From: owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #869 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 owner-cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Cdn-Firearms Digest Friday, August 9 2013 Volume 15 : Number 869 In this issue: Canadian 3D printed rifle fires 14 shots before failure How snake keepers should react to the python tragedy A majority has no right to vote away the rights of a ... NFA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT QUEBEC LONG GUN OWNERS A majority has no right to vote away the rights of a ... Los Angeles: Thousands of firearms to be melted and reformed ... Re: NFA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT QUEBEC LONG GUN OWNERS Re: NFA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT QUEBEC LONG GUN OWNERS High River residents still baffled by police actions after ... Galt Sportsmens Club hosts World English Sporting Championships ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 12:13 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: Canadian 3D printed rifle fires 14 shots before failure Canadian 3D printed rifle fires 14 shots before failure | Design Eng Grizzly 2.0 designer says CAD files to be made available soon for download. BY DESIGN ENGINEERING STAFF ON AUGUST 08, 2013 9:40AM http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/design-engineering/cad-cam/canadian-3d-printed-rifle-fires-14-shots-before-failure-design-eng-113221 Adding to the controversy of 3D printed weapons, a Canadian designer known only as "Mathew" recently posted YouTube videos of himself test firing the Grizzly 2.0, a ABS+ plastic, 3D printed rifle he design himself in Solidworks and produced using a Stratasys Dimension 1200ES printer. Inspired by Defense Distributed Cody Wilson's Liberator 3D printed pistol, Mathew is shown in the video firing 14 .22 calibre bullets before the barrel shows signs of cracking. Named after the Canadian WWII tank, the Grizzly 2.0 is an improvement from the original, which made its Internet debut in July but cracked after only one firing. According to Mathew, the new version features a thicker tapered barrel, a larger receiver and internal rifling. While functional, Mathew has said the Grizzly is difficult to load and is generally unwieldy but will improve as he continues to work on the design. Description of the Grizzly on his YouTube account (ThreeD Ukulele) says he plans to post the CAD files for printing the Grizzly soon. WATCH VIDEO: http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/design-engineering/cad-cam/canadian-3d- printed-rifle-fires-14-shots-before-failure-design-eng-113221 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3lO_ViXkk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKsJe11itb4 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 12:48 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: How snake keepers should react to the python tragedy How snake keepers should react to the python tragedy We should be careful that we don't imitate gun rights activists BY JONATHAN CROWE, OTTAWA CITIZEN AUGUST 7, 2013 http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/snake+keepers+should+react+python+tragedy/8760111/story.html It's always uncomfortable to be a reptile keeper whenever a dangerous snake makes the news. Toronto alone has had at least three such incidents in recent years: an escaped saw-scaled viper in 2000, an escaped Egyptian cobra in 2006, and a gaboon viper seized in 2010. The public freaks out and the media goes into overdrive, headlines are made across the country, and reptile keepers worry that a moral panic will lead to a crackdown on exotic pet ownership. But this time it's worse than an illegal snake getting loose: this time, children have died. Reports that a 14-foot African Rock Python may be responsible for the deaths of two young boys in Campbellton, New Brunswick have left snake keepers like me horrified at what happened, astonished to the point of disbelief that it could have happened, and, to be honest, a bit worried about what might happen next. I read news articles online and the knot in my stomach tightens. Then I make the mistake of reading the comments on those news articles. Comments that make me feel targeted, even though every snake I've ever kept has been safe, sane and relatively small. No one should have the right to keep these things, they say. Snake keepers are sick in the head. It makes for hard reading. The articles asking whether the laws regarding exotic animal ownership should be tightened up don't help either. When you do something on the edge of public acceptance, you tend to get a little defensive about it. But snake keepers have to be careful not to let our defensiveness and our urge to protect our interests overwhelm our response to this situation. For one thing, we should be careful that we don't imitate gun rights activists. More than a decade ago, I saw people on reptile discussion websites compare exotic pet bylaws, which they found overly restrictive, to gun control legislation, which they also opposed. And I thought to myself: no, don't make that argument. You won't win that argument. Comparing snakes to guns will get reptiles banned in every large city in Canada. I imagine gun owners might feel the same after a mass shooting as reptile keepers after an incident like Campbellton: awkward and defensive. Gun rights activists can be aggressively defensive: they were pushing back against possible new gun control legislation before the victims of Sandy Hook were in the ground. That upset a lot of people, but the National Rifle Association could get away with being tone deaf and insensitive because, well, they're the NRA. Reptile keepers, on the other hand, can't make or break a politician's career. In responding to Campbellton, reptile keepers need to help the public, not fight it. According to news reports, the python was kept without a proper permit; the species was already banned in New Brunswick. So you could argue that more laws aren't the answer. Giant snakes are already prohibited in many jurisdictions. But in most of Canada, exotic pet ownership is governed by a patchwork of bylaws: some municipalities have no restrictions, some ban giant and venomous snakes, some ban boas and pythons regardless of size, and some ban snakes altogether. I suspect that every municipality in Canada is now checking their animal control bylaws and asking themselves whether they need to update them to include bans on dangerous exotic animals. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Because, to be perfectly frank, I have no interest in defending the right to keep dangerous snakes. This is not a hill I want to die on. I don't accept that in order to maintain my ability to keep corn snakes and garter snakes, I must defend the right to keep anacondas and giant pythons. If I equate corn snakes with rock pythons, I don't get to keep rock pythons - I lose the right to keep corn snakes. When municipalities update their animal control bylaws, reptile keepers are frequently there to defend their interests, correctly pointing out the minimal risks of what we do. But calling for education and responsibility, as we're wont to do, can only go so far. Reptile keepers need to go beyond defending our interests. We need to engage with wildlife officials and bylaw officers, as proactively as possible, presenting ourselves as part of the solution, not part of the problem. You want to make sure your city or town doesn't ban harmless animals? Then you need to go to them and say: these are the animals you need to worry about; these are the ones that need to be controlled. We need, in other words, to focus public concern where it belongs: on the animals that can pose a risk to human safety, not exotic pets in general. Jonathan Crowe is a blogger and writer based in Shawville, Que. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 12:58 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: A majority has no right to vote away the rights of a ... ...minority - Ayn Rand From: liberty.quotes@centre.telemanage.ca Sent: August-08-13 12:07 AM Subject: Ayn Rand, Edmund Burke, Max Lerner "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities." -- Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Author http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Ayn.Rand.Quote.2E84 "Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Irish-born British statesman, parliamentary orator, and political thinker http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Edmund.Burke.Quote.2767 "When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil." -- Max Lerner (1902-1992) US political columnist, educator - Source: Actions and Passions, 1949 http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Max.Lerner.Quote.1A79 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = WHAT DO YOU THINK? Rate these quotes! Click open the quote you wish to rate, and enter your comments. Did you miss yesterday's quotes? Click here: http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/DailyQuotes = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Share these quotes -- spread them around! Post these quotes in your favourite blogs! Many have sacrificed their lives for our Liberty. Let us renew our commitment to Freedom. Liberty Quotes - http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = To receive a daily Liberty Quote, click link below: mailto:liberty.quotes@telemanage.ca?Subject=Subscribe Or send an email to liberty.quotes@telemanage.ca with 'Subscribe' as the Subject. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Life is a gift, Freedom is a responsibility." Liberty-Tree.ca (c) Copyright 2010 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 3:36 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: NFA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT QUEBEC LONG GUN OWNERS Canada's National Firearms Association Media Release - Wednesday, August 7, 2013 http://nfa.ca/news/quebec-cfo QUEBEC CFO Further to the two recent judgements of the Quebec Court of Appeal, validating Bill C-19, and rejecting Quebec's claim for a preservation and transfer of the long gun registry data, and maintenance of the long gun registration system for Quebec long gun owners, the federal and provincial authorities have nevertheless, de facto, maintained the long gun registration system in effect. The NFA views this course of action as being in clear breach of the existing law applicable to non-restricted firearms. On July 29th, 2013 the NFA sent three separate demand letters respectively to the Quebec Chief Firearms Officer, to Canada's Firearms Commissioner, and to Canada's Director of Registration of Firearms. In these demand letters, the NFA asked, inter alia: (i) that the Quebec CFO cease to force Quebec gun dealers to register their sales of non-restricted firearms with the Canada Firearms Center; (ii) that Quebec owners be allowed to unregister their non-restricted firearms from the long gun registry; and (iii) that both the Commissioner of Firearms and the Quebec CFO delete their respective records of non-restricted firearms owned by Quebec residents, in order to comply with Section 29 of Bill C-19. The deadline given to act upon these demand letters has now expired and no response has been received on the part of any of the three parties to whom these demand letters were addressed. In view of this lack of response, the NFA intends to commence legal action to obtain the required relief and protect the rights of Quebec law abiding long gun owners. Canada's National Firearms Association is this country's largest advocacy organization promoting the rights and freedoms of all responsible firearm owners and users. For more information contact: Blair Hagen, Executive VP Communications, 604-753-8682 Blair@nfa.ca Sheldon Clare, President, 250-981-1841 Sheldon@nfa.ca Shawn Bevins, Executive VP, 819-313-2887 shawn@nfa.ca Canada's NFA toll-free number - 1-877-818-0393 NFA Website: www.nfa.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2013 14:36:26 -0700 From: Len Miller Subject: A majority has no right to vote away the rights of a ... ...minority - Ayn Rand No one has conspired to vote away the rights of a citizen . .. more than the present Canadian government . and it did it by deception . . they/you lied . . when you take away a fundamental right of self defence you are doing just that . When you enact a law . . or follow a law which does that you have become an autocracy ( this is for Ed Fast, though a lawyer, he has long stopped listening ) and AND Julian Fantino, who seems to have forgotten HIS condemnation of C-68, when HE was chief of Police . . for Toronto . Len 144 Begin forwarded message: > From: "Dennis R. Young" > Date: August 8, 2013 11:58:28 AM PDT > To: "FIREARMS DIGEST" > Subject: A majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority - Ayn Rand > > From: liberty.quotes@centre.telemanage.ca > Sent: August-08-13 12:07 AM > Subject: Ayn Rand, Edmund Burke, Max Lerner > > "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny > individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. > Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no > right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of > rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities." > -- Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Author > http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Ayn.Rand.Quote.2E84 > > "Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be > placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be > without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of > intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." > -- Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Irish-born British statesman, parliamentary > orator, and political thinker > http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Edmund.Burke.Quote.2767 > > > "When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still > an evil." > -- Max Lerner (1902-1992) US political columnist, educator - Source: Actions > and Passions, 1949 > http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Max.Lerner.Quote.1A79 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 3:50 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: Los Angeles: Thousands of firearms to be melted and reformed ... ...as steel rebar PHOTO CAPTION: Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca tosses a pistol onto a pile of guns to be melted at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's 20th annual Gun Melt in Rancho Cucamonga, California, July 30, 2013. Thousands of weapons confiscated from criminals in Los Angeles County and collected through a gun buyback program are melted and reformed as steel rebar at the mill. (Photo by David McNew/Reuters) http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/07/california-did-tough-gun-control-laws-cut-firearms-deaths/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 4:39 pm From: inky@mymts.net Subject: Re: NFA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT QUEBEC LONG GUN OWNERS Action is what counts On 2013-08-08, at 4:36 PM, "Dennis R. Young" wrote: > Canada's National Firearms Association Media Release - Wednesday, August 7, > 2013 > http://nfa.ca/news/quebec-cfo > > QUEBEC CFO > > Further to the two recent judgements of the Quebec Court of Appeal, > validating Bill C-19, and rejecting Quebec's claim for a preservation and > transfer of the long gun registry data, and maintenance of the long gun > registration system for Quebec long gun owners, the federal and provincial > authorities have nevertheless, de facto, maintained the long gun > registration system in effect. The NFA views this course of action as being > in clear breach of the existing law applicable to non-restricted firearms. > > On July 29th, 2013 the NFA sent three separate demand letters respectively > to the Quebec Chief Firearms Officer, to Canada's Firearms Commissioner, and > to Canada's Director of Registration of Firearms. > In these demand letters, the NFA asked, inter alia: > (i) that the Quebec CFO cease to force Quebec gun dealers to register their > sales of non-restricted firearms with the Canada Firearms Center; > (ii) that Quebec owners be allowed to unregister their non-restricted > firearms from the long gun registry; and > (iii) that both the Commissioner of Firearms and the Quebec CFO delete their > respective records of non-restricted firearms owned by Quebec residents, in > order to comply with Section 29 of Bill C-19. > > The deadline given to act upon these demand letters has now expired and no > response has been received on the part of any of the three parties to whom > these demand letters were addressed. In view of this lack of response, the > NFA intends to commence legal action to obtain the required relief and > protect the rights of Quebec law abiding long gun owners. > > Canada's National Firearms Association is this country's largest advocacy > organization promoting the rights and freedoms of all responsible firearm > owners and users. > > For more information contact: > Blair Hagen, Executive VP Communications, 604-753-8682 Blair@nfa.ca > Sheldon Clare, President, 250-981-1841 Sheldon@nfa.ca > Shawn Bevins, Executive VP, 819-313-2887 shawn@nfa.ca > Canada's NFA toll-free number - 1-877-818-0393 > NFA Website: www.nfa.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 8:40 pm From: jyoung@aernet.ca Subject: Re: NFA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT QUEBEC LONG GUN OWNERS One would think the NFA would hold off until such time that the SCC decides whether to even hear this previously unanimous matter. -----Original Message----- From: "Dennis R. Young" Sender: owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 3:36 To: Reply-To: cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca Subject: NFA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT QUEBEC LONG GUN OWNERS Canada's National Firearms Association Media Release - Wednesday, August 7, 2013 http://nfa.ca/news/quebec-cfo QUEBEC CFO Further to the two recent judgements of the Quebec Court of Appeal, validating Bill C-19, and rejecting Quebec's claim for a preservation and transfer of the long gun registry data, and maintenance of the long gun registration system for Quebec long gun owners, the federal and provincial authorities have nevertheless, de facto, maintained the long gun registration system in effect. The NFA views this course of action as being in clear breach of the existing law applicable to non-restricted firearms. On July 29th, 2013 the NFA sent three separate demand letters respectively to the Quebec Chief Firearms Officer, to Canada's Firearms Commissioner, and to Canada's Director of Registration of Firearms. In these demand letters, the NFA asked, inter alia: (i) that the Quebec CFO cease to force Quebec gun dealers to register their sales of non-restricted firearms with the Canada Firearms Center; (ii) that Quebec owners be allowed to unregister their non-restricted firearms from the long gun registry; and (iii) that both the Commissioner of Firearms and the Quebec CFO delete their respective records of non-restricted firearms owned by Quebec residents, in order to comply with Section 29 of Bill C-19. The deadline given to act upon these demand letters has now expired and no response has been received on the part of any of the three parties to whom these demand letters were addressed. In view of this lack of response, the NFA intends to commence legal action to obtain the required relief and protect the rights of Quebec law abiding long gun owners. Canada's National Firearms Association is this country's largest advocacy organization promoting the rights and freedoms of all responsible firearm owners and users. For more information contact: Blair Hagen, Executive VP Communications, 604-753-8682 Blair@nfa.ca Sheldon Clare, President, 250-981-1841 Sheldon@nfa.ca Shawn Bevins, Executive VP, 819-313-2887 shawn@nfa.ca Canada's NFA toll-free number - 1-877-818-0393 NFA Website: www.nfa.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 10:32 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: High River residents still baffled by police actions after ... ...RCMP return most of 539 guns seized during flood High River residents still baffled by police actions after RCMP return most of 539 guns seized during flood Jen Gerson | 13/08/07 | Last Updated: 13/08/07 8:15 PM ET http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/08/07/high-river-residents-still-baffled-by-police-actions-after-rcmp-return-most-of-539-guns-seized-during-flood/ They were little more than collectibles, said High River resident Greg Kvisle: a 1912 Winchester and a plain old rifle that had long sat above his grandfather's fireplace in Saskatchewan. Mr. Kvisle didn't keep ammunition around the house. He wasn't a hunter. The guns were left unlocked, he said, but they were hidden in a storage closet in his basement, thankfully untouched by rising water. "The room was full of stuff and they were in a corner behind a bunch of boxes. They weren't available to be grabbed easily, let's put it that way," he said. But the RCMP took his weapons anyway, he said. In June, as tensions between police and some of the 13,000 residents locked out of their flood-ravaged town reached a fever pitch, the RCMP said it had seized unsecured weapons that were left in plain view. Not so, Mr. Kvisle countered: although he hadn't locked his arms as demanded by the Firearms Act, he believes the police entered his home at least three times during the weeks-long mandatory evacuation. On the third visit, they took his guns, he said. His weapons have since been returned. Many High River residents remain flummoxed by police actions during the flood. The gun seizure, in particular, prompted a chastisement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Meanwhile, the commission for public complaints against the RCMP is still investigating police actions there and is expected to report in the fall. Wildrose opposition leader Danielle Smith, also the MLA for the town, is slated to hold a meeting with gun owners in the next month to get a better idea of just what happened in High River after flood waters swamped entire neighbourhoods, prompting police to bar residents from their homes for weeks. As the town suffered a state of local emergency, police and army personnel entered thousands of homes looking for pets, bodies and stranded flood victims in need of help. In the process, they said, 539 weapons were secured. The RCMP began returning the weapons at the end of June, however owners without a Possession and Acquisition License would have to store their guns with friends who were properly licensed. The Firearms Act does allow non-prohibited guns to be stored in plain sight, as long as they are either disabled or secured with a trigger lock. However, during a state of emergency police are given wide latitude to enter homes and seize property. Josee Valiquette, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said that as of Wednesday, 517 - almost all of the guns - had been returned to their owners. In addition, 132 firearms had been brought into the police for safekeeping. A further 94 were surrendered by owners who wished to see the weapons destroyed. The police also collected half-a-million rounds of ammunition that were turned in due to the catastrophe. "They realized they had other things to take care of than firearms right now," Ms. Valiquette said. But for some, the gun seizure was just the apogee of a long and frustrating back-and-forth between police and High River residents. Rob Giles, a gun owner and safety instructor, said his vaulted weapons weren't seized, but emergency officials left his door lying in his yard while he struggled to gain access to his home. "For 10 days they walked through the house with crap on their boots and looked in drawers," he said, adding that he returned home to find his cupboards askew. He predicts whoever entered his home caused about $2,000 worth of damage to his door and floor - a cost he plans to recuperate in a class-action lawsuit if the RCMP don't come through with a cheque. Not every gun owner was incensed by the police's actions. Terry Plunkett, who keeps prohibited antique weapons from the Second World War, said police didn't touch his property - it was properly stored and secured. "There were no signs of anything. They just went into the house to check to see if everything was there and that if there had been anyone in the house, that everyone had been OK. They saw nothing and moved nothing and changed nothing," he said. "I think it was a little bit of hysteria, myself. The police were trying to get into the homes to make sure everyone was out of there are there were no problems. With this firearm thing, it's more that people are trying to make something out of it." Mr. Kvisle concedes his weapons were returned to him with little fuss. But the lesson he's learned from the flood has been stark: "I just don't understand, in areas where there were no people left and the houses were all high and dry, why were they going through houses two and three times and doing all this damage to homes?" he asked. "All it says is that next time this happens, I'm not leaving my home. I have to protect my home from police, now, as well as looters." National Post . Email: jgerson@nationalpost.com | Twitter: ------------------------------ Date: Thu, August 8, 2013 10:45 pm From: "Dennis R. Young" Subject: Galt Sportsmens Club hosts World English Sporting Championships Champions flock to Puslinch to shatter clays By Greg Mercer Aug 03, 2013 http://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/3923343-champions-flock-to-puslinch-to-shatter-clays/ PUSLINCH TOWNSHIP - If you're looking for The Galt Sportsmens Club this weekend, just follow your ears. Some of the best sporting clay shooters on the planet are gathered here for their world championships, and the sounds of their shotguns blasting across this 263-acre site in Puslinch Township are hard to miss. For the first time, the World English Sporting Championships is being held on Canadian soil - a feather in the cap for the Galt club that started in 1954. Until Sunday, they're hosting nearly 350 male and female competitors, from New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Britain, the U.S. and beyond. And for enthusiasts of clay shooting - a sport where shooters fire lead shot at flying clay targets, or "birds" - the shooters are putting on quite a show. They include 21-time world champ George Digweed and Richard Faulds, an Olympic gold medallist in trap shooting. "We've got the top shooter in the world here. He's the Usain Bolt of shooting," said Jerry Gagnon, who co-organized the six-day event. "I'm a good shot, but these guys are at another level." Clay pigeon shooting originated as a way for hunters to practise their skills, and there's still clay targets designed to mimic flying ducks, fleeing pheasants, soaring geese and bouncing rabbits. But for a lot of competitors, it beats sitting for hours in the marsh waiting for a bird to fly by - and there's no animals being killed. "I don't hunt. But with this, you pull the trigger, it goes 'bang,' and something breaks," said Paul Trommler, who travelled 4,300 kilometres from Grand Prairie, Alta. to be here. "It's a challenge, you're competing with yourself." Nearby, the club has an extensive wooded section where competitors rotate from stand to stand, kind of like a tee box in golf, and shoot at "birds" launched by a "trap" machine controlled by a referee holding a remote control. "Some people like golf, some people like shooting. The only difference is my targets explode, and theirs land on the grass," said Foster Ardizzi of Toronto. The biggest challenge in the sport is a variation called FITASC, a French acronym for a competition designed to simulate live game and birds. The targets are moving faster, at more deceptive angles, and are sometimes launched two at a time. It's like "sporting clay birds on steroids," said Karen Dolan, a referee from outside Rochester, N.Y. But, it's still a gentlemen's sport, with its own dress code - collar shirts are a must, and no sandals or cut-off shorts. Organizer Robert Meisner, who spent six months getting the Galt club ready for this and built the wooded shooting ranges himself, said the very best in the sport would shoot up to 60,000 targets a year. At that level, sport shooting is their full-time job, with competitors earning a decent living through sponsorships, cash purses and as coaches. For this event, they've trucked in tens of thousands of clay targets, and a worker is driving a utility cart non-stop from trap to trap, filling up the machines. Gun manufacturers and suppliers are here, too, selling their wares to this targeted audience. Anyone can join the Galt Sportsmens Club, says treasurer Marie Lee, and more than 650 have. http://www.galtsportsmensclub.com/ But strict federal regulations, including mandatory safety courses, firearm registrations and a probation period mean you can't just show up and start shooting. The members here say they love the sport's camaraderie and everyman appeal, even if some extreme fans may shell out $10,000 for a top-end shotgun. Besides, it's a lot of fun, they say. "It's not about what you wear, it's not about who you are in life. There's none of the country club nonsense," said Paul Jarvis, a member at the Galt club for three years. "Everyone rubs shoulders with everyone." gmercer@therecord.com ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V15 #869 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator 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".)