Any guesses as to why this didn't make the news in the Lower 48?

[Byker]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nova+scotia+mass+shooting

I guess all the U.S. media outlets were consumed with Kung Flu hysteria...

[a425couple]

On 1/28/2021 11:56 AM, Byker wrote:
> https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nova+scotia+mass+shooting
>
> I guess all the U.S. media outlets were consumed with Kung Flu hysteria...
>

Did you see this update?

https://bangordailynews.com/2021/01/27/news/aroostook/canadas-worst-ever-mass-shooting-was-committed-with-guns-from-maine/

Gunman in Canada’s worst mass shooting smuggled in weapons at Maine
border crossing
Alexander MacDougall
by Alexander MacDougall
January 27, 2021

A memorial pays tribute to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Heidi
Stevenson, a mother of two and a 23-year veteran of the force, along the
highway in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.
Credit: Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press via AP

HOULTON, Maine — Gabriel Wortman crossed the border from Woodstock, New
Brunswick, into Houlton, Maine, on April 25, 2019. Several days later,
he returned into Canada, having managed to smuggle a semi-automatic Colt
AR-15-style gun with him. A year later, he would use it and other guns
to commit the worst mass-shooting in Canadian history.

The 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, which started in the small town of
Portapique, Nova Scotia, before moving to several other towns in the
province, ended in the deaths of 23 people, including 51-year-old Wortman.

The gunman impersonated a police officer during his killing spree. He
drove a vehicle made to resemble a Royal Canadian Mounted Police car
through towns picking off his victims before being killed by RCMP
officers at an Irving Big Stop in Enfield, 50 miles south of Portapique.


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While Wortman used a variety of guns to commit the mass shooting,
including some obtained illegally in Canada, three of the guns used,
including the AR-15-style gun, were acquired by Wortman while visiting
Maine. Recently unsealed court documents from Nova Scotia show how
Wortman had strong ties to Houlton, and made frequent trips to the area
prior to the closure of the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The
relative ease with which Wortman acquired the weapons and smuggled them
into Canada shows a stark contrast between gun laws in the U.S. and
Canada, as well as the differences in border security between the two
nations.

Wortman had obtained the AR-15-style gun from a gun show during a
seven-day stay in the United States in April 2019, according to the
court documents, which were partially redacted due to ongoing
investigations by the RCMP. While the documents do not explicitly say at
which show he acquired it, the dates match up the gun show held at the
John Millar Civic Center in Houlton by the Houlton Rifle and Gun Club,
which took place April 27-28, 2019.

A report from the RCMP investigation shows that Wortman and his
common-law spouse, Lisa Banfield, entered Houlton from the Woodstock
border crossing. On April 27, the first day of the gun show, Wortman
re-entered Canada, only to return to Houlton approximately 13 minutes
later. On May 2, 2019, Wortman then returned to Canada.

READ MORE

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The Associated Press
by The Associated Press
April 24, 2020
Banfield told the RCMP that Wortman possessed a Nexus card, which allows
pre-screened travelers who are considered low risk quicker entry when
crossing the border between the United States and Canada. Banfield also
said that Wortman once complained to Canadian customs about having to be
searched. He received an apology and was not bothered after that, she
said, according to court documents. It’s not clear when Wortman was
issued the Nexus card.

Nexus card holders are subject to background checks by law enforcement
agencies of both countries as part of the application process, and can
be denied if either country finds grounds for disqualification, such as
prior conviction of criminal offenses or outstanding warrants.

“It’s certainly an expedited process for sure, but I would argue it’s
not less scrutiny because a Nexus card holder has undergone a thorough
background check,” said Michael McCarthy, a spokesperson for U.S.
Customs and Border Protection. “They’ve submitted fingerprints [and]
biometric information to the U.S. government so they can undergo
recurrent, continuous vetting against criminal history records.”


Gun shows are often criticized by gun control advocates, who say the
shows provide opportunity for people to acquire guns without a
background check. Paul Harrison, the gun club’s secretary-treasurer,
said that contrary to popular belief, anyone who purchased a gun at the
2019 gun show would have been required to have an FBI background check.

“You hear about the ‘gun show loophole’, but that’s a misnomer. There is
no gun show loophole,” Harrison said. “Every gun that I know of at the
gun show that is purchased from a dealer has to do the FBI background
check, just like they would if they were at their store.”

But witness accounts from the court documents indicated that the
purchase of the gun was done as a private sale, and there was no
paperwork involved in the transaction. The gun was purchased by a third
party, and later given to Wortman.


The witness, whose name is redacted, described the sale of the gun as
“quick and dirty.”

Harrison said that it could be possible to purchase a gun in this manner
at the gun show.

“The only loophole might be if you went to this show with a gun that you
wanted to sell, and you met your buddy at the gun show and he said ‘I’ll
buy it from you’,” he said. “That could happen maybe.”

Two other pistols, a Glock 23 and Ruger P89, that Wortman used in the
shooting also appear to have been acquired in Houlton. Wortman acquired
the Ruger from a Houlton man at whose house he did odd jobs, according
to FBI interviews included in the court documents. The Glock appears to
have been taken from another man’s house in Houlton, who told the FBI
the gun was missing, but later said that Wortman had taken the gun two
to three years ago.

Canada, in contrast to its American neighbor, has much stricter laws
regarding gun ownership. The Nova Scotia attacks led to even further
restrictions, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enacting bans
of more than 1,500 military-style assault-style weapons, such as the
Colt carbine Wortman acquired in Houlton. The move also fulfilled a
campaign promise by Trudeau’s Liberal Party to ban such weapons.

With the United States having some of the most relaxed gun laws in the
world, smuggling of weapons from the United States across both Mexican
and Canadian borders remains a problem for border security officials.
The documents also show that the AR-15 wasn’t Wortman’s first foray into
smuggling guns across the border — one witness said he had been
smuggling drugs and guns across the border for years. He also smuggled
items such as alcohol and cigarettes across the border in order to pay
for his university education.

Ronald Vitiello, who served as acting chief of the U.S. Border Patrol
under President Barack Obama and chief under President Donald Trump
until 2018, said that agencies on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border
often work in close coordination on issues such as cross-border
smuggling of weapons. Agencies such as the FBI and the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also have offices in Canada to
assist with issues of smuggled goods from the United States.

“I think there’s a good understanding in Canada from the law enforcement
community that we have a Second Amendment, and there’s only so much
authorities can do as it relates to regulation,” Vitiello said. “But
clearly the border is a place for maximum collaboration, because both
countries exercise direct authority over what comes across the border.”

While the pandemic has effectively halted the majority of border
crossings, minimizing concerns regarding smuggling, Vitiello said the
lack of face-to-face interaction between agencies could prove to be a
challenge in international collaboration between U.S. and Canadian
authorities.

“The established trust and the established relationships are going to
have to outlast this,” Vitiello said of the pandemic. “We all hope
eventually things will get back to normal and they can collaborate and
do what’s required to secure the border and keep communities on both
sides safe.”

[Byker]

"a425couple" wrote in message news:ruvd5...@news3.newsguy.com...

>
> Did you see this update?
>
> https://bangordailynews.com/2021/01/27/news/aroostook/canadas-worst-ever-mass-shooting-was-committed-with-guns-from-maine/

How would I have? It's being treated as a LOCAL story, not surprisingly
because Bangor and the crime scene aren't far apart.

It's been nine months and the RCMP has only NOW figured out where Gabriel
Wortman got his guns from?

I'm getting the feeling that coverage/publicity about this event is being
deliberately toned-down because the more you read into it, the more you
realize just how badly the Mounties fucked this one up from the get-go:

https://globalnews.ca/news/7076958/nova-scotia-shooting-victim-families-class-action-lawsuit-rcmp/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/class-action-lawsuit-amended-nova-scotia-shooting-1.5709767

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nova-scotia-families-propose-lawsuit-against-rcmp-for-failing-to/

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/provincial/rcmp-left-mass-shooting-victims-body-in-vehicle-as-it-was-towed-amended-class-action-lawsuit-claims-492804/