Stephen Harper would rather follow the advice of Rednecks over Police Chiefs
Robert Peffers
Blair shows off weapons cache
By ROB LAMBERTI, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 29th October 2009, 3:55am
Toronto Chief Bill Blair fired a shot across the bow of a federal
government wanting to scrap the national gun registry by showing off a
cache of 58 unregistered firearms seized as a result of the system
yesterday.
"Public safety is not supposed to be a partisan issue," Blair said
standing behind an array of firepower he said could start a street
war. "Public safety is not a political issue. Public safety is
everybody's issue."
The firearms were discovered Tuesday by officers reviewing registry
files under Project Safe City, said Supt. Greg Getty, of the organized
crime unit.
The cache was foundstored in a two-bedroom apartment in an undisclosed
part of Toronto, which police described as an area that has seen
firearm-related violence on the streets.
DIDN'T RENEW
Gun and Gang task force Const. Nadine Teeft said records showed an
unnamed man had at one time legally owned 25 firearms under the now
defunct Restricted Weapons Registration System.
The man didn't renew the registrations with the new long-gun registry
when they came due in 2002.
When police arrived to check on the weapons, they instead found 58,
including a machinegun, a sub-machinegun, 17 handguns, 35 rifles, four
shotguns, 36 high-capacity magazines, more than 6,000 rounds of
ammunition and 4.5 kilos of gunpowder, Teeft said.
The man surrendered the firearms to police.
How he got the firearms without proper documentation is being
investigated but no charges have been filed.
Blair, who chairs the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said
the government's drive to scrap the registry would be disastrous.
CHALLENGED MP
"It was the existence of a previous database that provided our
investigators with information" where the guns would be, Blair said.
"They not only found the ones that had been previously registered in
1998 and not registered since," but even more police didn't know
about, he said.
Blair challenged claims made by Manitoba Conservative MP Candice
Hoeppner, who said the CACP doesn't speak for all the chiefs of
police.
She tabled a bill to scrap the registry that is now in second reading
with an open vote to be held Nov. 4.
"The opposition's main argument in maintaining the long-gun registry
has been that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and
the Canadian Police Association (CPA) support it," said Hoeppner in a
release.
"I have spoken with many chiefs of police and front-line officers who
disagree with their associations and unequivocally support my bill to
end the long-gun registry."
But Blair countered, "We believe the firearm registry is an important
tool in helping us keep communities safe," he said.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/10/29/11562036-sun.html