TEAM CSSA E-NEWS | November 30, 2018
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- The CSSA testifies on Bill C-47 (the Arms Trade Treaty) at Senate Committee
- Latest on Bill C-71
- Canada Plans New Gun-Marking System for Tracing to Owners
- Rural crime is at ‘crisis levels’ in Alberta, says Foothills MP
- MP Bergen Says Gun Laws Shouldn't Target Law Abiding Citizens
- Lack of local gun law consultations irks Grey Bruce MP
- 'It’s just a tool': Why guns are essential for rural life in Saskatchewan
- As handgun crimes go up, Liberals and Conservatives disagree on remedy
- RCMP concerned after 70+ guns stolen in break and enter
- Corbella: Arrested at gunpoint, then exonerated, Eddie Maurice fights on against rural crime
- News from the Canadian University Shooting Federation
- IPSC Canada Says ‘Fantastic’ Growth Is Threatened by Handgun Ban
- The Effect of Media Coverage on Mass Shootings
- Proposed state law would require NY pistol owners open up social media and online searches
- Sunny Italy, New Found Gun Freedoms
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– COMMENTARY–
Three Simple Steps to Stop Drunk Driving
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Drunk driving is the leading criminal cause of death and injury in Canada according to the Department of Justice.
[i]
Statistics Canada reports
[ii]
over 72,000 cases of drunk driving in 2015, and a 2014 report
[iii]
from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) shows 356 people died as a result of impaired driving.
We deal with this societal issue in three primary ways:
1. Government passes laws rationally connected to solving the problem. i.e. laws that target those who endanger others by drinking and driving.
2. Police use a number of interventionist strategies to seek out drunk drivers, get them off the road and to discourage others from committing the same crimes.
3. When found, drunk drivers are charged with a criminal offence. Police seize their vehicles and judges impose driving prohibitions and/or jail time for repeat offenders.
All this makes sense. We strip offenders, those guilty of impaired driving, of their privileges and impound their vehicles.
We ignore sober drivers because
they are not the problem
.
Organizations dedicated to ending drunk driving are fully on board with this simple, three-step solution. They fully support laws and police intervention focused on the people who are the problem.
Nobody, not even MADD moms, believe a vehicle causes someone to drive drunk. Everyone dealing with this issue comprehends it is the person who drives impaired who must be held accountable for their actions.
Yet when it comes to gang violence and drug dealers shooting up our cities, few dare blame the violent gang member or the drug dealer. Everyone blames the gun.
This is the equivalent of making the vehicle responsible for the actions of the drunk driver.
It’s absurd.
Yet many organizations allegedly focused on increasing public safety by stopping gang violence consistently blame the gun, not the criminal using it to kill.
Politicians at every level of government, be they big-city mayors, city counsellors, members of provincial parliament or our current federal government, all blame the gun and, by extension, licensed firearm owners.
These people seem to believe the gun itself causes drug dealers and gangs to commit murder, instead of holding these lawless murderers accountable for their actions.
By blaming the gun, not the irresponsible and dangerous person wielding it, we ignore the problem – drug dealers and violent criminal gangs – and focus on the objects they use to commit their heinous crimes.
They insist the only way to stop gang violence and drug dealer turf wars is to take away guns from everyone who is not a gang member or a drug dealer.
That's like seizing the vehicles of sober drivers to stop drunk drivers.
Sources
:
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Has the anti-gun antics of the Trudeau government influenced your vote in the next election?
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1. Yes. I was hoping for better.
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2. No, they have performed as expected.
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3. I will vote for them anyway.
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4. I will never vote Liberal.
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5. I haven't made up my mind.
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RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:
Have Bill Blair's comments shown an underlying disdain for lawful Canadian gun owners?
Yes:
98.6%
No:
0.5%
Not Sure:
0.8%
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DELAYS IN MAIL DELIVERY...
With postal disruptions in recent weeks and the backlog that has ensued, we ask our CSSA members to be patient, especially with the delivery of their membership cards.
If your gun club requires your membership number and expiry date, we will be pleased to send that information to you by email. Just call 1-888-873-4339 or email Heather McConaghy at
heather.mcconaghy@cssa-cila.org
.
Thanks for your cooperation.
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THE WK180-C IS DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED IN CANADA
to provide an affordable, reliable, lightweight rifle for recreational shooting. The upper receiver is finished with a 1913 rail to allow the fitting of optics or iron sights, sights not included. The rifle is chambered in .223 Wylde which allows the unhindered use of both .223 Rem and 5.56 NATO. The WK180-C uses NATO standard AR15 type magazines. The free float railed hand guard allows for the attachment of our favourite accessories.
Thanks to our friends at
Wolverine Supplies
, you could be the proud owner of this AMAZING RIFLE.
All you have to do to put one of these superb rifles in your gun safe is to make a $20 donation to the CSSA, and we will give you a free chance to win one of these great guns. Better yet, we will give you three chances with a $50 donation.
Even better, make a $100 donation for TEN CHANCES, and if you win, the CSSA will sweeten the deal with a BURRIS MTAC 1.5-6x Scope with a Ballistic AR reticle with rings/mounts.
This Kodiak Arms WK180-C will find a new home on December 1, 2018.
Please send your donation to: Kodiak c/o CSSA (see address below) or call 1-888-873-4339.
You can donate online
HERE.
Help us continue to defend your sport, your guns and your rights. We need all hands on deck in these trying times. Your donation helps us preserve your firearm rights. As always, your generosity is most appreciated!
Please note: the winner must have a valid Canadian firearms licence.
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The CSSA testifies on Bill C-47 (the Arms Trade Treaty Legislation) at Senate Committee
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OTTAWA, November 28, 2018 – CSSA President
Steve Torino
and Executive Director
Tony Bernardo
appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to discuss Bill C-47, An Act to amend the Export and Import Permits Act and the Criminal Code (amendments permitting the accession to the Arms Trade Treaty and other amendments).
Committee testimony for November 28, 2018 can be found
HERE
. CSSA's testimony begins on page 13.
___________________________________
Photo: Senator Michael MacDonald and Senator Raymonde Saint-Germain thank President Steve Torino and Executive Director Tony Bernardo for their testimony..
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NEWS ON C-71 AND POSSIBLE GUN BAN
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LATEST UPDATE ––
PARLIAMENT OF CANADA | SENATE | BILL C-71
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Second Reading debate on Bill C-71, An Act to amend certain Acts and Regulations in relation to firearms, continued on November 22 and 28, 2018.
To see the most recent debate, click on the dates below. To learn more about the Senators who spoke, click on their names.
*Independent Senators Group
It is expected that upon completion of Second Reading – which is expected to occur next week – this legislation will be examined by the Senate's National Security and Defence Committee. You can see the committee's membership
HERE.
To see the current status and history of Bill C-71, visit LEGISInfo
HERE
.
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Calgary's Annual AACCA Easter Arms Show
March 29, 30 and 31, 2019
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Same Location and Time
–
Stampede's B.M.O. Centre
20 Roundup Way SE
Calgary, AB T2G 2W1
For more information, please visit the AACCA website
HERE
.
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Please note the date change – it is NOT on Easter Weekend
for 2019 only!
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Canada Plans New Gun-Marking System for Tracing to Owners
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By thegunblog.ca | November 28, 2018
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TheGunBlog.ca — The Canadian government said it will require guns to be marked in a way that links them to their owners for police tracing, raising concern of a new registration system that violates privacy and eases future bans.
The regime will revamp the UN-inspired Firearms Marking Regulations and take effect Dec. 1, 2020, the Ministry of Public Safety said in today’s
Canada Gazette
. Successive governments have deferred the regulations nine times since they were adopted in 2004,
most recently
on Nov. 9.
The planned measures add to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pending tracking and registration system for the firearm industry and millions of hunters and sport shooters.
New Registry
He proposed
Bill C-71
as a law to force gun stores to register details of buyers and their firearms so police can access the records and link purchasers, sellers and guns. It would also require private sellers to check with the federal police before any sale. Opponents see the bill as an indirect or backdoor registry that undermines privacy and acts as a ban list for government and a wish list for thieves.
The Gazette didn’t provide details of the new marking system or who would manage it. The official government newsletter suggested it will connect owners to their guns and go beyond the firearm industry’s practice of engraving or stamping every gun with the country, manufacturer, model and serial number.
Ministry of Public Safety in Today’s Canada Gazette:
The efficiencies of tracing are realized when a record of the most recent legal owner can be linked to a specific combination of information (serial number, name of manufacturer, etc.), which is marked on the firearm. Consequently, the requirements of the existing Regulations are not sufficient to uniquely identify the legal owner of the firearm in order to facilitate tracing.
Objectives
The deferral of the coming into force of the Regulations permits the Government of Canada to continue developing amendments to the Regulations so that they achieve their intended purpose of enabling the tracing of crime guns by law enforcement agencies. Over the course of the next 24 months, a marking regime will be developed in order to improve the effectiveness of the Regulations.
Handgun Registry
Hunting is at the heart of Canadian heritage and culture, and target shooting is one of the country’s safest and most-popular sports. More men and women have a firearm licence than play golf or hockey.
Canadian law views them as criminals-in-waiting to be tracked by the federal police. The police monitor all approved gun owners. It’s a crime to buy, sell, have or transport any firearm without police permission.
The police manage a registry and transfer system that links lawful handgun buyers and sellers to pistols and revolvers. It lists the roughly
300,000 owners
of 1 million handguns and 105,000 rifles and shotguns. The previous government stopped using the much larger Long-Gun Registry over its soaring cost and low benefit to public safety.
“Tracing can offer early investigative leads, contribute to cost efficiencies by linking crime guns to businesses in Canada rather than overseas, focus investigations, given that time is critical to solving crimes and help to build a strong evidentiary case to obtain a conviction,” the government said in the Gazette.
Privacy Intrusions
Bill C-71 includes new prohibitions and restrictions, and authorizes Quebec to obtain the old Long-Gun Registry of all gun owners in Canada. The ministry of justice has said the bill’s
privacy intrusions
are justified.
The Gazette said the old marking system lost its utility after the “destruction” of the Long-Gun Registry, without saying how the two were related or how Quebec could get the registry if it was destroyed.
The 14-year-old text of the
Firearms Marking Regulations
said guns entering or made in Canada must be marked with “Canada” or “CA” and the last two digits of the year, such as “CA18.” It didn’t connect firearms to the manufacturer, buyer or seller.
‘Catastrophic Damage’
The
Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association
, the main industry group, said two years ago the old regulations would cause “
catastrophic damage
” to small businesses, raise gun prices and require a costly logistical overhaul to mark the almost 1,000 guns bought in Canada each day.
Critics of the old plan said the government and police would be smarter to focus on preventing violent crime instead of researching the history of crime tools after people have been injured or killed.
There’s also concern the government is distorting the original intent of the Firearms Marking Regulations.
Canada adopted them to trace international gun shipments as part of the United Nations Firearms Protocol against illegal trafficking and for a convention of the Organization of American States against illegal manufacturing and trafficking.
Industry Not Consulted
“It appears they’re trying to implement a domestic tracing system under the guise of adhering to the UN treaty,” Wes Winkel, president of the industry group, said today by telephone.
The Gazette said the government has consulted the federal police, the border agency, the ministry of trade and the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee. It didn’t say if it consulted firearm manufacturers, importers, distributors or retailers.
The government also didn’t say if it consulted gun smugglers or violent criminals who obtain and use their firearms illegally, regardless of how they are marked.
Policy Lobby
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, which lobbies the government to curtail the rights of hunters and sport shooters, “is disappointed with the delay to implement firearm marking regulations,” Natalie Wright, a spokeswoman for the group, told TheGunBlog.ca by e-mail on Nov. 16.
The association formed a committee to review its firearm priorities in relation to the government’s possible gun bans and the marking regulations. Wright declined to elaborate until the committee reports next year.
‘Markings Help Law Enforcement’
“The marking regs help LE [law enforcement] to accurately id/source firearms used in crime & does not pose any threat to law abiding firearm owners,” Timothy Smith, the main lobbyist for the police association,
said
Nov. 10 on Twitter. “Serial [numbers] are not unique identifiers, far from it & give us no idea as to when a firearm came into Canada.”
Smith also declined to comment further.
“The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police doesn’t have the luxury of re-writing 400 years of firearm history,” Tony Bernardo, the executive director of the
Canadian Shooting Sports Association
, told TheGunBlog.ca. “The firearms industry uses serial numbers to uniquely identify firearms. It’s how they track manufacturing and inventory. The serial number by itself is not a unique identifier. You also need the make and model of the firearm. Once you know those three, you’ve uniquely identified that gun.”
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Rural crime is at ‘crisis levels’ in Alberta, says Foothills MP
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By Michael King | globalnews.ca | November 26, 2018
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The federal Conservatives say not enough is being done to protect Alberta farmers and ranchers from being targets of
rural crime
.
At a news conference on Monday, Foothills MP John Barlow released the findings of the Conservatives’ Rural Crime Task Force report.
The task force conducted town halls across the province, talking to thousands of rural Albertans. The findings were submitted to a parliamentary study on
rural crime
that is looking into Canada-wide crime rates in smaller towns.
Barlow said by talking to farmers and ranchers, the task force determined that rural crime is at “crisis levels.”
Alberta’s NDP government has also expressed concern about rural crime in the province. Earlier this year, it announced a plan for taking action to tackle the problem.
In September,
police reported that property crimes — excluding fraud, mischief and arson — fell 11 per cent between January and July in rural detachments, thanks in part to
the RCMP’s Rural Crime Reduction Program
,
which was launched last winter.
On Monday, Barlow said those figures do not tell the whole story. He said that the drop in crime actually comes from a declining number of people reporting crimes.
“Those numbers are misleading in the fact that so many people in the… communities aren’t reporting crimes anymore,” Barlow said. “The fact that they’ve been hit so many times, they know the RCMP may or may not respond.”
In February 2018, Edouard Maurice
was charged with aggravated assault, pointing a firearm and careless use of a firearm when he fired warning shots at suspected thieves on his property in Okotoks.
Edouard Maurice, left, waves to supporters outside court with his wife Jessica, right, in Okotoks, Alta., Friday, March 9, 2018. Maurice faces three charges after police allege the rural homeowner confronted two people rummaging through his vehicles and shots were fired.
Maurice stood next to Barlow at Monday’s news conference and said many rural residents don’t trust the RCMP to quickly respond to calls.
Maurice said this doubt leads more rural residents to take action on their own.
“Either you can chance calling the cops and hopefully they’ll show up, or you defend yourself,” Maurice said.
His charges were eventually dropped
but he said his family’s sense of security will be permanently altered.
“There is no going back to normal life,” Maurice explained. “Daily life is not the same, [we’re] always watching what’s happening and who’s around. You just never get over it.”
Barlow also took aim at the federal Liberal government’s Bill C-71 on Monday, saying rural crime will not be solved with stricter gun laws.
“Most crime in Canada involves illegal guns smuggled into the country,” Barlow said. “Experts have pointed out that blanket gun bans will do nothing to prevent violent crime.”
Barlow said that if elected to form government, the federal Conservatives would repeal Bill C-71 and instead, focus on gun smuggling and gang violence.
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By Ryan Funk | pumbinavalleyonline.com | November 24, 2018
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The Federal Government is looking to reduce violent crime by banning handguns and assault weapons in Canada.
The Honourable William Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, was looking for input from third parties on their views on the discussion paper entitled Reducing Violent Crime: A dialogue on handguns and assault weapons.
An overview of the paper, says the Canadian Government has committed to getting handguns and assault rifles off the street while not impeding the lawful use of firearms by Canadians.
Member of Parliament for Portage-Lisgar Candice Bergen, says this new endeavour by the Liberals is the same as previous ones.
"It seems like every time they say they're going to crack down on guns and gangs; they instead enact legislation that targets law-abiding Canadians. That's not been any more clear than when we saw Bill C-71, the bill they put out that doesn't even mention the word gangs."
Bill C-71 was an Act to amend certain Acts and Regulations in relation to firearms.
Bergen says the Liberals are trying to import the United States' gun problems into Canada. However, Bergen notes the laws in Canada are very different from those in the US.
"Our licensing requirements for individuals owning firearms are very strict; there are background checks, everyone has to have a licence to own a firearm or to acquire a firearm."
Bergen notes that criminals that are using guns in gang activity and in violent incidents that take place in cities like Toronto aren't following the laws so a ban on guns won't do anything, only severe penalties in the commission of a crime.
In 2016, Statistics Canada showed 223 firearms related homicides, with 141 of those being committed by gangs.
Manitoba Wildlife Federation (MWF) was one of the third parties, asked by Minister Blair for their views on the topic.
MWF says there is a problem with Minister Blair's logic, being if there are fewer legal firearms available, by proxy that would impact the illicit market because there would be fewer firearms on the streets.
Another issue with a broad ban on handguns and assault weapons is the definition of what an assault weapon is.
Minister Blair quoted the US Department of Justice for their definition, as “assault weapons are semi-automatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire.” However, Canada does not have a legal definition.
The MWF says many firearms are semi-automatic, two examples being the Benelli R1 or Ruger Mini 14, both hunting rifle that meets every standard of falling under the non-restricted classification.
A gun that is restricted is the Savage MSR 15, MWF says these semi-automatic firearms are adjustable, accurate and well designed, however, due to its aggressive appearance, MWF says the Canadian Government has deemed them assault weapons.
MWF suggests the Government needs to clarify and simplify the firearms laws that are already in place.
Gun laws are incredibly important says Bergen, Canadian citizens want to know their government is looking out for their protection and safety.
She says the governments are looking to combat gang violence the best they can, but easy solutions shouldn't be taken, solutions which penalize law-abiding gun owners and not the criminals.
Bergen says she has been hearing about this issue from citizens across the country and invites constituents to connect with her to share their thoughts on this topic more.
PembinaValleyOnline reached out to the regions Liberal representative but did not receive a response upon deadline.
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Lack of local gun law consultations irks Grey Bruce MP
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By Janice MacKay | blackburnnews.com | November 26, 2018
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The MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound is disappointed local residents will not have the opportunity to speak at a public meeting on firearms policies.
Larry Miller said Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair offered to work out a date for an open meeting in the riding. But Miller said after five attempts to schedule such an event, it appears the minister is not truly interested in hearing the rural perspective.
The government recently held an online consultation on a potential handgun ban and has said that it will hold in-person meetings until “the end of November” on that same topic.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that this was the outcome of our efforts to give the minister the ability to hear from rural Canadians,” said Miller. “Time and time again, this government has shown their discontent towards those living outside urban centres. My office worked in good faith with the minister’s staff but, much like this government, it was all talk, no action.”
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'It’s just a tool': Why guns are essential for rural life in Saskatchewan
Entrusting your child with a gun is part of growing up in rural Saskatchewan. It's not unusual, or something only a family of so-called 'gun nuts' might do
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By Mark Melnychuk | leaderpost.com | Updated November 27, 2018
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In a divided province, how do guns fit into Saskatchewan life? A Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix multi-part series investigates. Read our full coverage
here
CYPRESS HILLS AREA — Mathew Bohnet lies prone in a field of tall grass as he peers into the scope of a .22-250 calibre rifle.
He’s looking for a steel gong target at the base of a hill, some 300 yards away.
At 12 years old, Bohnet is honing skills passed down through the generations on this family farm in cattle country, where learning how to use a gun is considered as essential as learning to drive a tractor.
His father Randy cautions the boy to remember the wind is coming from the left, meaning the bullet will drift right. The key, he says, is to feel the wind on your cheek. Fire when the gust dies down.
The first shot echoes through the valley on Randy’s land in the Cypress Hills.
It’s a miss.
Randy tells Mathew he was dead even — but too high. The bang of the next shot is followed a fraction later by the clang of the bullet hitting the gong.
“Good hit,” the father tells his son.
“Second shot, 300 yards. He’s 12. And he can do that at 400 as well,” Randy adds proudly.
Entrusting your child with a gun is part of growing up in rural Saskatchewan. It’s not unusual, or something only a family of so-called “gun nuts” might do. Learning to use a firearm is almost a rite of passage into adulthood, not so different than a teen entrusted with the keys to the family car. Out on the ranch, a gun might be needed for protecting cattle from coyotes, shooting gophers or putting down a wounded animal.
“It’s a tool just like any other tool we use on the ranch,” says Kathryn, mother of twins Mathew and Lucas. “But like any other tool you need to learn how to use it properly and safely.”
The boys took their firearms safety course last fall. They’re allowed to use the family’s rifles, but only under the supervision of Randy or Kathryn.
Although they’ve earned some trust by completing chores and following their parents’ instructions, Randy says kids at that age just aren’t mentally prepared to be on their own with a gun yet. Their children are more valuable to them than anything, and while their sons need to learn about guns, they also need to be kept safe.
Their education on guns began when they could crawl, and Randy taught them “don’t touch.” When they were little and someone gave them toy guns, Kathryn made sure the boys treated them like they were the real deal. They weren’t to point them at anyone.
The Christmas after their children were born, Kathryn bought a gun safe, for added piece of mind. After completing their hunter safety course, the boys were given the combination. However, they aren’t allowed to open it without one of their parents present.
“Maybe we’re being too safety conscious, but rather safe than sorry, right?” says Kathryn.
Among the lessons is learning to respect the power one holds in their hands.
“You see a gopher explode, you see the great big 2,000-pound bull drop over and be dead within seconds — you know what could happen if you accidentally point that gun in the wrong direction,” says Kathryn.
Asked when he’ll let his sons take a gun out on their own, Randy pauses: “That’s a good question.”
It will likely come down to the boys again proving they’re responsible in all aspects of life, not just with guns. But one day these boys will grow to men, and they’ll need to know how to handle a gun.
Randy is preparing them for the reality of life in rural Saskatchewan.
If there’s a gun on a Saskatchewan farm — and usually there is — odds are it’s a .22-calibre rifle. It’s a well-rounded gun, good for a beginner or a seasoned user. If it’s a gopher or a larger animal such as a coyote, a .22 will do the job.
A gun can handle problems that directly affect one’s livelihood on a farm — problems people in the city don’t usually have.
When Ryan McIntyre got home from work one night, he spied a deer in his vegetable garden. The scare of a blast from a shotgun loaded with wildlife control ammunition, or rubber pellets, did the trick.
“That garden, that’s our food here for the next pretty much all of fall,” says McIntyre, who farms near Plenty.
McIntyre also had to shoot a coyote last fall that kept coming into his yard. He raises chickens and sometimes turkeys, which are perfect prey for the animal.
Asked why he has chickens and vegetables when grocery stores exist elicits a laugh. It’s just how life is in the country, McIntyre explains. Growing your own food saves money and cuts out the middleman. People in cities grow their own food too of course, but the “pests” that get into the garden aren’t the same in the middle of nowhere.
“We’re not surrounded by a nice safe city. It’s a little different where we live,” says McIntyre.
Farmers say they try to work with nature more than against it. They don’t wish to diminish animal populations. Animals aren’t shot for sport, but necessity.
When the Bohnets home was under construction 13 years ago, cougar tracks were spotted at the steps to the house.
Randy eventually found the cougar hiding in a shop and shot it. Being that close to a human settlement was extremely unusual behaviour for a cougar, and a necropsy subsequently revealed a porcupine quill had migrated from the cat’s stomach and into its chest cavity, injuring its heart.
On the ranch, guns are often used to euthanize sick or injured animals. A gun is preferred to chemicals, which can harm other wildlife that may try to scavenge a carcass.
Garret Poletz ranches southwest of Perdue. This year alone, he’s used his rifle to take out a sick coyote that wandered into his yard, posing a potential threat to his three little girls and his dogs, and also to put down two sick cows.
“You’re 20 minutes to an hour to a vet clinic … I mean what are you supposed to do, let things suffer?” he asks.
Farmers don’t relish using their guns, especially to euthanize an animal in their care. Many are quick to point out that though they may have to take an animal’s life, they have a great deal of love and respect for it.
“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” says Randy when he speaks of recently putting down his favourite horse, which was 31 years old.
Then there are gophers, much less beloved on a farmer’s field, where a gopher hole can leave livestock and horses with serious leg injuries.
When spring arrives, a friend sometimes phones McIntyre to ask for help clearing gophers from pastures so his cattle can safely graze. “There’s no limit on them, there’s no season on them because there’s that many of them, and they are a problem,” he adds.
Kathryn’s father Rick Toney recalls riding horses with his son Paul eight years ago, on his ranch near Gull Lake. Paul’s horse got its foot stuck in a gopher hole, causing it to summersault on top of him. Paul injured his back, and an ambulance had to be called. He recovered, but it could have been much worse.
“He could have been killed, easy,” says Toney.
It’s a way of life and a culture that isn’t always understood or appreciated from outsiders.
A self-declared firearms enthusiast, McIntyre owns an array of pistols, shotguns and rifles. He gained notoriety last year when he started the Farmers with Firearms Facebook page. Farmers posted photos of guns in their combines in response to concerns over a growing rural crime problem.
The page also attracted controversy for racist posts by some members — posts McIntyre says were removed. But not before they created a perception of farmers ready and willing to use their guns on more than four-legged animals. McIntyre doesn’t want anyone to think rural gun owners drive around searching for things to shoot, but he admits that’s just how some people disconnected from the country are going to see it.
“I think a lot of city people — they always call us the hicks and the rednecks and stuff,” says McIntyre. “But it doesn’t bother us.”
Perceptions don’t trouble McIntyre, who believes he could get critics to understand through a civilized conversation. He can appreciate some might have a more negative view of firearms if they’re inundated by stories of gun crime in the media. But rural gun owners shouldn’t be in the sights of critics, he contends. That should be saved for the criminals.
McIntyre points out firearms owners go through background checks to continue eligibility for their firearms licence.
“We are the most vetted people in this country,” says McIntyre. “And people are worried about us?”
The divide between urban and rural still isn’t iron-clad. Many of those interviewed say hunters who make their way into the country are often from cities. Stories about law-abiding gun owners don’t typically make the news.
“Nobody in the city ever sees those guns. They’re locked away in a cabinet,” says Toney.
And much like those locked cabinets, some remain tight-lipped when asked about guns and rural life. Several people contacted for this story called it a “touchy subject,” and declined interviews.
Like many, Poletz traces the roots of that sensitivity to the case of Gerald Stanley, a farmer from the Biggar area charged in the Aug. 9, 2016 shooting death of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man. This year’s trial and not guilty verdict re-ignited smouldering racial tensions in the province, sparking protests and prompting the federal government to revisit how juries are chosen.
“Before that, they’d tell you anything you wanted to hear about a gun,” says Poletz. “But since that came, people sure get shy.”
Poletz has known Stanley his whole life. They weren’t close enough to be considered friends, but he believes the media portrayal of Stanley was unfairly negative. The coverage didn’t show the man he knew, one who was kind and broke horses for his family. “Has that ever been said one time in the news or anywhere, anything?”
The Stanley trial, combined with the surge in discussion around rural crime, sparked a heated debate over the rights of property owners to defend themselves at gunpoint. Viewpoints are as individual as the person asked about the issue.
For Randy, he doesn’t see a self-defence weapon when he looks at his guns. And he never wants to. Even if someone was trying to steal from him, he wouldn’t reach for a gun. “I don’t think there’s anything that we own that is more valuable than a human life, other than my own family.”
Toney also doesn’t see his gun that way. If he came across someone on his property stealing, he says he’d call the RCMP. Confronting thieves carries the risk of not knowing if they’re armed. It’s police who are trained to deal with how to use a gun for protection, and how to make the judgment call on when it’s necessary. Toney believes he’d only consider a gun for protection in such circumstances as an absolute, last resort.
“The simple fact is if you ever did shoot somebody, you’ve destroyed your own life,” he says. “Not only theirs, but you’ve destroyed your own life.”
The best example of that scenario, of course, is Gerald Stanley.
“I’m sure … that man would love to have that day back, that he never had any intentions of wanting to shoot anybody in his life,” says Toney. “I can’t imagine anybody wanting to do that.”
McIntyre is more open to discussing a scenario in which he may have to use a gun for protection. If an armed person came into his home and put his loved ones in danger, there’s no question he would reach for a gun.
“I don’t think anybody in Canada or the world should be refused the right to protect themselves or their family,” he says.
McIntyre insists that just because some farmers have become more vigilant, doesn’t mean they’ve gotten any less hospitable. Things have changed though.
His family used to leave the doors unlocked when they went away, in case someone needed shelter in a blizzard.
McIntyre isn’t happy those trusting days have passed; it’s part of why he loves living in the country. He says farmers aren’t eager to be on alert, but they don’t have a choice because criminals have figured out how to exploit the time and distance it takes for RCMP to arrive at a rural call.
“We’re pinned up in a corner here now with a lot of issues,” says McIntyre. Still, if someone is in need of assistance, he believes rural residents are willing to help. They’re just more cautious.
Poletz is more wary of crime in his area than he used to be, saying several neighbours have been the victims of theft. But that doesn’t mean he keeps his gun loaded or is prepared to shoot someone who comes into his yard. However, he acknowledges every situation is different, and it’s difficult to predict the possibilities without having lived them.
What Poletz is certain about is that an RCMP response is a long way away. He lives 40 kilometres from the nearest town. If he came home and frightened an intruder, what then? Would they run into the house, where his family is?
“You don’t plan on anything like that,” says Poletz. “But you fear it.”
The Stanley case cast a spotlight on guns and their place in rural life — and attracted scrutiny. But for those living on these farms and ranches, firearms are viewed through a different lens, forged through lessons passed down from one generation to the next.
“There’s nothing wrong with firearms,” says McIntyre. “I own many of them, and they’re not scary, they’re not misbehaved or anything. They’re just another tool.”
See the full
Lines of Fire
series
HERE
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ORANGEVILLE GUN & MILITARIA SHOW
December 2, 2018
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LOCATION –
Orangeville Fairgrounds
Hockley Valley Road
Orangeville, ON
HOURS –
7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
ADMISSION –
General $5
Ladies and accompanied children under 16 are free. Lots of free parking.
For more information
,
please contact Monica at 905-679-8812.
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The
Bill C-71
Book,
How It Hurts You, and 3 Easy Steps You Can Take Right Now to Block It
This book is the most comprehensive and easy-to-read overview of the government’s first proposed firearms legislation in a generation, and it is a joint project of
The Canadian Shooting Sports Association
(CSSA), Canada’s leading gun-rights advocacy group, and
TheGunBlog.ca
, the country’s leading source of news on gun politics and the firearm industry.
The book is available as a FREE PDF DOWNLOAD from
StopC71.com
.
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Need help writing a letter to Senators on Bill C-71?
Campaign #20 – Individual Strength
Some Senators have stated they give no regard to form letters.
They are un-elected, so are their rules. 100% personal letters they shall get, but we will BCC them so we can do it efficiently and often. Use this tool to easily send your personal letters. They don't have to be long or complex. Below are excerpts from the October 5th CSSA E-News on writing to the Senate:
"Over the past three years, Senators have shown a far greater willingness to amend government bills than our MPs in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister can’t strip them of their Senate seats, making them far more amenable to common sense and far less affected by partisanship. It is in the Senate we believe resolutions could pass, dramatically reducing the harm of this legislation.
Your letter to the Senate does not need to be long and involved. It does, however, need to be original. Form letters do not make a positive impact.
Explain, simply and clearly, what you believe is wrong with this legislation and send an email copy to every Senator.
If you find letter writing an unpleasant or difficult task, use a section from The Bill C-71 Book to make your point. If you have not done so already, download your free copy from
https://StopC71.com/download
. The book provides many examples of why Bill C-71 is bad legislation. Copy your favourite example into the body of your letter and send it to every Senator in the upper chamber.
We’re also told that email is as good as sending a physical letter."
This is the last OCV campaign for C-71. I thank you all for your participation and hope that you will continue to use #20 to write your Senators often, right up until the final vote. It has been my pleasure to provide this tool to the community and a great joy to witness the count of sent emails climb up into the hundreds of thousands, knowing we've at least ruffled some feathers along the way. Never give up!
– Doug McComber
_____________________________________________________
About ONE CLEAR VOICE
One Clear Voice is an independent project created to help Canada's vast gun community, their friends and family, easily communicate with their government. Specifically it is a tool to voice our collective concern over bad law that addresses a non-existent problem and fails to address the tougher problem of gangs, criminals and their misuse of firearms.
OneClearVoice.ca
was created and is wholly owned and operated by myself, Doug McComber. I've been a licensed gun owner, starting with an FAC, since 1989. I belong to several gun rights organizations and participate in popular Canadian gun forums (you might know me as Doug_M). Being a developer by trade I thought why not create something to bring us all together to help raise our collective voice. And so here we are! I want to thank everyone who has participated and to those who have shared One Clear Voice all over the 'net.
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As handgun crimes go up, Liberals and Conservatives disagree on remedy
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By Daniel LeBlanc | theglobe&mail.com | November 25, 2018
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Thieves broke into three outdoor-equipment shops in the Quebec towns of Alma, Sherbrooke and Magog between Oct. 16 and Nov. 13, making off in the middle of the night with about 50 handguns worth tens of thousands of dollars.
In the midst of these thefts, on Nov. 7, Toronto police announced they had stopped a smuggling ring that had tried to bring 30 guns into Canada hidden in the gas tank of a rental car.
While data are scarce on the source of illegal handguns in Canada, the separate events in Quebec and Ontario highlight two ways criminals are trying to get their hands on firearms – and the sharp divide between the Liberal and the Conservative on the importance of banning such weapons.
For the governing Liberals, the three heists illustrate a growing issue facing the country, the diversion of domestically sourced legal handguns to criminals. In that context, Bill Blair, the Minister of Organized Crime Reduction, is in the last leg of a consultation on whether to ban handguns, or at least toughen the rules on storage and transportation of restricted weapons.
Non-restricted weapons, such as shotguns, can be used for hunting. Restricted weapons, including all handguns, can be used only for target practice or kept as part of a collection.
“I’m looking at all of the ways in which we can interdict the supply of guns into the criminal world, and focusing on the border and the border alone would, in my opinion, only be doing half the job,” Mr. Blair said in an interview.
The federal government recently announced $86-million over the next five years to keep illegal guns from crossing the border. In particular, the Canada Border Services Agency will receive $51.5-million to build a training facility for sniffer dogs, dispatch new dog teams to key highway crossings, train border guards to better detect smuggled goods and buy more X-ray machines for postal centres and air-cargo facilities.
The opposition Conservatives says most gun crimes in Canada involve weapons that were smuggled into the country. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has unveiled a policy to crack down on gang members and smuggled guns. He says changing the rules for legally registered handguns and licensed owners would be pointless.
“It’s lazy government to ask people who follow the rules to follow more rules,” Mr. Scheer said in an interview.
The battle will continue into 2019, as the Liberals are expected to table gun legislation next year, and the Conservatives have said they want to make gun control an issue in the October federal election.
According to Statistics Canada, the homicide rate was 1.8 victims per 100,000 population in 2017, the highest since it hit 1.9 per 100,000 in 2006, with handguns accounting for about 60 per cent of all firearm homicides.
“Firearm-related homicides have been rising since 2014, and gang-related violence has been the primary driver,” the federal agency said on Nov. 21.
According to the RCMP, 2.2 million Canadians have a valid license to acquire and possess a firearm in Canada. Of these, 640,000 have gone through the additional screening required to acquire a license for restricted firearms, such as handguns. The RCMP added that fewer than half of all owners of restricted licenses actually own a restricted firearm. As of September this year, 293,000 Canadians had one or more restricted or prohibited firearms, of which nearly a million are in circulation.
To combat gun crime, the Conservatives say that if they form the next government, they will introduce legislation that would, among other things, include prison sentences for people caught in possession of a smuggled gun or for buying a gun in Canada on behalf of someone else. Mr. Scheer has also promised to introduce new mandatory minimum sentences for gang members, and to identify criminal organizations such as the Hells Angels and MS-13 in the Criminal Code to facilitate their prosecution.
Mr. Scheer said banning handguns would be an ineffective way to deal with the factors behind increases in gun crimes.
“It would be a huge diversion of police resources to go around confiscating the firearms that have been held legally,” he said.
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THE LATEST ISSUE IS HERE...
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NORTH AMERICAN DEER HUNTER Magazine
The November/December 2018 edition of North American Deer Hunter is here!
This digital magazine is created for and dedicated to North America's deer hunting community.
Subscribe for FREE
HERE
today!
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RCMP concerned after 70+ guns stolen in break and enter
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By Lisa Schick | cjme.com | November 23, 2018
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In the past six weeks, 77 prohibited and restricted handguns and rifles were stolen from a home outside of Storthoaks, which is in the southeast corner of the province.
According to RCMP, the owner is a master of firearms instructor with the Canadian Firearms Centre, so he was authorized to have the guns, and they were stored properly.
RCMP Superintendant Ken Kunetzki said RCMP are more concerned that the weapons are out there somewhere.
“These guns, when they’re stolen from break and enters as we’ve had here, they can show up at other crimes.”
Kunetzki compared it to a car which might be stolen and then be recovered when police are investigating a later offense.
RCMP are looking into whether this victim was targeted because of his collection.
Gun crimes have been on the rise in Canada, and Saskatchewan particularly. Between 2016 and 2017, Kunetzki quoted Statistics Canada saying there was a 30 per cent increase in gun crimes in Saskatchewan as a whole, and a 70 per cent increase in the RCMP’s areas which are mostly rural.
“When these weapons are out on the street, any type of weapon, it’s going to be concerning, it’s going to be concerning for the public, and we’re going to want to do everything we can to get those weapons back,’ said Kunetzki.
The superintendant said the weapons were stolen in Saskatchewan, but could show up anywhere across Canada, so RCMP have alerted police agencies across the country.
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Corbella: Arrested at gunpoint, then exonerated, Eddie Maurice fights on against rural crime
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By Licia Corbella
| theprovince.com | November 26, 2018
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The Alberta rancher stood up to the criminals on his land, only to be arrested at gunpoint. "I was treated like a criminal instead of the victim and that needs to stop," he said.
Weird.
That’s how Eddie Maurice described standing in front of the Okotoks RCMP detachment with his wife Jessica to discuss rural crime. After all, for the rural homeowner, his arrest at gunpoint by several RCMP officers was almost as traumatic as the middle-of-the night robbery that “turned his life upside down” and turned him into the face of the scourge of rural crime that has gripped small communities clear across the country.
“It’s kind of weird being here outside of the RCMP detachment because my experiences here haven’t been that great,” Maurice said Monday during a media conference put on by John Barlow, the Conservative MP for Foothills.
“That frosted window over there is the cell I was kept in for 36 hours after protecting my family and property from criminals in the dark,” he said, pointing to a thin window located further down the building.
It was the early morning hours of Feb. 24 — Eddie’s 33rd birthday — when the family’s two dogs, Panda and Jackson, became agitated and alerted the machinist, who also helps run his wife’s family farm. Jessica — who owns and runs a doggie daycare — was away in Las Vegas. Her parents were taking care of the couple’s older daughter and Eddie was home alone with their baby daughter.
“When I woke up to the sound of criminals outside my house, I was terrified,” he recalled.
He grabbed his .22-calibre rifle, went outside and ordered the two people breaking into his truck to leave his property. They just ignored him.
“After firing warning shots into the ground, the criminals ran away and I called 9-1-1.”
It took more than two hours for the Mounties to finally show up, though he lives just a seven-minute drive from the detachment. Three cruisers arrived. With guns drawn, the officers arrested the young father and handcuffed him.
“I was treated like a criminal instead of the victim and that needs to stop,” he said.
What also needs to stop, he adds, are two federal government bills — Bill C-71 and Bill C-75.
“
Bill C-71
establishes a back door gun registry and is another attack on law-abiding firearms owners,” said Barlow, who was touting the Conservative Party’s Safer Canada plan instead.
“
Bill C-75
reduces sentences on some of our most violent crimes, including drinking and driving causing bodily harm, assault and even kidnapping. What kind of message is this sending to violent criminals?” asks Barlow.
“Instead of taking action to combat rural crime, this bill actually reduces sentences. That is simply outrageous,” added Barlow.
The Maurices say when they first bought their house just south of Okotoks over six years ago, thieves attempted to break into their home while they were sleeping “and after they called, police never came at all.”
“We lost our sense of security at that time,” explained Jessica, who says they became even more jumpy since the incident that got Eddie arrested, charged and transformed into an unwitting poster boy of the fear and anger that is gripping Alberta rural folk.
In June, a ballistics report confirmed Eddie’s version of the events that night. It was proven that a ricocheted bullet hit the man who was attempting to steal from him. All charges against Eddie were dropped to cheers and tears from a large crowd of supporters gathered at the Okotoks court, some of whom drove to each of his six court appearances from as far away as Edmonton.
“Once you are a victim of rural crime, there is no going back to normal life,” explains Eddie, who installed alarmed motion sensors around their property as well as video cameras.
“We’ve become hyper vigilant now,” adds Jessica. “We’re always on edge.”
In March, the Alberta NDP government — in response to the public outcry against how Eddie Maurice was victimized not just by criminals, but the system —
invested a total of $14 million
in more RCMP officers, civilian staff and Crown prosecutors.
The Alberta government’s
Crime Reduction Strategy
appears to be working. In September, RCMP said there were 366 fewer break and enters and 648 less motor vehicle thefts this year compared to last.
From January to July of 2018, property crimes excluding fraud, mischief and arson, have declined 11 per cent compared to the same period last year.
But Barlow says those numbers are misleading.
“So many people are not reporting these crimes any more,” he says. “They know the RCMP may or may not respond and they can’t event get insurance, they’ve been hit so many times.”
“They’re just dealing with it themselves because they are afraid the RCMP will arrest them if they scare away thieves with a firearm,” says Jessica.
The Maurices hope that Bills C-71 and C-75 get as much attention as Eddie’s case did, otherwise the proverbial revolving door for habitual criminals will get even faster. That won’t just be weird, it will be gross.
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ST. CATHARINES GUN SHOW
December 14, 2018
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LOCATION –
Merritton Community Centre
7 Park Avenue
St. Catharines, ON
HOURS –
6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
ADMISSION –
General $5
For more information
,
For information or table rentals, please call Gerry @ 905-685-4480.
For a map to the show, visit
HERE
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Buy, Sell or Trade - 135+ tables of Antique and Modern Firearms, Knives, Hunting Accessories and Gun Parts
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News from the Canadian University Shooting Federation
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Meet Dave Fahlman, a recent Carleton University graduate who has a passion.
While shooting trap and skeet is indeed high on the list, his current target is expanding a league that promotes competitive shooting sports between Canadian universities. He started a non-profit approximately a year ago to do just that.
In his own words:
“I had revived the Trap and Skeet club at Carleton University in my last year of university and loved going out every weekend to blast clays with my newfound teammates. We had recruited a great coach, Dean of SureShot Coaching, who was willing to work with us for next to no compensation. With the Lisa and her staff at Stittsville Range onboard, the team flourished and was out breaking targets almost every weekend (weather permitting, this is Canada). We even managed to partner up with Carleton’s Outdoors Club to give fellow university students the chance to try out trap for the first time!
After having this amazing experience with the club, I knew that I wanted to give back and help other schools develop their own competitive shooting programs. I envisioned a league where every university or college in Canada could field a team and compete against each other in a variety of disciplines. After contacting a variety of organizations, I pulled together a couple passionate shooters and started the Canadian University Shooting Federation.”
Dave Fahlman - President, Canadian University Shooting Federation
The Canadian University Shooting Federation (CUSF), currently is involved with four (4) schools across Canada: Carleton University (Ottawa, ON), University of British Colombia (Vancouver, BC), Mount Royal University and University of Calgary (Calgary, AB). There are few other schools which are actively engaged in starting new clubs, and hopefully CUSF can bring them onboard over the winter semester.
There are two programs that are being promoted by CUSF currently: trap and skeet tournaments, and a .22 mail-in-target competitive shooting program. The trap and skeet competition will be a satellite tournament enabling students to shoot at their local ranges and have the referees send in their scores. The first competition is scheduled for the end of March 2019. Both programs allow Canada wide competition without the associated travel costs.
One of CUSF’s biggest challenges right now is getting enough exposure at other universities and colleges. Dave Fahlman and the other CUSF members hope that knowledge of this venture will spread to more student firearm enthusiasts increasing awareness and participation at their respective universities.
Check out their website at
cusf.ca
for more info! And to stay updated on news and events, you can find the Canadian University Shooting Federation and its member teams on Facebook.
If you have any questions or comments about the league, please email Mr. Dave Fahlman at
dfahlman@cusf.ca
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IPSC Canada Says ‘Fantastic’ Growth Is Threatened by Handgun Ban
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By TheGunBlog.ca | November 26, 2018
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TheGunBlog.ca — IPSC Canada President Sean Hansen said the group’s fast-paced run-and-gun handgun matches have driven “fantastic” growth in memberships that are now threatened by the government’s possible gun bans.
Canadian
membership
in the
International Practical Shooting Confederation
has doubled in the past decade to about 4,000 from 2,000, Hansen said in a phone interview with TheGunBlog.ca in September, with an update by e-mail today.
‘People Love Our Game’
“IPSC Canada is doing fantastic,” Hansen said from Halifax, where he owns the gun store Freedom Ventures. “Our biggest challenge is having matches that don’t fill up in half an hour. People love our game. They are excited about it. People are taking our Black Badge certification and playing our game.”
Target shooting is one of Canada’s safest and most-popular sports, and hunting is at the heart of the country’s heritage and culture. More men and women have a federal firearm licence than play golf, hockey, tennis, or who ski.
About 400 people attend IPSC Canada’s annual national match. Interest is so high that the group has already planned the next three.
National Matches
Next year’s nationals will be at Valcartier military base near Quebec City. IPSC specifically chose the base to avoid the obstructions imposed on private gun clubs by the Quebec Chief Fireams Officer.
The 2020 nationals will be at Sharon Gun Club, about 60 km north of Toronto. Dalhousie, New Brunswick, will host the 2021 edition.
Most IPSC competitors are middle-aged men who have “an established career, some free time and some play money,” Hansen said.
More and more women are also participating. A junior out of Ontario placed second in this year’s nationals. One young athlete’s parents have taken him to matches around the world.
Bans for Votes
All of that would end if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proceeds with the firearm seizures he is considering as a tactic to win next year’s election.
Polls show potential voters for Trudeau’s Liberal Party are hostile to gun owners and support their elimination from cities.
The prime minister ordered an examination of a “
f
ull ban
on handguns and assault weapons” that could result in police taking away firearms from hundreds of thousands of plinkers and competitors or their families, including all the members of IPSC Canada.
‘It Bothers Me’
“It bothers me,” Hansen said. “As a shooter, it’s the possible end of my pastime. That would mean 4,000 sportsmen who compete regularly across this country who would be out of a sport.”
A Trudeau ban could eliminate more than 1 million handguns and 100,000 AR-15 and other rifles that are labeled as “Restricted” or “Prohibited” and are legal to own. All gun owners in Canada and their guns are tightly restricted.
Confiscation, Destruction
Bans could also lead to the destruction of a million “Non-restricted” guns, such as the SKS rifle designed for the Soviet military and now the most-popular semi-automatic, centrefire rifle in Canada.
TheGunBlog.ca estimated that a Trudeau confiscation could wipe out more than $2 billion invested in guns and gear.
All firearms are banned for everyone already under threat of prison unless they have a temporary licence authorized by the federal police. About 2.2 million men and women are approved for the renewable five-year permits.
Only about 293,000 own handguns, the Globe and Mail
reported
yesterday, citing the federal police. That represents about 1 percent of eligible voters.
Action Drives Growth
Most of the growth in Canada’s firearm industry comes from handgun users, especially “action shooters” in IPSC, the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA), 3-Gun, and other disciplines that can involve equipment that gets abused.
“These guys are shooting their guns a thousand rounds a month, dropping mags on the ground, wearing them out, wearing out their guns, beating the crap out of their gear,” Hansen said. “In the summertime when I’m training for the nationals, I go out 3 times a week and shoot 500 rounds each time.”
Eric Grauffel, a French multiple world champion who has run training camps at
Silverdale Gun Club
near Niagara Falls in Ontario, shoots roughly 1,000 rounds a day for two weeks before the world shoot or a major match, Hansen said.
Politicians, Associations
He recommends contacting politicians to inform them about the realities of the firearm community and the law, and joining at least one gun-rights association.
“If you aren’t a member of one of our gun-rights organizations, you should be a member of two of them,” Hansen said.
New prohibitions by a Liberal government would also shut down Hansen’s
Freedom Ventures
, close down target ranges across the country and eliminate tens of thousands of jobs. Hansen is also president of the Atlantic Marksman’s Association.
“As a businessman, my business is focused primarily on ‘Restricted’ firearms, so I’d have to close shop,” Hansen said. “Our club is closed if they go through with this.”
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Man charged with selling weapons on black market; guns recovered in Calgary, Toronto: ALERT
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By Spencer Gallichan-Lowe | globalnews.ca | November 28, 2018
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A police investigation into the illegal sale of firearms that were also alleged to have been involved in police investigations in Calgary and Toronto has ended with the arrest of a Calgary man.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) said a man lawfully acquired multiple handguns during a nine-month period beginning in February 2016. He then sold them on the black market, police said.
Known as “firearms straw purchasing,” it typically involves someone without a criminal record and with the proper permits buying firearms for someone “who otherwise could not or does not want their name associated with the transaction,” police said. This practice is illegal in Canada, police said.
Police said three of the weapons purchased by the man were later recovered by Calgary police in two separate investigations in April and December 2017. Toronto police also found one of the guns during a drug investigation in October 2018.
The other firearms bought by the man haven’t been located, police said.
Phillip Edward Sarrasin, 26, of Calgary was arrested on Oct. 24. He has been charged with firearms trafficking, possession of a firearm at an unauthorized place and failing to report a lost firearm, police said.
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The Effect of Media Coverage on Mass Shootings
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By Michael Jetter and Jay K. Walker | iza.org | October 2018
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Can media coverage of shooters encourage future mass shootings?
We explore the link between the day-to-day prime time television news coverage of shootings on ABC World News Tonight and subsequent mass shootings in the US from January 1, 2013 to June 23, 2016. To circumvent latent endogeneity concerns, we employ an instrumental variable strategy: worldwide disaster deaths provide an exogenous variation that systematically crowds out shooting-related coverage. Our findings consistently suggest a positive and statistically significant effect of coverage on the number of subsequent shootings, lasting for 4-10 days. At its mean, news coverage is suggested to cause approximately three mass shootings in the following week, which would explain 55 percent of all mass shootings in our sample. Results are qualitatively consistent when using (i) additional keywords to capture shooting-related news coverage, (ii) alternative definitions of mass shootings, (iii) the number of injured or killed people as the dependent variable, and (iv) an alternative, longer data source for mass shootings from 2006-2016.
Download this IZA document
HERE
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Keith Beasley is hunting with Country Music Singer Songwriter Meghan Patrick
at 'Adrenaline Outfitters' for some big Manitoba black bears. They have many encounters and even some a little too close for comfort.
FIND THE CITR SCHEDULE
HERE
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COUNTRY STRONG BEARS
Airing December 2, 2018
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More women are buying guns, using firing ranges than in years past
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By Steve Stein | pjstar.com | November 24, 2018
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MORTON — Kevin Moody has a front row seat to the changing demographics of gun ownership in the country.
Moody owns KAM Shooting Sports, 901 Detroit Court, Suite C, in Morton. The store features one of the few public indoor firing ranges in the area, along with guns for sale, a classroom and gunsmith shop.
“More and more, women are buying guns,” Moody said.
“Do I sell more guns to guys? Absolutely. But it’s no longer a man’s game. The perception that a gun store is like a barber shop with a bunch of guys sitting around talking and drinking coffee isn’t reality anymore.”
Shawna Theison of Mackinaw is one of Moody’s customers. She received her Illinois concealed carry permit in 2017. Her daughter Jayden, 14, a freshman at Deer Creek-Mackinaw High School, participates in gun competitions.
KAM Shooting Sports sponsored Jayden at a Glock competition this summer in Dwight.
“There’s no doubt more women are owning guns,” Theison said. “I see a lot of photos my female friends took when they were out hunting, and I was in an all-female gun class of 30-plus women with a female instructor in Bloomington.”
There are more than 3.3 million female hunters and more than 5.4 million female target shooters in the United States, according to a 2017 blog post on the National Rifle Association website.
Shawna and Jayden Theison say they’re glad there’s now an indoor firing range that’s close to their home. KAM Shooting Sports’ firing range opened Oct. 22 after the gun retail store opened in February.
“We’ve been looking forward to the firing range opening,” Shawna Theison said. “We used to have to go to Bloomington to shoot indoors.”
A 2017 study by the Pew Research Center showed 39 percent of men and 22 percent of women said they owned a gun.
Among the gun owners, 67 percent listed protection as the major reason for owning a gun. Shawna Theison said that was her major reason for getting her concealed carry permit.
Moody has been an NRA-certified instructor since 2001 and an Illinois concealed carry instructor since 2013.
He said NRA statistics show self-defense was the major reason for gun ownership by only 5 percent to 10 percent of owners in the early 2000s, but that number is now 90 percent.
“I’m not so sure it’s 90 percent, but it is way higher than it used to be,” he said.
Moody said he looks at his business as a gun training and education center in addition to a gun retail outlet. That’s why he has a firing range and a classroom.
An applicant for an Illinois concealed carry permit must first complete 16 hours of state-mandated courses that include work on a firing range.
State law mandates that a shooter with a concealed carry permit must be able to hit the center portion of a silhouetted target seven times out of 10 from distances of 5, 7 and 10 yards.
Moody recently had a training session in his firing range with a church security team consisting of the pastor and five church members who each has a concealed carry permit.
The heated and air-conditioned firing range at KAM Shooting Sports has 10 shooting lanes, all 25 yards long, with automatic target returns.
Firing range safety is a major focus at the business.
A closed-circuit television feed from 14 cameras on two screens show a range security officer what’s happening in the firing range at all times. Five NRA-certified range security officers are employed by KAM Shooting Sports.
“We have a range security officer on duty 100 percent of the time we’re open,” Moody said.
Those who enter the firing range must go in through an air lock, and wear safety glasses or goggles along with ear protection.
“The air lock is for lead mitigation,” Moody said.
Across the Illinois River, The Tac Shop, 8919 N. University St., in Peoria, has an indoor firing range with six heated, 25-yard lanes. Targets operate with an electric trolley system. There are plans to add air conditioning, according to the facility’s website.
Public classroom instruction, one-on-one instruction and private group classes are offered.
The Tac Shop also has an indoor firing range in Monmouth with eight heated and cooled shooting lanes.
The not-for-profit Peoria Skeet and Trap Club, 470 Spring Bay Road, East Peoria, is open on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday each week.
About three in 10 gun owners in the Pew study listed sport shooting such as target, trap and skeet shooting as a major reason for owning a gun.
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Proposed state law would require NY pistol owners open up social media and online searches
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By Charles Molineaux | amp.whec.com | November 20, 2018
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New Yorkers applying for handgun licenses or renewing existing licenses could potentially have to submit to a state review of their social media histories and internet searches under a proposed new state law.
"We hear about these instances where there's a mass shooting," said Rochester area Assemblywoman-elect Jamie Romeo, "but there were all these red flags. People should've seen this activity or somebody should have… is there a way that we could've seen this before tragedy struck?"
To head off violent incidents such as mass shootings, 21st District State Senator Kevin Parker of Brooklyn introduced Senate Bill 9191 which requires anyone getting a state handgun license "to have his or her social media accounts and search engine history reviewed."
The law would empower State Police to investigate for "commonly known profane slurs or biased language used to describe the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person."
It also notes that police would be on the alert for mentions of violence or terrorism in online writings and searches.
The law would require handgun licensees to open those records up for an audit of their search records going back one year, and of their social media activity going back three years.
"The Bill of Rights is totally under assault with this particular bill," said Tim Andrews, president of the New York Shooters Committee on Political Education (SCOPE). "It's an invasion of privacy. Some would see it as a Fourth Amendment violation, and a violation of the First Amendment, freedom of speech."
Senator Parker unveiled the bill in Brooklyn, accompanied by Brooklyn's borough President Eric Adams who tweeted, "#Hatespeech that incites violence, or indicates the intent to commit violence, is not part of our constitutional tradition …our primary goal must always be to end #gunviolence."
"What might seem offensive to you might not to me, and vice versa," said Andrews. "And, unfortunately, even bigoted, tasteless speech is protected under the Bill of Rights. Your right to bear arms under the Second Amendment shouldn't be subject to potentially limiting your First Amendment rights."
Rochester social media lawyer Scott Malouf saw privacy pitfalls in the bill, but also a potentially slippery slope where a social media or search audit for guns today could become something much more pervasive tomorrow.
"So you can imagine if this went through," he said. "Five years from now, people saying, 'well maybe, licensed professionals, teachers, nurses, attorneys … we should look at their social media before we renew their licenses.'"
Romeo pointed out that Senate Bill 9191 has no companion bill in the state Assembly and said she considers it more of a helpful starting point to ignite discussions of what could be a long list of other new gun control measures like a ban on bump-stocks or "red flag" provisions to keep guns away from violent or mentally ill people.
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Sunny Italy, New Found Gun Freedoms
By John Farnam | Ammoland.com | November 26, 2018
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Ft Collins, CO –-(
Ammoland.com
)- “Prepared” is present tense. “Victim” is past tense. “Justice,” in theory, can be either, but most agree that no justice exists in past tense.”~ Frank Sharpe
Just when we thought weeniefied, pusillanimous descendants of Celts, Vandals, Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Huns, Gauls, Goths, et al in Western Europe had voluntarily submitted to mandatory castration, a ray of sunshine breaks through in, of all places, sunny Italy.
Matteo Salvini, a daring, pro-gun, pro-police, pro-freedom populist, and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister, has struck a resonant chord among his weary countrymen.
In September, Salvini engineered legislation that eased Italy’s gun laws, de-restricting military small arms and making it possible to Italian citizens to own them.
He is also re-defining the legal definition of legitimate self-defense, making criminal prosecutions of citizens who bravely defend themselves from violent criminals, less likely.
“Defense is always legitimate,” Salvini states audaciously, and adds , “Owning a gun is ‘do-it-yourself’ security.”
And, he is just getting started.
Of course “Guns-for-me-but-not-for-thee” Communists and assorted other “progressive leftists” are horrified. And, their horror is exacerbated, as Salvini also wants to actually take control of Italy’s porous borders, and start deporting illegal immigrants.
Salvini says he is on the side of honorable, decent, tax-paying Italian citizens, and just wants to give them a reasonable chance to effectively defend themselves from violent criminals. Citizens are enthusiastically responding by applying for licenses, and buying guns, at a record, and accelerating, pace.
Italy’s previous, leftist government put austere limits on how many weapons licensed citizens could own. And, in order to be issued a “gun license” in Italy, citizens must provide a doctor’s certification that they are in “good mental health.” So, you had to “prove” you are NOT crazy.
The new law doubles the number of weapons licensed citizens can own, and also eliminates limits on magazine capacity.
Of course, what frightens Communists and other anti-gun leftists, there and here, is that an increasing number of violent criminals will be shot to death by potential victims, before they can carry-out their violent crimes. Leftists depend upon high rates of violent crime to keep populations frightened and dependent. Thus for leftists, violent criminals are a great and protected asset. Obviously, leftists don’t want to see their numbers reduced.
All human lives are not of equal value.
What the liberalization of gun laws does is alter the percentage of violent criminals killed, versus good and decent, armed citizens.
When citizens are armed, we see more dead violent criminals, fewer dead innocent victims, and that fact is horrifying to leftists (who are themselves neither good, nor decent)
In any event, this outcome is not unimportant to potential victims of violent criminals whose lives were saved via precision gunfire.
The only “security” is personal.
“Can any of you seriously say the Bill of Rights could get through Congress today? It wouldn't even get out of committee.” ~ F Lee Bailey
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