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From: "Dennis R. Young"
Subject: TORONTO SUN: Way off-target by Brian Lilley
TORONTO SUN - JANUARY 20, 2012
Way off-target
BY BRIAN LILLEY, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/19/way-off-target
The Mounties aren't too happy with me after my last column. It seems the
men and women in red serge don't like it being pointed out that they have
the ability to seize private property with no government oversight. Last
week I wrote about the RCMP's reclassification of a .22-calibre
semi-automatic rifle as a prohibited firearm because it looks like another
rifle that is already banned. The Armi Jager AP 80 doesn't fire like the
AK-47 it resembles, isn't nearly as powerful and has no interchangeable
parts. Still, after being legal in Canada for decades, the Mounties
reclassified it as prohibited and sent letters to owners found through the
gun registry, telling them to turn the rifles over to the cops or face
prosecution. Oh, and for handing your rifle over to this government agency
on demand, you would receive exactly nothing.
The seizure of private property by the government with no compensation -
when did that become a Canadian value? As I said, the Mounties are upset
I've spilled the beans on their neat little weapons seizure program. "This
is simply not correct," wrote Pierre Perron, assistant commissioner,
director general, Canadian Firearms Program. "All firearms in Canada are
classified pursuant to the criteria outlined in subsection 84 (1) of the
Criminal Code and associated Regulations made by the Governor in Council.
In all cases of classification, we are simply enforcing the law." That's
all very nice, but the law allows the RCMP and the Canadian Firearms
Centre to reclassify firearms and ban them. That's what happened here.
Rifles lawfully purchased in the 1980s and registered with the gun
registry in 2000 were declared banned years later and ordered surrendered.
Again, Perron disputes the way I put things. "The Armi Jager AP 80 rifle
is a prohibited firearm and always has been," Perron wrote. Well, he'd be
completely right were he not completely wrong. Only in the rarified
bureaucratic world that is Ottawa would Perron's view of things have any
credence. The AP 80 was never named or listed as a prohibited firearm and
hundreds of owners followed the law and registered their rifles. If the AP
80 had always been banned, then the gun registry folks would not have
accepted the registrations. But the Mounties point out that another rifle,
similar to the AP 80, is banned and the two rifles are similar.
This is disturbing for several reasons, including the fact the AP 80 is
being banned for what are essentially cosmetic reasons. It would be like
banning a Pontiac Fiero because it looks like a Ferrari even though it
drives like a badly made Pontiac. The other problem is the RCMP is
changing the rules on which firearms are allowed and which are banned
without oversight from government.
Even after the gun registry is abolished, the power of paper-pushing
bureaucrats in Ottawa to ban a certain previously legal rifle will remain.
The Harper government knows this is the case and they are hoping no one
will notice. There is no problem with having competent police officials
involved in advising governments on what they should ban, but allowing
police to set the rules and then enforce them is just plain wrong. So
while the Harper government crows about scrapping the gun registry, the
RCMP, which they control, will continue to seize private property without
compensation all because something looks scary to a paper pusher in
Ottawa.
- --------------------------
TORONTO SUN - JANUARY 13, 2012
Bureaucrats gunning for rifle owners
It's time for the Harper government to wake up and fix this mess
BY BRIAN LILLEY, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/12/bureaucrats-gunning-for-rifle-ow...
BC WILDLIFE FEDERATION'S LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER
"Gun owners will still be treated as criminals"
http://www.bcwf.net/images/stories/Committee/Firearms/Harper-licensin...
CANADA'S NATIONAL FIREARMS ASSOCIATION MEDIA RELEASE
CONSERVATIVE PARTY GUN REGISTRY AD MISLEADING
"Gun owners who fail to keep their papers in order are still treated as
criminals."
http://www.nfa.ca/news/conservative-party-gun-registry-ad-misleading
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