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Versions of this article also ran in the: Ottawa Citizen, Regina
Leader Post, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun,
PUBLICATION: National
Post -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadian gun owners fear more regulations: Ottawa officials tell UN conference to make small arms a priority -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNITED NATIONS - Canadian sporting-gun owners reacted with alarm yesterday as government officials from Ottawa told the opening day of a United Nations gun-control conference that more regulation over civilian possession of firearms should be a global priority. "This will lead to more controls for legitimate gun owners in Canada," said Tony Bernardo, who is attending the conference on behalf of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association, which has 12,000 members. He also raised concern about Canada's call for a new global agreement to challenge illicit brokering of small arms. "To regulate the illicit brokers, you first have to regulate the legal ones, and the way these guys do it, we're afraid it will mean lumping in a whole bunch of civilian sporting guns with the military material," he said on the conference's sidelines. Canadian opponents of Ottawa's gun-control policies say the government has long pushed for increasing international controls to justify the tightening of domestic regulations that, they argue, have been more effective at putting the squeeze on hunters and enthusiasts of other gun sports than on criminals. The week-long conference in New York aims to assess international compliance with a 2001 global "plan of action" for curbing the illegal trade in small arms and light weapons that fuel civil wars and organized crime around the world, killing thousands annually. It is the last before the program is reviewed next year. "From Canada's perspective ... serious attention should be given to the regulation of civilian possession of small arms, particularly military-style weapons," Tim Martin, head of Canada's delegation, said in his address. "Civilian possession of small arms continues to pose a considerable risk to the safety of people in regions where appropriate laws regulating civilian possession do not exist or law enforcement measures are inadequate." Government officials denied the statement signalled imminent tougher regulation in Canada, where controls include registration. "The emphasis is on 'where appropriate law does not exist,' " said one. "There would not be a whole lot of new laws because those in Canada are not inadequate." Mr. Martin told delegates a global agreement targeting illicit arms brokers would help UN Security Council efforts to limit wars through arms embargoes. "Our approach is based on keeping weapons out of the wrong hands to improve the safety and security of people in communities in Canada and globally," he said in an interview. "We do not seek to create obstacles to legitimate military, law enforcement or recreational users." [BREITKREUZ COMMENT: “BUT ALL THEY DO IS CREATE "OBSTACLES" FOR "RECREATIONAL USERS" AND AS STATISTICS CANADA PROVES EVERY YEAR, IT DOES NOTHING TO CONTROL FIREARMS DEATHS, HOMICIDES, VIOLENT CRIME OR THE CRIMINAL USE OF FIREARMS. AND, ALL THE BENEFITS OF LEGAL FIREARMS OWNERSHIP ARE IGNORED.”] Conservative firearms critic Garry Breitkreuz charged last month the Liberal government has pushed through its domestic gun-control agenda by using "nameless bureaucrats" to negotiate tough measures on the world stage, then saying Canada must comply. Bernado said just ahead of this conference that Ottawa had taken that approach a step farther to justify a new marking system for guns imported into Canada. He claimed the government had told Canadian delegates to lobby other countries to adopt the new standard, which exceeds UN requirements, and involves placing marks on a part of the gun that gun owners claim would drive up costs. While Canadian officials deny any lobbying is taking place, they acknowledge a consistent international system would be "more simple." The United States has a similar importation-marking policy, but allows engravings on any visible part of the gun. "Our position since the 2001 agreement has been to avoid anything that affects the civilian ownership of firearms, and that continues to be our position," said a U.S. government official. While UN officials have praised Canada for pushing international gun control, a leading gun control coalition will say in a report today Ottawa is far from perfect. "There are six countries that have fulfilled all of their commitments under the program of action but Canada is not among them," said Anthea Lawson, spokeswoman for the International Action Network of Small Arms. The group says Canada has not ratified a key firearms regulatory agreement and, under agreement with the United States, does not sufficiently regulate trade in military equipment between the two countries. --------------------------------------------------------- LIBERALS TRYING TO
EXPORT THEIR FIREARM FOLLIES AROUND THE WORLD LES LIBÉRAUX
TENTENT DE PROPAGER AU MONDE ENTIER LEUR FOLIE DU CONTRÔLE DES ARMES
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