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TEAM CSSA E-NEWS – Sept 20, 2013

CANADIAN SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION / CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION

TEAM CSSA E-NEWS – Sept 20, 2013
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COMMENTARY: CSSA LAWSUIT AGAINST ONTARIO CFO — WILL IT GO ROUND IN CIRCLES?

The Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) lawsuit against Ontario’s Chief Firearms Office (CFO) continues to grind it’s way through the court system.

Trouble is, the unreasonable transport regulations imposed on responsible owners of restricted and prohibited firearms hang in the balance. Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action (CILA) and CSSA spokesperson was in Ontario Provincial court with firearms lawyer Ed Burlew on September 18. It was the CSSA’s third court appearance to try to determine whether the case should be heard by a provincial or federal judge. No one seems to know – and there’s the rub.

Once again, the court deferred the decision on where to refer this case due to its unique nature and lack of precedent. Since the CFO is federally appointed but provincially supported, the office falls betwixt and between legal classification. Before we can decide the CFO’s plight, the courts must allocate the lawsuit to the proper jurisdiction.

After spending more than $20,000 playing legal ping-pong to see who – if anyone – is actually responsible for the actions of a CFO, firearms transport regulations remain elusive. No one is sufficiently naive to expect the legal systems in Canada to be efficient, but should it cost so much time and money to accomplish such basic interpretation?

Upon reflection, we have learned something. Our legal ping-pong tournament does prove that Ontario Chief Firearms Officer Chris Wyatt is accountable to no one, which helps to explain his self-confidence in creating laws that suit his fancy. The federal and provincial governments should have predicted this impasse that has left CFOs with virtually unfettered power. The longer they have to create new rules that rein in already law-abiding sport shooters, the more they galvanize their own positions of influence. The silly new rules are being enforced while governments at all levels sit on their hands, which in turn, encourages the CFO to run rampant. As a result, Canada’s CFOs have created self-fulfilling fiefdoms that restrict freedom, even as they drink deeply from the public trough.

Despite the frustration of being turned away repeatedly at the courtroom door, the CSSA continues to keep its eye on the puck. We refuse to go away as the CFO’s new arbitrary Authorization to Transport regulations trample on the existing rights of sport shooters’ conferred under the Criminal Code. The Ontario CFO took it upon himself to demand that sport shooters are now only permitted transport to shooting clubs where the permit holder is a “member in good standing.” Wyatt’s law-making-on-the-fly limits sport shooters to visiting only shooting ranges where they have a written invitation. Oh, and if a police officer wants to see that invitation, you best cough it up, or else.

There was never a concrete reason to bind sport shooters’ hands with this red tape, other than to give CFOs something to do. It appears that when the civil service creates a need for itself, the governments will follow. The CFO happily permitted Ontario shooters to transport listed firearms under “Authorization to Transport” regulations for decades. Shooters were free to move between their home and any approved shooting range in the province in accordance with the federal Firearms Act. Now, not so much, which is why the CSSA is pushing back.

Unfortunately, we are playing against a bureaucracy that protects itself with deep pockets stuffed with taxpayers’ money. For this reason, the CSSA once again asks sport shooters, hunters and freedom-lovers to donate to this cause, lest we lose more ground to the anti-firearms forces. It is an investment in yourself – if the CSSA wins, all sport shooters and gun clubs win. If you don’t live in Ontario and think this doesn’t apply to you, rest assured your own CFOs are watching closely and will act accordingly as soon as the gavel hits the desk.

If we lose, it could be a bureaucratic power grab that is impossible to stop. The CFOs are dipping their collective toe in the water and we need to bring in the piranha. The CSSA has a very strong case and it must be heard. We need your voices and your wallets now more than ever. Join the CSSA – make a donation.

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STARBUCKS GOES ANTI-GUN? Legal firearms owners are respectful of the law, but Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told them to leave their guns at home. Brian Lilley explains the power of the anti-gun lobby here: http://bit.ly/17PId20

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HELP SUPPORT THE GREAT WORK THE CSSA DOES TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS. DONATE HERE

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COMING EVENTS

ONTARIO CONSERVATIVE FUNDRAISER: Join Kevin Gaudet & friends for a day on the range!
Saturday September 28, 2013 — 1 – 5 p.m. at Uxbridge Shooting Sports — 5700 Concession #4, Uxbridge, Ontario.

This memorable event is being hosted at one of Ontario’s premier clubs for the safe enjoyment of skeet/clay target sports. Attendance will be limited. Day will include full instruction and supervision from club members and one hour on the range. All participants must wear sunglasses and a baseball cap for safety reasons. Use of firearms, ammunition and ear protection will be provided. A Firearm Possession & Acquisition License (PAL) is only required for those wanting to bring their own long guns. Experienced shooters can use sporting clays fields with club supervision.

Reserve a spot for $250 — contact Peter Seemann at 905-716-3000 or email [email protected]

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ORONO SHOW CANCELLED: The September 22 Orono Gun Show has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Other upcoming shows can be seen at www.ontariogunshows.com

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RECENTLY IN THE NEWS

SPORT SHOOTERS RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY: The Alliston & District Sportsmen’s Club in Ontario hosted its 4th Annual Fundraising Shooting Match on September 14-15 for the Foundation’s ‘It Takes You…Capital Campaign’.

The campaign’s goal – set at $2.76 million when it was launched on January 25, 2013 – is close to becoming a reality, thanks to events like the one hosted by the Sportsmen. SMHF is already three-quarters to reaching its goal which will help to purchase new equipment and supplies for the Alliston-based hospital, including operating room equipment, laparoscopic equipment and equipment for the men’s urology program.

The Sportsmen’s Club has always supported local not-for-profits. The Fundraising Shooting Match, started by Club member Allman Vieira, is an IPSC sanctioned match and has raised almost $8,000 in the four years since its inception. Some $3,000 was raised this year alone, with almost 80 shooters registering for the event. The match also attracted high-ranking and Canadian Master Shooters, such as Glenda Jover, Bon Ramat and Andrew Argosino, who travelled to the Beeton area to take part.

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POLITICIAN SHOWS HIS COWBOY SWAGGER: Tory MP Pierre Lemieux is a mild-mannered politician in the House of Commons on regular work days, but some weekends he is transformed into a gunslinging lawman of the Wild West. Lemieux recently joined fellow chap-wearing dudes in the sport of ‘cowboy action shooting,’ coolly emptying the barrels of his Ruger six-shooter into a target. He calls himself “The Lawman.”

“Cowboy shooting has a theme, so although it’s competitive shooting it’s more than competitive shooting,” Lemieux said in an interview. “I enjoy the shooting aspect of it.”

For four years, Lemieux has competed in the sport, in which competitors dress as gunslingers, take on cowboy aliases and shoot Wild West-era guns at targets. Competitors are cast in cowboy-themed scenarios, and are scored on speed and accuracy. “It is a lot of fun, and it’s very satisfying,” says
Lemieux. “You get that nice ringing confirmation that you’ve hit the target.” Lemieux says his real-life occupation was an inspiration for his cowboy pseudonym. “Aliases are never easy, but because I’m a legislator I thought ‘The Lawman’ was quite apropos,” he said.

His cowboy arsenal includes two Ruger six shooters, a lever-action rifle and a shotgun, all models used by the real lawmen and desperadoes of the Wild West. The Eastern Ontario Handgun Club, where cowboy action shooting events take place, has an outdoor range located in Lemieux’s riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, which lies just west of the capital. “There are several people who go to the range who are in my riding,” he says. “It’s a good place to be.” Lemieux considers the sport a great way to escape. “It absorbs you and requires your concentration and so you focus on the day and what you’re doing there. Anything else that was on your mind when you arrived disappears.”

“The Stranger,” a fellow cowboy action shooter who asked to be identified only by his cowboy alias, says competitors come from many backgrounds. “Doctors, lawyers, dentists – it really is just everybody,” he says. “They live on your street, they could be anywhere. This is what they like to do: they like to dress up and come out with us and shoot old time guns in an old time atmosphere.” (The Canadian Press — September 16, 2013)

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IF IAN THOMSON DOESN’T QUALIFY TO CARRY, WHO DOES? A Port Colborne, Ont., man is seeking a rarely issued permit to carry a handgun at all times, saying that police cannot protect him. Ian Thomson’s home was firebombed by four men in August 2010 and last week the ringleader of the firebombing, Randy Weaver, was released from prison.

“I cannot rely on police for any kind of protection,” Thomson told Sun News’ Byline program Monday. Thomson, a former firearms instructor, was prosecuted after the firebombing for firing warning shots at his assailants. He was acquitted last January shortly after Weaver was sentenced to prison. Thomson has also received threats from a neighbour who is seen on surveillance tape threatening to shoot him in the leg before yelling, “Come here. I’ll blow your f—ing brain out.”

Despite this, Thomson said he won’t be getting special treatment from police. “I was in contact with them last week when I found out that he (Weaver) was released and I was told that I will receive the same level of protection as other citizens in the city of Welland,” Thomson said. “And that doesn’t make me feel comfortable.”

Defence attorney and firearms law expert, Ed Burlew, who defended Thomson in court, said that these permits should be easier to obtain. “When you are faced with a person who is a known assailant and are faced with a present threat you have to have the ability to defend yourself,” Burlew said.

In order to be granted the permit, Thomson must first convince Ontario chief firearms officer Chris Wyatt that he deserves to submit an application.

“They guard those applications,” Burlew told QMI Agency. If Thomson is granted an application he then needs his local police force to agree, essentially admitting that they cannot protect one of their citizens.

“I have asked them and I was told that I’m not going to get one,” Thomson said of his conversations with the Niagara police. Queries submitted to Niagara police and Ontario’s chief firearms office were not answered. (Toronto Sun — September 20, 2013)

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ONLY IN THE U.S. YOU SAY? PITY: Adam Head and his brother Victor, two guntoting plumbers from Pueblo, Colo., were sitting around Victor’s living room with a few friends last March pondering their next move. The two brothers had spent weeks campaigning against a proposed state law that would ban gun magazines larger than 15 rounds and would impose universal background checks on all private purchases at gun shows. But to no avail. The Colorado legislature had just voted to pass these restrictions into law and the Head brothers were on the warpath.

While many Americans would consider Colorado’s new gun laws too tame, many people in Pueblo County disagree. They view the laws as an attack on their second amendment rights to keep and bear arms. Their arguments aren’t knew. In fact, they are typical of gun owners across the U.S. “The Second Amendment is the only one that secures the rest of them, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press,” Victor, 29, said. “Without the second, those don’t mean s— because they could take them away from you at any given time unless you can protect them with the second.” “The main reason we don’t like the bill is that it doesn’t solve anything,” Adam, 28, added. “All it does is hinder us law-abiding citizens.”

Rebuffed by the state legislature, they started planning a course of action that ultimately would fire a blast across the American political landscape so powerful that when a gunman killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday barely a word was uttered about gun control. In contrast to the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., school killings, even the nation’s biggest gun control champion, U.S. President Barack Obama, fell silent.

The battle started on Victor’s couch. “My brother was sitting on the couch and said, ‘Well, this is what we’re going to do next. Let’s try to run a recall against the senator,’ Adam said in an interview. No doubt about it, the Head family loves guns – every kind and every calibre. Married with no children, Adam has so many that when asked for the total number, he says: “Couldn’t even begin to tell yah. Lost count a long time ago. If I can count ’em it means I don’t have enough.” Victor, 29, says he carries a small Ruger .38 in his pocket at all times. His brother, his sister, his mom and his girlfriend also are always armed. “Sometimes if I go to Denver or someplace where I feel I might be in a slightly more high-risk scenario I might carry two or even three guns,” he said. “It kind of depends on my feelings.”

With a $4,000 loan from their 89-year-old grandmother, the two brothers launched the Pueblo Freedom and Rights Committee dedicated to remove from office their local state Democratic representative Sen. Angela Giron plus other senators in their area. Their petition quickly garnered enough signatures to hold recall votes in two districts. The battle quickly attracted national attention. The Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is bankrolled by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, contributed $350,000 to the senators’ campaigns. “Bloomberg had his filthy little hands in this very early on,” Adam said. “We got the governor’s phone records and saw that he was being called up by Bloomberg.” The National Rifle Association also got involved, spending about $360,000 on media advertising that supported the recalls. “We didn’t make a phone call and say, ‘Hey we need money from you guys,'” Adam said. “NRA never actually gave us any money to run this. “We ran this on well under $100,000.”

Last week the Head brothers declared victory as voters kicked out Giron by a sizable 25 per cent majority. For the Head brothers, the battle’s not over. They said their next challenge is to persuade the state Senate to repeal the new gun laws. (The Vancouver Sun — September 19, 2013)

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THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

The CSSA is the voice of the sport shooter and firearms enthusiast in Canada. Our national membership supports and promotes Canada’s firearms heritage, traditional target shooting competition, modern action shooting sports, hunting, and archery. We support and sponsor competitions and youth programs that promote these Canadian heritage activities.

To join or donate to the CSSA, visit: http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/membership.html
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CANADIAN SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION / CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION
116 Galaxy Blvd, Etobicoke ON M9W 4Y6
Phone 416-679-9959, Fax: 416-679-9910
Toll Free: 1-888-873-4339
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website www.cdnshootingsports.org

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