See also: CFC web doodz still befuddled by FAQ concept --CFC
Friends of liberty have much work to do on both sides of the border...
RESOLUTION NO. 12-01S SPRING 2001 - FIREARMS RESTRICTIONS (carried) [cfrw ed: emphasis ours]
WHEREAS the Federal Government has enacted firearms registration legislation now in effect across Canada;
AND WHEREAS Alberta's rural municipalities believe that the firearms registration legislation is a direct violation of the democratic rights of the citizens of Canada;
AND WHEREAS firearms registration legislation will do nothing to register the firearms of the criminal elements of our society;
AND WHEREAS the Government of Alberta was unsuccessful in its legal challenge of the constitutionality of the Federal Government's firearms legislation.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of
Municipal Districts and Counties recommend to the Premier of Alberta that the provincial government invoke section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (commonly known as the "notwithstanding clause"), to withdraw the Province of Alberta from the Federal legislation requiring firearms registration.
AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the AAMD&C urge the
Government of Alberta to hold a province-wide referendum on this
serious issue, in conjunction with the October 2001 municipal and school general elections.
Liberal MP Mac Harb also generously offered some advice on how to treat your constituents: "Lowest of the low...I'm ashamed some of them are my constituents," "I don't want them in my riding." According to "Members of the House of Commons - Their Role" (prepared by the Parliamentary Library) "The most obvious task of Members of Parliament is to represent their constituents." Resign!
An odd dichotomy: On one hand McVeigh seems to understand that stacks of bodies and ruined buildings can tend to turn public opinion against one's cause. On the other, he did it. See also: Oklahoma City blast linked to Bin Laden --WorldNet Daily and US$5 million reward 'for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden' --FBI
So as I see it there are two objections to using firearms in the enforced mass cull of livestock: 1) they're loud 2) they're supposedly not as effective at killing as the captive bolt veterinarian devices which are not regulated as firearms under our Firearms Act. Solution to problem one: Use suppressors and/or large caliber heavy subsonic ammo. 50-70s were subsonic, and they and their bigger brothers virtually wiped out the North American bison. Solution to problem two: Get close. Aim at brain. You'd have to touch the animal in order to use a captive bolt gun anyway. See also: RSPCA helpfully reminds everyone that the proper sequence to be followed is kill, bury and not bury, kill --RSPCA
This article is a heart wrenching tale of the author's drunken rat filled criminal past, but I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that playing drinking games while illegally shooting illegally modified firearms just might be a bad idea.
We intervened in their civil war. We bombed their country. We stationed troops over there. We seized their farmers' guns and cut them up. We even raided homes without warrants looking for their guns. And now, according to a KFOR Major, "The situation is getting increasingly dangerous. There is a lot of activity and there are huge amounts of arms floating around." Let's face facts: If people are willing to kill and don't mind dying, they don't need firearms to do either. Nor are such individuals likely to be deterred or prevented from acquiring weapons for their purposes - even in a police state run by an occupying military force. Firearm prohibition is a dated and failed concept.
That could be because bunnies don't speak. The fluffy critters are regularly chased down and ripped apart by coyotes - I don't see the SPCA shedding a tear over that...
Under the Firearms Act, even minor offences can be used as an excuse to search homes, seize firearms, revoke firearm licenses and lay charges under Canada's draconian Firearms Act. So, what once was a relatively minor traffic offence might today lead to paperwork firearm charges, a five year court battle and subsequent imprisonment for up to a decade.
Shooter disarmed by regulations loses life in bid to stop mass office killing --Shooters.com
(Partial excerpt - original is here.) March 19, 2001, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Not only did Louis Javelle [58 year old victim killed in the attack (CNN)] have a permit to carry in NH, but he also had a Federal Firearms License! David Bergquist of Temple, N.H. was a friend of Louis "Sandy" Javelle and wrote a letter to the Boston Herald on January 11th, 2001. In that letter he states that "Sandy held both a federal firearms license and a permit to carry a handgun in New Hampshire. Ironically, the gun laws in Massachusetts prevented him from carrying a concealed handgun. But these same laws did not prevent Michael McDermott from obtaining illegal firearms."
These laws never do prevent a criminal from obtaining and using a firearm in any crime. Because Mr. Javelle was an honest citizen, he did not carry a firearm in Massachusetts and now he is dead. According to Mr. Berquist "When the rampage started, Sandy told co-workers to lock the door behind him and barricade it. He then confronted McDermott and became the third victim."
Obviously this man did not need a firearm to be a hero, but if the legislators of Massachusetts had allowed him to carry one, he may have been a living hero who may have been able to save several lives including his own. Massachusetts would not recognize the fact that Mr. Javelle had a NH permit to carry Their laws would still not allow him to carry in Massachusetts. What a price to pay!
See also: Battle over instant background check --Worldnet Daily
Have you seen those Globe and Mail television adds that seemingly seek to link firearm ownership, abortion, and a variety of flat out wacky issues like forced sterilization and racist cross burnings in Prince George? An old proverb reminds that one should always beware of what one asks for because you just might get it. See also: Liberal cabmin regrets making bizarre cross burning comments --Vancouver Sun and Ignorant 'cross burning' Liberal cabmin had an opinion - but was it informed? --Globe and Mail and CNEWS poll: Should Hedy Fry resign for suggesting that citizens in Prince George burn crosses on their lawns? --Canoe
I believe the phrase is, "All your base are belong to us!"
It's impossible to stop every idiot in the world from committing mayhem and murder if they choose - but once they start, it's not impossible for an individual in the vicinity to stop them - though such an action would be much more dangerous if the intervening individual is not armed. California's firearm laws are among the most restrictive in the US, outlawing firearms which are allowed even under Canada's harsh C-68. Firearms are about the only tool which can swiftly end an incident of firearm violence if it should begin. Many states have now passed concealed carry laws which allow citizens to carry the tools which can stop or even prevent this type of violence. The suspect is now reported to be in intensive care. Kudos to the cop who very likely saved several lives and bravely ended an incident that seems almost calculated to bring firearm owners into disrepute. CNN reports the life saving individual's identity as El Cajon Police Agent Richard Agundez. See also: Gun Rights Group's Response to El Cajon, CA School Shooting --Keepandbeararms.com
Are the birthday police ready to swoop down upon a 12 year old's birthday party and confiscate his or her possessions? Will the 11 year old sibling of the accused take the rap instead? Will any of them vote Tory when they turn 18? Stay tuned for this drama coming to a town near you... This law also prohibits minors from acquiring deactivated firearms such as those sometimes used to practice competitive quick draw, dry firing and the like.
While you are PIC you are generally considered to be a peace officer. By the definitions of the Firearms Act, peace officers are also public agents. And, through the odd circumlocutions of the Firearms Act, public agents are apparently unpaid government representatives/conscripts who don't need a firearms license to purchase ammunition for non-personal use. Just give 'em a note and the cash and taxi away. Anyone know DOT's Agency Identification Number? :) "Powderville Tower, this is C-IGUN on base for 06 stop and go... ay-firm, we're picking up more link... my tail gunners are being quite proactive on those potential bird strikes..."
Movie review: Enemy at the Gates
***. I took in this movie last night & figured I'd give it a while to digest. It didn't settle as well as I'd hoped. The visuals in the movie are impressively bleak, as befits a story set in the Stalingrad siege. But the movie seems less of an historical sniper tale and more of a semi-surreal 'people and their relationships during war' movie. The first odd note sounded when we arrived at the 'Enemy at the Gates' diorama near the ticket counter. Scattered about on the ground in front of some camouflaged sandbags were a few dozen .308 casings - a round which has nothing to do with the rifles in the film and which wasn't invented until years afterward. Whatever... so we took our seats and waited... and watched previews... and waited... eventually the movie began. The propaganda portrayed in the movie was embarrasingly heavy handed on both the Soviet and Nazi sides - fitting perhaps in that most information surrounding this alleged confrontation has come to us through Nazi or Communist original sources - who's to say what really happened after all these years? Another odd note was the sheer quantities of dead bodies strewn about - surely irl the Stalingrad residents would have buried/stacked/covered their dead? Whenever good shots gather there is always discussion of shooting - but there was so little discussion of shooting - except in the immediate military sense - that the sniper aspect of the movie seemed somewhat forced and contrived. Ultimately the firearms involved interest me more than this movie - and you just might be able to pick up a battered old 91/30 missing a scope for less than the price of admission these days... :) For those interested, here is an excellent article on the Mosin-Nagant sniper rifles --russian-mosin-nagant.com and another dealing with the Mauser 98 --Classicfirearms.org In summation: This movie is a drama, not a documentary. The girlfriend never once complained, despite her well established aversion to historical firearm documentaries. (She also rates it a three out of five.) This movie, complete with bombing raids etc, was about half a billion dollars cheaper to make than the Firearms Act mess has been to date.
Running tally of people struck by projectiles from my firearms: 0. Running tally of people struck by falling fragments from space: 1.
Canadian War Museum may place firearm exhibits online
Due to space reasons, at this time only about 1% of the War Museum's firearm holdings are on display. According to Director Joe Guerts, "We hope to photograph and document all of our collections as part of our new move to a new building in the next four years. This should lead to new Web information available to all Canadians. The Web does offer the opportunity to tackle the problem of public display." The War Museum website is http://www.warmuseum.ca.
Forcing the good citizens of Kennesaw to own guns has reduced crime by almost a third. The Firearms Act - despite hundreds of millions of dollars expended to date and the creation of millions of new 'criminals' - hasn't.
Soldier of Fortune May 2001, Page 32: Firearms Act already making international incidents, headlines: JAPANESE JUNIOR AIRGUN TEAM BUSTED
British Columbia: Province to introduce age restrictions on video games --National Post
(March 17, East to West) VANCOUVER - The province's attorney general announced yesterday he will soon [cfrw ed: IE before the legislature doors slam shut on any remaining NDP stragglers] introduce legislation he called the strongest of its kind in North America, placing age restrictions on the sale and rental of violent [cfrw ed: read "shooting"] games. People renting teen-rated games must be at least 14, while those renting adult-rated games must be at least 18.
As I look at the rad-to-hitch tractors jamming the roadway in the picture accompanying this article, one thought keeps going through my mind - for the clutches sakes, I hope those transmissions are hydrostatic. Farmers have traditionally not been politically active in Canada. This is now changing, and so it appears it must if those who grow our food are to receive a fair shake at the table.
Urbanites have the power. Urbanites have the votes. But despite the Liberals, farmers still own the food supply and own most of Canada's arable land. Firearm owners live in both regions - but it's awful tough to find farmers who don't own guns. Which is why it is even more mystifying that the Chretien Liberals have chosen to spend half a billion dollars registering farmers' guns instead of working to insure a prosperous future for their owners. Government should work to see farmers planting crops not guns.
If Ottawa hadn't blown over half a billion dollars registering duck guns, they'd have plenty of money available to provide a meaningful farm assistance package.
In Manitoba, a dummy apparently representing Vanclief was displayed trapped headfirst in the pickup of a combine.
Manitoba protest columns 2.2 kilometers long... Verbatims: "Who's got the pitchforks?" "It's do or die time" "Let's starve 'em out" "Got rope?" Farmers are demanding federal assistance of a half a billion dollars - almost equal to the amount squandered on the Firearms Act to date. Protest signs: "If you destroy a city it will spring back up again. If you destroy agriculture grass will grow in the streets of the city" Chretien was mounted on a stick in effigy... "Don't curse a farmer with your mouth full"
Take some time and support our farmers.
Saskatchewan: Gopher infestation begins --National Post
(March 14, West to East section)- SASKATOON - Saskatchewan farmers sent Ottawa a petition with 5,000 signatures asking they be allowed to use concentrated liquid strychnine to battle an annual gopher infestation. The animals have been causing trouble on Saskatchewan farmlands in growing numbers since 1992, when Ottawa restricted the sale of the poison. "The poisons being purchased are just not effective," said Sinclair Harrison, a Saskatchewan farmer. "It makes the gophers sick but it does not kill them. We don't want to see anything suffer". [CFRW ed: Friendly neighborhood varminters will control gopher populations for sport and usually for free - but many of them have been unfairly denied their right to own firearms under the provisions of the new Firearms Act. Slow deaths or lasting sicknesses from poison are not nearly as humane as a properly placed expanding bullet.]
NFA Manitoba meeting tonight in Winnipeg
March 14, 7:30 PM at the Weston Legion, 1613 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg MB. The public is encouraged to attend.
Upcoming LUFA Public Information Meetings in Dauphin, Roblin MB
"We say 'NO' to Bill C-68." Bring ten concerned Canadians with you. Featured will be LUFA National Spokesperson Jim Turnbull. Dauphin: Parkland Recreation Complex, March 22, 2001 @ 7:30 PM. Roblin: Roblin Community Center, March 31, 2001 @ 7:30 PM. Join LUFA and join the fight. Contact info: Tel: (403) 844-2877. Fax: (403) 844-8622.
See also: Jude Law (starring in this movie) reveals such sniper tactics as "You pick [precision rifles] up, point them and squeeze." --Miami Herald via wn. Of course! And to think that some people have been using unnecessary aiming devices like telescopic sights adjustable in steps of 1/8 MOA. Movies about famous shooters should at least feature actors who like guns.
Join the Army. Travel to exotic nearby pastures. Meet diseased livestock and kill them 'cuz the farmer hasn't been issued a license which would allow him to do it himself.
Seizing guns... from people who must humanely kill whole herds of livestock... so now who's going to kill the livestock and with what? The longer infected livestock live, the greater the chance of transmission of the disease. Will hard-hit livestock farmers now need to perform their tragic livestock management tasks using clubs and knives instead?
Ranges are among the safest places in Canada. For less than the cost of a burger and fries, shooters can purchase millions of dollars in liability insurance covering them while shooting. Your home costs more to insure because it's much more dangerous than our self-regulated shooting ranges. This isn't about safety, this isn't even about shutting down ranges - this is about shutting down gathering places for Chretien's political opponents.
Farmers roll in the heavies today
Take a few hours and support this protest and the farmers. More details available online at the Ontario Federation of Agriculture website. If you've got no heavy metal with you, bring a car instead. The money wasted by C-68 would have covered the farmers' demands, and more.
Outlaw bikers may need to change tattoos
According to government figures, more than 300,000 formerly law abiding firearm owners became criminals on January 1 2001 and are now eligible for up to a decade in the slammer under criminal code section 92. That's a lot of people - about 1% of every man woman and child in Canada. Outlaw bikers sometimes use the '1%' tattoo to denote belonging to a hypothetical 1% of the population that will not comply with society's laws. The number of 1%ers seems to have doubled, thanks to C-68. Other (more reliable) figures put the number of Canadians criminalized by this law at 3.5 million - 11%. At least it should be easy to modify the tatto to read "11%-er". Creating enough criminals to threaten the viability of biker gang tattoos is hardly a desired result for a law ostensibly aimed at public safety.
The gun was an M249 (Minimi) in case anyone was wondering. If forgiveness on that scale can be achieved, then I suppose we can forgive the Liberals for C-68. Though it may take a while, what with them not moving to strike it from the books immediately...
Regulated hunting is necessary in order to ensure stable game populations. Denying hunters the right to legally bear arms in pursuit of game threatens the stability of our ecosystems. Repeal C-68. And feed 'em if you've got 'em.
Rabid skunk population flourishing under C-68 --Winnipeg Sun (12 March; link expired)
As of January 1, 2001 you'll need a firearms licence to legally shoot a rabid skunk. If you don't have a license, or even if you do, you can always call your local RCMP to report a diseased vermin sighting. Why pull your own trigger and risk the wrath of C-68? Let the feds form another silly bureaucracy to hunt skunks.
Gun group vows world boycott --Calgary Sun (12 March; link expired)
Firms warned to steer clear of gun registry --Edmonton Sun (12 March; link expired)
List of organizations represented at the Western Canada Firearms Summit --Canadian Firearms Digest email list
Canadian Shooting Sports Association
Alberta Fish & Game League
Saskatoon Wildlife Federation
Canadian Alliance MP
Saskatchewan Police Association
Alberta Police Association
Canadian Police Association
Canadian Instititute for Legislative Action
South Sask. Safari Club
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
British Columbia Wildlife Federation
Law-Abiding Unregistered Firearm Users Association
Saskatchewan Outfitters Association
IPSC Canada
Saskatchewan Amateur Trapshooting Association
Saskatchewan Sporting Clays Association
Alberta Civil Liberties Association
Responsible Owners of Firearms (Alberta)
Recreational Firearm Owners (Yukon)
National Firearms Association
Recreational Firearm Owners (British Columbia)[ed: could be an incorrect link]
Shooting Federation of Canada
Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation
Dominion of Canada Rifle Association
Saskatchewan Gun Collectors Association
Saskatchewan Handgun Association
Nipawin Fish and Game Association
Saskatchewan Small Bore Rifle Association
Saskatchewan Responsible Firearms Owners
Gun owners who knowingly didn't buy a license prior to January 1 2001 currently face up to ten years in jail for the serious but victimless crime of owning their own legally acquired private property without having a license - whether or not a license was subsequently purchased. Additional court challenges are underway at this time but were not mentioned in the article. The CBC neglected to mention other snags surrounding the implementation of the Firearms Act including: half a billion dollars in cost overruns so far, confiscation without compensation, unwarranted searches, fines and harsh criminal punishment for victimless paperwork infractions, lawyer fees estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars per case, the fertilizing effects of prohibition on the black market, laws so complex that even those charged with implementing them don't understand them, regulation of firearm owners and their clubs, gatherings, and associations to a point nearing harassment, a shifting of the burden of proof to defendants, wildly unnecesary court actions, error rates so high you might think data was entered by the coin toss method, and the list goes on. Did I forget to stress that even going by government figures, 300,000 Canadians whose only crime lay in not purchasing a license now face as much as 3 million man years in prison? Opposition figures are higher by a factor of 10. "There is no shortage of such material - why did CBC not pick up on this?" asks an unidentified source from an unidentified group, possibly one of the unidentified sources and groups allegedly quoted by unidentified staff in the CBC 'news' article. The cbc.ca web servers were apparently down sometime before 6:45h CST and stayed down for several more hours until coming online shortly before ten AM.
My first gun and first computer
Wherever techies or shooters gather together, discussion sometimes drifts to a personal chronology of their first hardware. So, here are mine. Both happened about the same time in '77 or '78 when I was quite young. First gun: Daisy No. 102 Model 36. There's a pic of this model available online at the Blissmer web page (scroll down) but for a factory authorized experience you'll have to visit the Daisy museum. I've still got the gun, though sadly it no longer functions. It seems that I wore out the business end of the cocking lever mechanism. In my defence, the gun had a 500 shot magazine capacity, BBs were cheap and birds were plentiful. Contributing to the abundance of birds was the fact that this gun is a fixed sight smoothbore capable of only about 200 fps muzzle velocity. The buttplate has a raised relief of a boy with rolled up pantlegs holding a rifle, and the following pledge: "I pledge myself to protect people, animals and property in my community by always aiming and shooting my rifle safely". First computer: Radio Shack Model 1 - before the keyboard debounce upgrade. This computer didn't just fade away into obsolescence - it was banned by the FCC due to RFI. Pics available at The Obsolete Computer Museum's Model 1 page or The Computer Closet's Model 1 page. Simple action arcade games worked well with this if you didn't mind graphics fashioned from black and white bricks the size of a .22 short bullet. Starting with a cassette tape for storage duties (possibly the CTR-81? if memory serves) and level one accoutrements including 4K memory and hardware based variables and Microsoft's hideous GOTO-only BASIC for maximum flexibility in programming (heh) the computer was eventually upgraded with an expansion interface, about 32K of memory, an RS-232 port, 300 baud state of the art modem and dual table-shaking floppies running versions of TRSDOS. The time from power on to program start was about the same (5 minutes or so) using either floppy or cassette due to a longer boot sequence if one wanted to use the floppies. There was also a hard drive available, but it was priced at about $4000 for 5 MB storage. Sound on this computer was surprisingly good and was supported by most games - an external integral amplified 1 Watt speaker provided the effects. There were no MP3s back then (BYTE had been publishing for a year or two and the 8088 chip was still under development) but a patch cable from the cassette to the integrated amp solved that problem.
Fun with registered barrel length measurements
McLellan's minions will tell you that they measure most rifle barrel lengths by measuring from the breechface or back of chamber to the end of the rifling at the muzzle. They will not, so they say, consider the length of any 'muzzle accessories' or non-rifled muzzle length such as is used to facilitate loading on some muzzleloader designs. This lack of consideration seems to be aimed at folks who want to permanently weld or solder muzzle attachments such as imitation suppressors on their barrel for cosmetic reasons or to change the classification of the firearm under the arbitrary rules of the Firearms Act. Such changes in classification might allow these owners to discharge the firearm on their own land or at a friend's place instead of driving for hours to reach a government-approved range, or to take the firearm to the range without a special permit. It's generally agreed that these rules are arbitrary and rather silly. So, what happens legally in the following scenario: someone takes a cheap clunker .22 and a drill with a diameter somewhere between land diameter and exterior barrel diameter. Drilling from the muzzle, the rifling is worked away for a few inches near the muzzle. Now how long is the barrel? Is the barrel length the length of the rifling and chamber plus or minus a tolerance for the breech face, or is it the same length it was prior to the drill operation? Will a new registration card need to be issued? And has that person criminally reduced the length of the barrel by an action similar to cutting? Should we measure barrel length from the inside of the barrel or the outside? And does that apply to all guns, or are some innies and other outies? Hands up all of you who might be willing to donate your tax dollars to find legally binding answers for these vexing problems that face our society. Or maybe regulating our muzzle extensions or lack thereof was a silly idea in the first place.
In most regions, hunters are the only natural predators of wild boar.
See also: Def[on and The Goons of Defcon want your spare CPU time
But wait - weren't we assured that the Firearms Act doesn't allow police to search homes without warrant? Actually, that denial was made possible through some verbal gymnastics - the 'search' is called an 'inspection' - until it becomes a 'search and seizure'. Deceptive eh? Anyways, the bill summary indicates that the purpose is to "remove the power in subsection 117.04(2) to enter to search and seize without a warrant in cases where no offence has been committed or is suspected to have been committed." The bill also contains provisions to provide restitution to innocent persons.
Kid's threat busts dad --Toronto Sun (expired link, 10 Mar)
But has dad applied for a license or not? The cheesy popup window that used to grace the Canadian Firearms Center website mentioned something about missing information.... and last year's 'grace period' announcement claimed that there was a grace period until June 30, 2001. What gives? Has the Canadian Firearms Center processed their backlog and located all missing information?
Due to their age, the pupils cannot be identified nor charged with any criminal offence under Canada's liberal laws. Storage regulations were in existence for years before the Firearms Act. The difference is that this sort of thing didn't happen before.
Remember EDS, the handsomely
compensated Firearms Act computer guys? It's OK if you don't 'cuz EDS apparently forgets their Firearms Act support
activities too. Just crank up your browser and boldly
try a search for 'firearm' at the EDS homepage... 0 hits. This is likely
unrelated, but EDS's partner IBM is now warning of a
'hacker tool' which apparently allows secure systems to be penetrated. See
also: Password
cracker shafts IBM e-commerce --The Register and Organized
hackers target secure sites --FBI I'm reminded of a quote from Andrew Dice
Clay... nah... too easy.
Veridian
describes RealGuy by saying "Its operators are immersed in a totally virtual
world in which they can learn how to operate systems or evaluate new ones, and
to deploy new tactics and procedures safely and economically." LAN party
anyone?
Fascinating information for Soviet small arms collectors. See also: Roll your own with GFM
...and even antigun lobbyists surely must wonder whether California's
harsh firearm regulations might have dissuaded the people who had advance
information about the attack from coming forward. The principle here is that if
a witness thinks that his buddy's family is going to be expensively tied up in
court for years and have their firearms confiscated when he reports what is
merely a minor infraction or a nagging suspicion, then that report may not reach
the authorities in a timely manner. There are probably thousands of such fears
and suspicions that are wrong for every one that turns out to be well founded or
correct. Sensible and minimalist firearm laws based upon reasonable punishments
and the presumption of innocence will encourage full and open reporting of
suspected firearm violations and will maximize the arrests of any real criminals
who might be plotting armed crimes.
...but
suspect still gained access to campus building prior to being apprehended
--CBC
Executive summary: Cops counselling Canadians to commit criminal
offences... 'oversight' not there anymore... error rates so high that outputs
are sheer garbage... tax dollars flowing like a river albeit with less sense of
direction... massive job losses take place, survivors asked to triple output...
FRAS funding cut 40%, out of money (hilariously funny to me personally for
reasons which will become clear when certain documents are unveiled)... silly
FaRT disk features 40% error rate... unverified garbage data goes in as fact...
verifier heads don't miss the ax either... $32 million+/annum FIP covert
database with entries on 3.5 million Canadians could be renamed FPI for 'Fifty
Percent Inaccurate'... 'firearm' committee proposes redefinition of 'firearm'
six years after the Liberals rammed through the 'firearms' act... Senior firearm
bureaucrat experiences different reality... etc. Grab a coffee, pull up a
comfortable chair and savor every sip of this one.
It's worth the price of admission just for the auction alone. Highest
dollar value item at the auction will likely be a pair of New Zealand safaris
that should venture into the five figure range. More affordable items on the
block range from bows to books while other hunting packages cover the spectrum
from boar to bear.
I'm the first ever webmaster for the Winnipeg Game and Fish Association.
For the first 119 years of the club's existence, web searches revealed little
about our club. One hour later, people around the globe could view our aims,
make our acquaintance and find the dates of the next meeting. Notable faces in
attendance at our last meeting included Ross Spagrud of Prarie Gun Works fame
and Manitoba Wildlife Federation GHA 38 Director Jim Lockhart.
See also: Canadian Firearms
Center n0-code l4mer FAQ (down for the count since at least February) and VPC.org sn1ped
--Salon via geekswithguns.com and Broccoli 0,
MGs 1 --Salon and Online
antigunners an enfilade target --Salon and C-68-like reverse
onus of proof, etc, spark concerns about new Brit terrorism/hacking bill
--Amnesty International AI doesn't mention squat about the Firearms Act on
their website despite 320,000 (government figures based on suddenly slashed
official estimates) or 3.5 million (MP Garry Breitkreuz's
seldom-if-ever-off-by-even-a-hair figures) Canadian firearm owners who became
instant criminals at the opening moment of January 1 2001. Our prisoners of
conscience face up to ten years in jail under Criminal Code section 92 for the
'crime' of not purchasing a license as and when dictated by a government which
won the votes of only 1 in 4 Canadians in last year's federal election.
See also: Haute couture for the
cyberpunk set --Ladies Weapons, Italy Nothing sets off those silver and
saran wrap dresses like a raygun. Cowboy clubbing? Not without some fancy
leather and a matching pair of $2 SAA cap guns. Of course, you'll need some jewelry to go
with the hardware... --bulletjewelry.com To fairly cover a different
perspective, here's a letter
from a girl who doesn't view guns as fashion accessories --Sunday Times
(ZA)
See also: The
only thing lower than a gun-banning liberal government is the value of its
currency --BBC
With our draconian firearm laws coupled with Canada's lax definition of
life in prison and liberal parole system, the criminal might be out of prison in
just 15 years had his evil crimes been committed in Canada.
See also: Out
own BATF --The Report
The
Star is reporting that the man has been tasered into submission and taken into
custody. Other reports indicate that the 'toy gun' might have been a large
caliber vacuum cleaner.
Globe and Mail poll: Moral education - or more gun control? --Globe and
Mail
Wups, the poll is down already. You can find the results at the
"Previous Polls" link on the Globe and Mail's homepage. As of 9:24AM CST on the
7th, the archives misleadingly lists the 'Date' of the poll as 'Mar 2-7' instead
of 'only a fraction of the morning of the 7th.' Poll or no poll, it was already
illegal for the Santana killer to have that firearm. It was and remains illegal
to shoot people at random in either Canada or the US - but in fact it's less
illegal in Canada, or at least the punishment is far less. Our lax punishment
for murder is mentioned in a
February 2001 commentary in the Blue Line police magazine. According to the
article, "Take a gun to a crime in Canada and their (sic) is no
deterrent. Kill a cop and you get religion and 15 years of free room and
board." A killer may spend four or five times longer in prison if his
or her crimes were committed in the USA instead of in Canada. If we want to make
a law more stringent, we might look to our own murder laws instead of US firearm
regulations. But there is an even more disturbing question about the Santana
high school killings: Did California's harsh firearm regulations actually
contribute to this by making witnesses reluctant to step forward and unleash gun
cops on the soon-to-be-killer's family? California currently has the most
restrictive firearm regulations in the USA. If the punishment is more severe
than the crime - a situation often seen with firearm regulations - few citizens
will participate in enforcing the law. If firearm regulations are reasonable and
not confiscatory or criminal in nature then there will be greater will among the
public to assist in the enforcement of those regulations. Fair and just
regulations, well enforced, are the only effective way to regulate
firearms.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If the folks in charge of
the Firearms Act ever fix the rest of the weak links in their philosophy they
will doubtless find themselves repeatedly faced with this puzzling but quite
fundamental problem: who's really who in their database. See also: Identitytheft.org
The poll is apparently in response to the latest US school shooting. The
killer broke existing firearm regulations by having the gun in the first place.
Then he apparently bent a few 'murder control' laws. The fact of the matter is
that random killings are already illegal and the alleged killer is currently
facing several charges that will likely amount to a de facto life
sentence.
Email contact info: office@dcra.ca If you can't quite make out the
letters in the DCRA's link, you're not alone. The pages in the link above seem
to be in JPG format, a graphic format which plays havoc with text. An HTML or
PDF page would be more readable... wired volunteers can contact the above email
address. See also: Online PDF creation
free trial offer --Adobe
Let's face facts: this type of thing, though it is tragic and grabs
headlines, is very rare. It is an atypical use of firearms, an atypical crime
both in the context of crime in general and in the specific context of murder or
of firearm misuse. But if people at the scene had known how the killer's firearm
functioned, it is possible that some of the victims may not have been injured. A
revolver takes a relatively long time to load - at least several seconds even
for an experienced expert, and possibly almost a minute. During those seconds it
is possible to disarm this type of killer - an empty gun is just a club. It's
the responsibility of every shooter to stop such incidents before the killer can
reload. No group is hurt more by these incidents than responsible firearm
owners.
It wasn't covered much by the major media, but Dale Earnhardt was a
shooter. See also: Remington joins
Earnhardt family --daleearnhardt.net and Remington® Racing and the
Earnhardts Reach the Winners Circle --Remington There are even some commemorative
rifles for Dale and
Dale Jr. Shooters and racers everywhere should respect the family's wishes and
oppose public release of the autopsy photos.
The Firearms Act and others like it: already making a
difference.
Those not familiar with Hungarian may wish to use the convenient
Hungarian-English phrase book cum online translator at InterTran.
What's really going down - our crime rate, or our willingness to seek
help from police?
Their real firearm 'prohibition' doesn't seem to be working out - there
are an estimated three million firearms in criminal hands, or 2.4 million more
than the total estimated number of replica firearms. Thus, the average criminal
would presumably need to shop four times as hard to find a replica instead of a
real firearm in today's UK. Incidentally, these anti-firearm laws are turning
out as predicted: Britain, Australia and Canada took the top 3 spots in a recent
study of violent crime and overall criminal victimization in 17
countries.
Movie Review: The Mexican
In a nutshell: ***1/2. Imagine a movie about a collectable gun, targeted
not at the average gun collector but at your girlfriend instead. Take her,
she'll like it. You might like the gun parts, or the action parts, but she'll
probably enjoy the movie more than you will. A good movie to see when you can't
agree on what movie to see.
See also: Firearm
restrictions spark black market, 'absolute war' --Sydney Morning
Herald
Question: "Out of curiosity, do you yourself own a gun,
or does someone in your home own a gun? Answer: "Currently,
neither I nor anyone in my home owns a firearm." --'CEO' of
Canadian Firearms Center, not quite answering the question. As she is no doubt
aware, not all guns are considered 'firearms' under the Firearms Act. Thus, she
might have hundreds of rare antique revolvers strewn about unlocked in her attic
and still answer that question the same way.
Not to worry people: The Canadian Firearms Center protects your data as
well as Air Force
Space Command protects its sensitive source code. Well OK not really.
"Protected" isn't exactly "Top Secret".
If you know of a case where someone has been charged with a
firearm-related offence, collect as many details as you can and contact the NFA. Regardless of the individual circumtances of
a particular case, the NFA's advice and knowledge can forge better court
precedents for us all.
Meanwhile, apparently there
isn't anyone left at the Canadian Firearms Center who can read and write HTML
--CFC FAQ page? Maybe they should change that to FUQ - Frequenly Un-answered
Questions.
You really must give him credit for trying, but my money is with Mr Lott
on this one. Dumping relevant data from the dataset is unlikely to yield a more
representative sample. Imagining a mechanism whereby hot chocolate might reduce
crime is a far cry from imagining that criminals might be averse to a little
random ventilation.
