowned freshwater ... ... environmental research centre strikes a nerve: Forum Research poll THE HILL TIMES - JUNE 29, 2012 Feds' move to close world-renowned freshwater environmental research centre strikes a nerve: Forum Research poll The federal government's closure of a world-renowned freshwater environmental research centre deep in the northern forests of Ontario has struck a nerve with Canadians from coast to coast, a Forum Research poll has found. By TIM NAUMETZ | Last Updated: Thursday, 06/28/2012 8:34 pm EDT http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2012/06/28/feds%E2%80%99-move-to-close-world-renowned-freshwater-environmental-research/31263 PARLIAMENT HILL-The federal government's closure of a world-renowned freshwater environmental research centre deep in the northern forests of Ontario has struck a nerve with Canadians from coast to coast, a Forum Research poll has found. The survey for The Hill Times on Wednesday this week suggested that 50 per cent of Canadians disapprove of the decision, part of sweeping spending cuts to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and opposition MPs say the poll results suggest shutting down the centre has galvanized public opinion in conjunction with wider changes and limits to environmental protection contained in the government's omnibus budget implementation legislation, Bill C-38. Only 21 per cent of respondents in the nationwide survey approved of the government decision to close the centre, called the Experimental Lakes Area and situated near Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario. Another 29 per cent said they didn't know what to think about it. MPs say closure of the research station may have the same kind of attention-getting effect on public opinion toward the Conservatives as the $16 glass of orange juice International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda (Durham, Ont.) famously put on her government tab during a trip to Europe. The move to close the research centre, which took scientists and environmentalists by surprise when it was disclosed after details of spending cuts emerged from within Fisheries and Oceans, drew letters from around the world as MPs on the Commons Fisheries Committee began investigating the effects on scientific and departmental programs the spending reductions would have. "It's really resonated, I think that's what this poll shows. It's really resonated with Canadians, that on this issue and so many issues, this government has acted first and consulted later, and what they're doing is they're getting us into a big mess," NDP MP Robert Chisholm (Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, N.S.) told The Hill Times. The centre, established in 1968, has conducted ground-breaking research into the effect of acid rain on freshwater lakes and ecosystems, the deleterious effect phosphates from human activity have on lake ecosystems, the effect of farmed fish on natural species and a range of other effects that human activity and industry have on freshwater lakes. Artifacts and other evidence show the area was first inhabited by humans between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago. Scientists involved with the centre and their supporters have been attempting to generate public support for several weeks, with opposition MPs linking the closure to wider Conservative federal government environmental measures that have proved unpopular, including changes that will allow the government to speed up environmental approval of the Enbridge Inc. plan to build a massive pipeline through northern B.C. to carry highly toxic oil sands bitumen from northern Alberta to a super-tanker port to be built at Kitimat, B.C. The Forum Research survey found opposition to closure of the northern Ontario freshwater research project strongest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. Seventy per cent of the poll's respondents in Manitoba and Saskatchewan disapproved of the closure, with a 57-per-cent disapproval rating in Ontario and 53 per cent of respondents in the Atlantic provinces against the measure. Approval was highest in Alberta, at 31 per cent. In B.C., 44 per cent opposed the decision and in Quebec 40 per cent were opposed. Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said the survey, gathering opinion on a topic and location that most Canadians likely had not heard of prior to the recent controversy, is further evidence that the Conservative government is not in synch with Canadian opinion on the environment, and likely won't be able to recover from any damage from its environmental policies before the next election. "This government is out of step with the public on the environmental file," Mr. Bozinoff said. "Everything from the pipeline on, everything they've been doing." "I don't think they're going to be able to own the environmental position in the next election, they'll have too much baggage after all that's gone on," Mr. Bozinoff said. "I don't think it's the type of thing that you can, in the last year of your mandate, say 'oh yeah, we're environmentalists, look at what we did in the last six months." The survey of 1,165 voting-age Canadians has a margin of error 2.87 per cent, with the error margin higher among the samples broken out by province. Mr. Chisholm said the termination of research at the Experimental Lakes Area by next March is directly related to provisions in the omnibus budget bill that limit environmental assessment protection, in the face of major projects such as oil pipelines, to commercial and recreational fisheries or fisheries harvested by first nation communities. Existing guarantees of environmental assessments for other species, wetlands and rivers and streams that don't included the designated species, are being eliminated. PAGE TWO: http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2012/06/28/feds%E2%80%99-move-to-close-world-renowned-freshwater-environmental-research/31263?page_requested=2 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:45:19 -0600 From: "Joe Gingrich" Subject: House could arrest Holder with inherent contempt power http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/28/house-could-arrest-holder-with-inherent-contempt-p/ House could arrest Holder with inherent contempt power 'There's a prison here in the Capitol.' The Washington Times By Stephen Dinan Thursday, June 28, 2012 Despite voting to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress, there's little House Republicans can do in the short term to compel him to turn over documents - unless it wanted to revisit a long-dormant power and arrest him. The thought is shocking, and conjures up a Hollywood-ready standoff scene between House police and the FBI agents who protect the attorney general. It's a dramatic and unlikely possibility not least because Congress doesn't even have a jail any longer. But in theory it could happen. Republicans say it's not even under consideration, with House Speaker John A. Boehner's spokesman flatly ruling it out. But the process, known as inherent contempt, is well-established by precedent, has been confirmed by multiple Supreme Court rulings, and is available to any Congress willing to force such a confrontation. "The House is scared to death to use the inherent contempt power," said Mort Rosenberg, a fellow at the Constitution Project and author of "When Congress Comes Calling." "They're scared to death because the courts have said . the way the contempt power is used is unseemly. It's not that it's unconstitutional, because it's been upheld by four Supreme Court decisions, but unseemly to have somebody go arrest the attorney general." That's why it's been more than 75 years since either chamber has used the option though it used to be somewhat common. The House on Thursday voted 255-67 to hold Mr. Holder in criminal contempt, and 258-95 to pursue a case against him in the courts. But those votes do little to break the impasse over his refusal to turn over documents the House is seeking in an investigation into Fast and Furious, a botched gun-walking operation. The House issued subpoenas for the documents last year but President Obama last week asserted executive privilege in withholding them. A court case will take time, meaning there's little immediate effect of the two contempt votes. Indeed, the lack of any penalty for Mr. Holder's failure to cooperate was cited by one Democrat as his reason for voting against Thursday's contempt motion. "While I strongly believe that the Department of Justice should fully cooperate with Congress to ensure transparency in the Fast and Furious operation, this motion lacks an enforcement mechanism to make it anything more than politically motivated," said Rep. Heath Shuler, North Carolina Democrat. That's why Mr. Rosenberg, a former analyst for the Congressional Research Service, said Congress should consider using its own police powers and should try to impose a fine rather than physically arrest someone. Short of that, there are few options left to Republicans, said Louis Fisher, another former CRS analyst who specialized in separation of powers issues. "They had hoped that by acting today they would get Holder to make some concessions. That didn't happen. Now I think it's pretty awkward," he said. He said the best chances for an end to the stalemate now rely on the political process which is one reason why Republicans said they were seeking answers for the family of Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry, who was killed in a shootout where two of the guns from Fast and Furious were found. Mr. Fisher, a scholar in residence at the Constitution Project who has written a forthcoming article in the National Law Journal criticizing Mr. Obama's legal reasoning for asserting executive privilege, said a key break could come if more Democrats joined Republicans in pushing for disclosure. Inherent contempt is not unknown to members of Congress. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi raised the issue last week, noting that when she was House speaker and Congress was fighting with the Bush administration over testimony related to the firing of U.S. attorneys she could have had Karl Rove arrested. "I could have arrested Karl Rove on any given day," Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said as part of a sit-down interview with the Huffington Post. "I'm not kidding. There's a prison here in the Capitol. If we had spotted him in the Capitol, we could have arrested him," she said. Back in 2007 and 2008, there was substantial interest in Congress' arrest powers, with CNN even doing a segment in 2008 trying to figure out where Mr. Rove could have been jailed if the House chose to go that route. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, June 29, 2012 10:51 am From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: Retailers welcome self-defence and defence of property legislation Self-defence and defence of property legislation Retailers welcome the enhanced flexibility provided by the Federal government http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1000821/self-defence-and-defence-of-property-legislation-retailers-welcome-the-enhanced-flexibility-provided-by-the-federal-government TORONTO, June 28, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Convenience Stores Association (CCSA) strongly supports the changes to the citizen's arrest provisions of the Criminal Code that are expected to receive Royal Assent today as Federal Justice Minister, Robert Nicholson, announced yesterday. These modifications will prevent victims of shoplifting or theft such as convenience store retailers from becoming re-victimized when they attempt to make a citizen's arrest within a reasonable time after their property has been taken, as illustrated by the case of Mr. David Chen, a Toronto-based retailer who ended up being charged after detaining a shoplifter. "We do not want to see hard-working small business owners treated as Mr. Chen was. The enhanced flexibility provided by the new law is a needed and timely adjustment and a very welcomed development" said Alex Scholten, CCSA President. In a 2007 member survey conducted by the Retail Council of Canada, the mean retail shrink rate (the measurement of losses due to store theft and fraud) reported by respondents amounted to 1.54% of total net sales. With total C-store industry sales of $33.8 billion in 2010, this would equate to losses of more than $500 million for Canadian convenience stores. Given that it is often a matter of their economic survival, retailers will protect their property from being stolen by taking matters into their own hands and making a citizen's arrest and detaining a shoplifter until police arrive if they have no other satisfactory alternative. "As an association, we do not encourage convenience store owners or their employees to take the law into their own hands. The police must be the first line of defence. However, we recognize that the police are not available at every street corner and shoplifting is certainly not a high priority offence for them," said Scholten, "and that is why the enhanced flexibility offered by the new citizen's arrest provisions is viewed positively by retailers. It provides them with enhanced rights to protect their property when police support is not readily available." The CCSA represents the economic interests of over 25,000 convenience stores located in every community in Canada serving Canadians for all their daily needs. CCSA has developed a basic mission to improve the industry business environment as well as promote corporate social responsibility under the "Responsible Retail Training" program. CCSA works to promote and foster professional business practices, standards and ethics throughout the C-Store industry and provides training, education and guidance to its members. For further information: Guy Leroux, Canadian Convenience Stores Association (CCSA) 514.993.1729/ gleroux@acda-aqda.ca - ----------------------------------------- David Chen inspired citizen's arrest powers set to take effect Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press Jun 28, 2012 - 8:51 AM ET http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/28/david-chen-inspired-citizens-arrest-powers-set-to-take-effect/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:57:35 -0600 From: "Joe Gingrich" Subject: Battalioin commander dead in Fort Bragg shooting http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/28/12464281-official-battalion-commander-dead-in-fort-bragg-shooting Official: Battalioin commander dead in Fort Bragg shooting by NBC news and msnbc.com Updated at 7:38 p.m. ET: A soldier is dead and two others injured following a shooting Thursday afternoon at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, according to a statement released by the post. A senior U.S. defense official told NBC News that the deceased victim was a battalion commander. The shooter was a soldier, according to the Fort Bragg statement. He shot another member of the unit during a safety brief -- in this case, a 10- to 15-minute lecture by a commander or soldier-in-charge about staying safe for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. The soldier then shot himself. He is injured and in custody, according to the statement. A third soldier was "slightly" wounded, according to the statement. The victim is from the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, which is a reconnaissance and intelligence unit, according to its Facebook page. A brigade includes three or more battalions, according to the Army's homepage. Special agents from the Army's Criminal Investigation team were on site Thursday evening. "This is a tragedy for our community," Col. Kevin Arata, spokesman for Fort Bragg, said at a press conference. "We don't yet know the reasons for the shooting, but are working with the unit and the affected families to help them through this difficult period." Officials said earlier that the incident does not appear to be terrorist-related. Fort Bragg officials said on Facebook that the post is not on lockdown. NBC News' Courtney Kube and Jim Miklaszewski and msnbc.com's Isolde Raftery and Rebecca Ruiz contributed to this report. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:53:29 -0600 From: "Joe Gingrich" Subject: Re: Retailers welcome self-defence and defence of property ... ... legislation - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis R. Young" To: "Firearms Digest" Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 10:51 AM Subject: Retailers welcome self-defence and defence of property legislation > Self-defence and defence of property legislation > Retailers welcome the enhanced flexibility provided by the Federal > government > http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1000821/self-defence-and-defence-of-property-legislation-retailers-welcome-the-enhanced-flexibility-provided-by-the-federal-government 2437/5100 - Release Date: 06/29/12 - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- newswire.ca/en/story/1000821/self-defence-and-defence-of-property-legislation-retailers-welcome-the-enhanced-flexibility-provided-by-the-federal-government Dear Guy Leroux, Canadian Convenience Stores Association (CCSA) 514.993.1729/ gleroux@acda-aqda.ca June 29, 2012 regarding: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1000821/self-defence-and-defence-of-property-legislation-retailers-welcome-the-enhanced-flexibility-provided-by-the-federal-government In Canada defence of property legislation does not mean defence of one's individual property, it means defence of the state's property, because Canadians do not have individual property rights entrenched within the Charter. Canadians may not hold property. We're merely slaves of the state. These essential elements; the right to buy, sell, own and control one's property, are necessary to enjoy private property. If any of these ingredients are missing we do not enjoy private property, instead the state owns 'our' property. That's why I say, Canadian retailers are permitted, by law, to defend the government's property, not theirs. Individual property rights are some of our oldest civil rights emanating from the Magna Carta of 1215 and contained within the preamble to the British North America Act of 1867, now part of the Constitution Acts of 1982. Property rights are a requirment for a free society, but unfortunately, they were not included within our 1982, Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 'Now you know the rest of the story.' Yours in Tyranny, Joe Gingrich White Fox, Sask. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #159 *********************************** 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".)