HOW
CAN THIS BE? THE GOVERNMENT
HAS BEEN REGISTERING HANDGUNS FOR 70 YEARS!!! NOTE: Versions of this Canadian Press article also appeared in the following papers: Regina Leader Post, Windsor Star, Cape Breton Post, London Free Press, Charlottetown Guardian, Chronicle Herald, Belleville Intelligencer, Halifax Daily News, Kitchener Waterloo Record, Montreal Gazette PUBLICATION: The Hamilton
Spectator -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Police worry about proliferation of illegal handguns in T.O. area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A barrage of gunfire in recent days in and around Canada's most populous city has police and crime experts worried about the proliferation of illegal handguns north of the border, many of them coming from the United States. Toronto residents have been left shaken by seven shootings in three days, including Tuesday's brazen daylight killing of Mauricio Castro, 31, in a crowded parking lot outside Square One mall in Mississauga. Gunplay might have become a relatively commonplace occurrence in Toronto, but that doesn't mean residents have grown indifferent to the dangers, said Toronto police Detective-Sergeant Gary Keys of the guns and gangs task force. "I don't think we've got to the point where we're like some American cities that have become complacent to it. Especially the way it happened the last few days, people are still alarmed by it or concerned by it, which they should be." A cache of weapons seized in a raid on a north Toronto high-rise apartment Sunday included a Mac-10 automatic pistol, which can fire up to 30 rounds in five seconds, as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition and three sets of body armour. A 15-year-old girl was among those charged with numerous drugs and weapons charges. The spate of gun violence demonstrates a need for stricter sentences to those committing gun-related crimes, offered Toronto police Chief Bill Blair. "One of the things we've always been frustrated about is the relatively low sentences that gunmen receive, and then when they are sentenced, that they aren't serving a significant portion of that sentence." People who are caught trying to smuggle guns past border crossings across Canada are also getting off easy, said Wendy Cukier, a justice studies professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, and president of the Coalition for Gun Control. In Nova Scotia last year, a Massachusetts man was caught bringing a gun into Canada, but was given an absolute discharge on all four federal and provincial firearms charges. While guns purchased in Canada that are later stolen from their owners comprise a major source for the illegal trade, the coalition says smuggled guns account for more than half the handguns recovered by police that are used to commit crimes in Canada. "Pointing to the obvious problem of U.S. guns coming into Canada has sort of been the invisible elephant that nobody's been prepared to address," Cukier said. Keys said guns purchased stateside for $200 US can easily earn $500 Cdn in Toronto, while newer and higher-quality handguns can fetch upwards of $2,000 Cdn. Exactly how many guns enter Canada and the various ways they are smuggled in is almost impossible to trace, said Montreal journalist and author Julian Sher, who is writing a second book on the Hells Angels in Canada. He said organizations like the biker gang have always been linked to gun- smuggling throughout North America and Europe. "Almost every single time the police do a raid on a Hells Angels clubhouse, which we just saw last week in British Columbia, they find illegal guns," Sher explained yesterday. On a recent fact-finding trip accompanying native smugglers on the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve, which straddles the Ontario, Quebec, and U.S. borders, Sher said his hosts boasted about "the huge amount of guns" they had brought into Canada. Despite improved border checks and more vigilant guards, it's virtually impossible to prevent individuals from buying a few handguns in the U.S. and slipping them across the border for sale, Sher said. "If you can bring in a VCR in the back of your car without declaring it, it's not going to be too hard to smuggle in a few handguns." It's difficult to increase the number of vehicles entering Canada that are inspected without hindering vital trade and commerce, said Monte Kwinter, Ontario's minister of community safety and correctional services. Recent legislation requiring hospitals to report all gunshot wounds to police has also proven a boon to police efforts to crack down on illegal guns. Despite the latest shootings, gun-related deaths have been on the decline in Canada, Statistics Canada reported in June. ----------------------------------------------------------- RCMP SAY THEY HAVE
NO INFORMATION ON WHY 70-YEARS OF REGISTERING HANDGUNS HASN’T WORKED
OR ON TWO OTHER SOURCES OF CRIME GUNS GUN REGISTRY NOT EFFECTIVE
AT TELLING POLICE WHERE THE GUNS ARE FIREARM FOLLIES #2:
LIBERAL REPORT FABRICATES FIREARM PROGRAM BENEFITS SEVENTEEN FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GUN REGISTRY http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/Article508.htm |