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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS DATE: 2005.12.17 PAGE: A14 SECTION: Editorial Leaders WORD COUNT: 457 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial - Gun violence -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laval police Const. Valerie Gignac knew Francois Pepin -- a volatile man widely known for his temper due to a string of conflicts with co-workers and the law, including convictions for criminal harassment and an order that prevented him from possessing firearms. Const. Gignac was shot dead Wednesday after knocking on Mr. Pepin's door in response to a noise complaint. Mr. Pepin faces a first-degree murder charge now and the officer's colleagues are wondering about the law's ability to deal with dangerous offenders. They have reason to doubt. Const. Gignac had arrested Mr. Pepin earlier this fall because he was stalking a colleague of hers, an offence to which he pleaded guilty upon re-arrest last Monday for violating conditions set when he initially was released. Mr. Pepin was not supposed to have guns, but a high-powered rifle was seized at the scene. Oddly, under a 10-year firearms ban, he could use a gun during hunting season. Anyone who really wants a gun can find one, but the case for many Canadians will echo the tragic slaying of four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alta. last year. The killer was a local man also notoriously violent and intimidating, who also had repeated run-ins with the law. In both cases, the law seemed incapable of protecting society from violent people. Judges and prosecutors can only do what they are permitted within the Criminal Code. There are plenty of laws to battle crime and criminals, but there also are guidelines and rules for sentencing those convicted that limit the role of denunciation in sentencing: In 1996, Parliament passed a law permitting judges to impose conditional sentences upon first offenders, who pose no threat to the community, because the jails were filling up and there was little proof jail rehabilitated offenders into law-abiding citizens. In a number of cases, the need for denunciation lost out to a conditional sentence. It is easy to demand the full weight of the law be imposed when a crime has taken the life of another, but judges must impose a sentence proportionate to the crime. Alberta's James Roszko intimidated his victims into silence, but Francois Pepin showed signs of mental illness and the courts had repeated chances to keep him off the street. Further, a law allowing a violent person, under a 10-year firearms ban, to use a gun serves no good purpose. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's bill to prohibit the use of conditional sentences in violent offences died when the government fell. The next government should re-introduce it, to re-emphasize the need for deterrence and it should also make a firearms prohibition a real ban. __________________________________________________________________________ NOVEMBER 24, 2004:
FIREARMS COMMISSIONER BILL BAKER ADMITS: 176,000 CONVICTED CRIMINALS PROHIBITED
FROM OWNING GUNS "NO LONGER EFFECTIVELY COVERED BY FIREARMS ACT." |