GUEST COMMENTARY — FIP: A POLICE DATABASE CANADIANS CAN’T ACCESS OR CORRECT (By Dennis R. Young | September 26, 2015)
F.I.P. stands for the Firearms Interest Police. If you have never heard of this before, it shouldn’t come as any surprise. On November 3, 1999, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, released a Library of Parliament research paper showing the F.I.P. databank allowed police to label someone as a risk to public safety without presenting any proof whatsoever and without notifying the individual.
Breitkreuz’s news release stated: “The RCMP have turned the justice system upside down. The Charter is supposed to guarantee every individual’s right to be assumed innocent until proven guilty but this data bank is loaded with people who have done absolutely nothing wrong. Even when someone finds out the police have a F.I.P file on them, they can’t get the RCMP to remove the damaging information. The RCMP are allowing police forces all across Canada to put unsubstantiated personal information into individual F.I.P. files. The Research Branch of the Library of Parliament discovered that some police forces may even put witnesses or victims of crimes into the RCMP’s F.I.P files.” Breitkreuz wrote the Privacy Commissioner of Canada calling the F.I.P. databank “a travesty and an inexcusable invasion of privacy.”
What is really surprising is that fifteen years later nothing has changed!
I sent a Personal Information Request form to the RCMP in April of 2015 requesting: “any record with my name recorded in the Firearms Interest Police (FIP) database.” On May 21, 2015, I received a reply from the RCMP ATIP branch stating: “Unfortunately, the RCMP does not have an [sic] FIP database, therefore we were unable to locate records which respond to your request.”
This was an odd response because the FIP database is listed in the RCMP – PERSONAL INFORMATION BANKS – Operational Case Records and states: All linkages for the purpose of administration or enforcement of the law and in the detection, prevention or suppression of crime are in compliance with the provisions of the Privacy Act. [emphasis added]
On May 25, 2015, I e-mailed the RCMP ATIP Officer handling my file asking: “…if the FIP flags are incorrect … how does the person who has been the subject of an FIP flag ever know they’ve been flagged and given the opportunity to correct any mistakes loaded on CPIC.” The RCMP ATIP Officer responded: “I agree with you on this Dennis. Erroneous flags can be very harmful to law abiding people. To my knowledge, there is no avenue to correct them which should be addressed at some level.”
In the Privacy Commissioner’s 2001 Report on Review of the Personal Information Handling Practices of the Canadian Firearms Program – Department of Justice Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police the Commissioner made several recommendations regarding the FIP database including this one: Mechanisms should be in place to ensure that individuals have easy access to FIP records and the ability to correct or at least place a notation to file relating to disputed FIP entries.
How can the FIP database be “in compliance with the Privacy Act” when the Privacy Commissioner and the Auditor General have both issued reports saying it is not?
The Auditor General’s Report of December 2002 made a number of observations and recommendations regarding the RCMP’s FIP database including:
11.30 In November 1998 and March 2000, the Senior Executive Committee of the RCMP was informed that officers responsible for the RCMP’s contributions to the Firearms Interest Police database had serious concerns about the accuracy and completeness of the information. We reviewed RCMP files and made other inquiries to confirm the significance of these concerns.
11.31 An April 2001 RCMP review of data quality stated that:
- persons are known to be in the database who should not be, and thus could be denied firearms licences or have their eligibility reviewed; and
- some persons who should be in the database are not and these individuals could be issued licences and subsequently use firearms to commit a violent offence.
The review concluded that a tragic incident could arise as a consequence of the poor data quality and that the RCMP therefore faces serious legal risks.
11.32 In 2002, the RCMP further indicated that the quality of the data was still questionable.
Conclusion and Recommendation
11.33 The RCMP’s concerns about the data are based on the limited reviews it has conducted. If what these RCMP reviews show is representative of the risks that the database presents, then remedial action must be taken immediately. However, to be effective, such action must be based on an urgent systematic identification of the problems in the database and potential solutions.
In response, the RCMP even promised the Auditor General (and Parliament and all Canadians) that they would fix the problem: The RCMP has implemented a number of remedial measures to address data quality issues. These include a record disclosure and verification process, system-level error detection and reporting mechanisms, enhanced system user awareness regarding data quality issues, development of additional data quality reviewer expertise, progress and compliance monitoring, and an increased level of accountability on the part of contributors to RCMP systems for their data quality.
As the RCMP’s response to my Personal Information request above proves, they did not fix it then and still haven’t!
In a follow-up letter from the Privacy Commissioner to MP Garry Breitkreuz dated January 17, 2003, these four main points were made:
(1) Many of the systemic problems noted by the Auditor General with FIP record inaccuracies were previously outlined in my “Firearms Report” of August 2001. At that time, I had noted problems of individuals being improperly flagged in FIP, while other individuals who should have been flagged were not.
(2) Successive Ministers of Justice have declared that they were responsible for all aspects of the Firearms Program, but have failed to effectively resolve the serious problem of inaccurate FIP records.
(3) To date, the department has not implemented my recommendations, nor has it provided any of the progress reports I have requested.
(4) The Auditor General’s report has underlined the vital importance of introducing controls immediately to ensure the accuracy of all FIP records. It serves to underscore the critical importance of implementing the recommendations I made some 18 months ago regarding the issue of data integrity.
On March 7, 2015, I wrote the Privacy Commissioner : I respectfully request an update from your office on any progress that has been made over the last ten years with respect to implementing the recommendations made by your office; thereby, correcting the errors in and improving access to the FIP Data Bank, especially those who have done nothing wrong and have been entered in the database by mistake.
On March 26, 2015, the Director General for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner responded: A search of this file was undertaken over the past week, as well, employees who had knowledge of this file were also consulted. The records that we had on this issue were disposed of as per our record keeping practice and the employees consulted were not aware of any progress made with respect to this recommendation.
On July 5, 2015, I filed a formal complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada requesting:
(1) Find out if my name, Dennis Young, has ever been flagged in the Firearms Interest Police (FIP) database by any police force in Canada and provide me with a copy of any such flags so that I may have an opportunity to determine if they relate to me and correct them if necessary; and
(2) follow-up on the recommendations made by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in 2001 and 2003 and recommendations made my the Auditor General of Canada in 2002 so that every person who is the subject of a FIP flag by any police force in Canada is sent a copy of the flag and thereby given the opportunity to correct or respond to the flag if necessary.
To date the Privacy Commissioner’s Office has spent all its time trying to get me to withdraw my formal complaint. Yesterday, I sent them an e-mail explaining why I cannot do that without a written response from the Privacy Commissioner addressing both issues above that I raised in my complaint.
Why is the privacy of law-abiding Canadians still at risk fifteen years after it was first identified as a problem by MP Garry Breitkreuz and the Library of Parliament researchers and confirmed by both the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Auditor General of Canada?
Dennis Young retired to Airdrie, Alberta in 2007 after working for 13 years on Parliament Hill for Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville. Dennis is a member of the Calgary RCMP Veterans Association and an Honourary Life Member of both the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and the National Firearms Association. For his 20-year crusade for the rights of firearms owners, Dennis received the NFA’s David A. Tomlinson Memorial Award for 2014 and the CSSA’s John Holdstock Memorial Award for 2014. Dennis’ recent research is now available on his own website: http://dennisryoung.ca/
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WE’RE LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN!
Do you want to tell your children and your grandchildren that you were “on the front line” protecting their rights?
Team CSSA is working to re-energize and re-focus our corps of volunteer Regional Directors. Would you like to be part of our exciting new RD Program and help represent Canada’s greatest firearms organization across the nation?
It will require some definite, but modest, time commitments. Time well spent with friendly firearm owners representing the Canadian Shooting Sports Association. If you’re interested, please send an email to Christine Scott at christine.scott@cssa-cila.org.
Thank you!
Team CSSA
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A DURHAM REGION GATHERING OF GUNNIES: Conservative Party of Canada candidate and (Veterans Affairs Minister) Erin O’Toole, invites you to the Oshawa Skeet and Gun Club on Tuesday, October 6th at 7 p.m. to join him for an informal campaign event with CSSA’s Executive Director, Tony Bernardo, and former MP and Minister of Natural Resources, Jerry Ouellette.
Erin would like the chance to hear from Durham’s sport shooters and hunters about challenges facing gun owners, and to discuss the concrete actions the Conservative Party has taken to assert and protect the rights of gun owners across Canada.
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Place: Oshawa Skeet and Gun Club, 5245 Wilson Road North, Port Perry, ON.
Who: All sport shooters, hunters and Durham residents concerned about gun ownership in Canada.
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BARBECUE | POWASSAN, ONTARIO | ROCK CUT GUN CLUB | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015 – The club is located between the communities of Trout Creek and Powassan, ON, adjacent to the east side of Highway #11. The barbecue takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Special guests, Minister Candice Bergen and MP Jay Aspin, will be attending. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, please contact Mark Johnson at 705-478-9990.
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“Allan Rock said he came to Ottawa with the belief that only the police and military should have firearms. I believe that firearms ownership is a right, but a right that comes with responsibilities.” – The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety
HELP SUPPORT THE GREAT WORK THE CSSA DOES TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS. DONATE HERE
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CSSA DOUBLE TAP! YOU CAN WIN!
You can win this incredible combo, a Tikka T3 Camo rifle in your choice of available calibres AND a Scorpion Optics Venom Hi Grade 4-16×44 AE SF with rings, donated to the CSSA by the good folks at Scorpion Optics.
For the serious shooter wanting a super-accurate, camo rifle with a non-reflective stainless steel barrel and the camo patterned fibreglass-reinforced copolymer stock (Realtree Hardwoods® HDTM) and a superb optical sight on top, this combination can’t be beat!
All you have to do is make a $10 donation to the CSSA, and we will give you a free chance to win this great gun/scope hunting rig. Better yet, we will give you THREE chances with a $20 donation, TEN for $50 and a $100 donation can get you TWENTY CHANCES and a free one-year membership to the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.
This beautiful hunting combo will find a new home November 1, 2015.
Please send your payment to:
Double Tap c/o CSSA, 116 Galaxy Boulevard, Etobicoke ON M9W 4Y6
or call 1-888-873-4339.
Donate online at www.cssa-cila.org
Please note: the winner must have a valid Canadian firearms license.
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DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE ON THE VOTERS’ LIST FOR THE 2015 FEDERAL ELECTION?
Ask yourself what a Liberal or NDP government (or coalition government!!) would mean for firearm freedoms in Canada. With a three-way race shaping up, we need more than ever to get out and vote – and to make that vote count.
Don’t end up at a polling station without being registered or with out-of-date information attached to your name. If you aren’t registered or need to update your information, it is really easy to do so on the Elections Canada website. Here’s the link to check your status: http://www.elections.ca/home.aspx
DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN VOTE EARLY?
As this vote is so critical to the survival of firearm ownership in Canada, we strongly encourage you to cast your ballot as soon as possible. You can vote at any Elections Canada office across the country.
Offices are open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring proof of your identity and address to vote – a driver’s licence, for example, or any other government identification that includes your photo, name and current address. You can find the nearest Elections Canada office at: http://www.elections.ca/scripts/vis/FindED?L=e&PAGEID=20.
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DOCUMENTARY – “UP IN ARMS” – THE FOR AND AGAINST OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP IN CANADA (By Marc Montgomery | english@rcinet.ca | Tuesday 22 September, 2015)
Canada has strict firearms laws, but whenever there is a shooting, from gang violence, or a person gone mad, the issue of further restrictions comes up, bolstered by a strong anti-gun lobby.
A new documentary film explores the legal and illegal sides of gun ownership or possession. Nadine Pequeneza, of HitPlay Productions in Toronto is the producer and director of the film called, Up In Arms: How the Gun Lobby is Changing Canada.
Firearms ownership is a contentious issue in Canada.
Due to the occasional firearms crime, deadly or not, in Canada, and the many often tragic incidents from the US all of which are widely reported in the media, many Canadians mistakenly believe gun crime is on the rise in Canada. This has meant a large number of urban Canadians to believe the gun laws in Canada are not strict enough, while many gun owners say further restrictions on legal gun owners only hurts them and does absolutely nothing with respect to illegal firearms and crime and is a misdirected and ineffective solution to crime.
Indeed, Statistics Canada figures show gun crime has been on a slow and steady decline for years.
Canada has had strict laws since 1934 when all pistols had to be registered with police. The laws for any firearms ownership have been tightened further in the decades since. Assault firearms, (with full automatic capability) are banned outright and have been since the 1970’s.
Some “assault-looking” guns are also banned, along with a number of other types of guns including for example .25 and .32 calibre pistols, and any pistol with a short barrel (105mm or less) or any a rifle or shotgun that has been altered to make it less than 660 mm (26 inches) in overall length and a rifle or shotgun that has been altered to make the barrel length less than 457 mm (18 inches) where the overall firearm length is 660 mm (26 inches) or more.
The laws were further tightened as a result of a mass shooting in 1989 in Montreal which left the shooter and 14 female university students dead.
While all persons who wish to legally own guns must themselves be registered-following payment for a classroom course, police background checks and more- a new law required all “long guns” to also be registered, as well as including other legal aspects of search and seizure.
This long-gun registry was astronomically expensive, at an estimated cost of $2 billion or more, and many legal owners pointed out it contributed absolutely nothing to increase security, while creating the possibility of otherwise law-abiding citizens to face federal criminal charges and penalties.
This was recently repealed and the anti-firearms lobby said it was a step towards “Americanization” of Canadian gun laws.
A majority of Canadians remain generally misinformed about Canadian laws, due to the influence of American news stories about the relative ease of obtaining firearms there, and the types of firearms one can purchase.
There is also an enormous difference between legal gun ownership and the illegal possession and acquisition of firearms, usually pistols, occasionally involved in crimes, and sometimes deadly crimes.
The new film looks at the two sides in the issue, the wide gulf that separates them and the different opinions within the groups themselves.
The film will be broadcast in Ontario on the TVO network on September 24, and repeated afterward. Watch it here!
It will be available within Canada on the TVO website later this week. The film may at some future date be also distributed in other countries, but there is nothing firm at this point.
See the story: http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2015/09/22/documentary-up-in-arms-the-for-and-against-of-firearms-ownership-in-canada/
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HOW CAN GUN OWNERS PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM UNFAIR CHARGES? WITH FIREARM LEGAL DEFENCE INSURANCE.
The maximum benefit payable is $100,000 per occurrence or up to $500,000 for multiple occurrences in the same policy year. For details see www.firearmlegaldefence.com. The price is just $95 per year and CSSA members are eligible for a $10 discount – click on “Buy Now” and enter the following exclusive club code to access your savings: CSSA001. You are not required to disclose any information about firearms in your possession.
Firearm Legal Defence insurance covers:
- Defence from prosecution should you be charged with an offence arising out of the use, storage, display, transportation or handling of a firearm;
- cases where a firearm is used in self defence, the defence of a person under your protection or the defence of your property;
- appealing an event where a licensing, regulatory or judicial authority refuses to renew, suspends, revokes, cancels or alters the terms of your firearms license. Note that this provision does not apply to new license applications.
It will pay for:
- The cost of retaining a lawyer or other appointed representative, including court fees, experts’ fees, police reports and medical reports;
- costs awarded by the court to opponents in civil cases if the insured person has been ordered to pay them, or pays them with the agreement of the insurance company;
- lost salary or wages for the time the insured is off work to attend court or any other hearing at the request of the appointed representative, up to a maximum of $500 per day, and $10,000 in total.
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STEPHEN HARPER TARGETS HUNTERS WITH NEW ENVIRONMENTAL ELECTION PROMISE – THE TORIES WOULD ALSO MODERNIZE MIGRATORY BIRD REGULATIONS TO ALLOW FAMILY HUNTING PERMITS AND PERMIT USE OF CROSSBOWS IN HUNTING CANADA-WIDE. (By Elizabeth McSheffrey | National Observer | September 17th 2015)
The Conservative Party has announced a targeted series of new measures to protect Canada’s environment by promoting hunting, angling, and snowmobiling tourism and supporting the country’s gun owners. Seeking to build on his “historic” conservation record, Prime Minister Harper promised voters that if re-elected, he would invest $9 million over three years to Destination Canada, which would bring more American recreational hunters, anglers and snowmobilers to the north. “These initiatives will help to protect Canada’s natural environment and support economic development and new jobs across the country,” he said in an early September statement from Whitehorse. “By partnering with angling, hunting, and conservation groups, we can ensure that our conservation efforts are good for the environment and good for local economies.”
In addition to the financial investment, Harper committed to creating a Wildlife Conservation and Enhancement Program that would improve habitats for common game animals. The initiative would launch in 2017 on a $5-million annual budget and restore wetlands for ducks and migratory birds, control burns to sustain moose, and implement a timber rotation for wild turkey. “If you love the outdoors, you protect it – for your children and grandchildren,” said Manitoba’s Candice Bergen, Conservative candidate for Portage-Lisgar, in a supporting email. “Conservatives have always known that hunters, anglers and sports shooters are some of the strongest conservation advocates around.”
Targeting hunters
In fact, most of the party’s new conservation measures target gun owners and hunters specifically – if brought back for a fourth term in power, the Tories would also modernize migratory bird regulations to allow family hunting permits and permit use of crossbows in hunting Canada-wide. Crossbows are currently illegal in Newfoundland and the Yukon, where Harper made the original announcement.
He further promised to ensure adequate firearms training throughout the country and uphold his opposition to the Liberal long-gun registry, which he abolished in 2012 for imposing “unnecessary burdens on firearms owners.” “Any attempt to bring back the long-gun registry, as Mr. Mulcair advocates, would cost billions of dollars and be no more effective than the previous Liberal plan,” said the prime minister. “Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair would almost certainly return Canada to the confrontational policies of the past, which were not only costly and ineffective but were disrespectful of rural Canadians.”
The entire plan would build upon his 2014 National Conservation Plan, he added, which included $252 million in spending over a five-year period to conserve Canada’s lands and waters, restore ecosystems, and connect Canadians to their environment.
So far, other environmental commitments of the Conservative Party platform include extended partnership with the Pacific Salmon Foundation by investing $15 million to conserve key B.C. estuaries and preserve the lower Harrison River’s salmon ecosystem, a May 2015 pledge to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and an agreement with other G7 nations to eliminate use of fossil fuels by the end of the century. The Tories are also the only party of the Liberals, NDP, and Greens to approve the Enbridge Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline, and support both the proposed TransCanada Energy East project, and TransCanada Keystone XL oilsands pipeline.
See the story: http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/09/17/news/stephen-harper-targets-hunters-new-environmental-election-promise
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CANADA IN THE ROUGH – RUT WHITETAILS
This week on Canada in the Rough, Kevin is in his home province of Ontario pursuing mature whitetails. This hunt takes place in late November and early December when the whitetail rut has subsided. Kevin hunts long and hard and after a few encounters and some heartbreak, he is finally rewarded for his efforts.
See the teaser: http://www.canadaintherough.com/post-rut-whitetails/
Canada in the Rough can be found on OLN, WILD TV, and CHEX. For a full schedule, visit: http://www.canadaintherough.com/schedules/
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LOOKING FOR UPCOMING GUN SHOWS AND MATCHES? Visit our website at:
https://cssa-cila.org/upcoming-events-matches/
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STOP HATING HUNTERS (National Post View | September 21, 2015)
First there was fury over the killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist; an outrage so visceral he was forced to temporarily abandon his practice. Then there was rage at the discovery of a five-year-old video showing an Alberta boy, then nine, shooting a bear on a hunt to mark his birthday.
And now, there is Anaheim Ducks defenceman Clayton Stoner, who faces charges under the Wildlife Act in connection with killing of a Grizzly bear on B.C.’s central coast in 2013. The hockey player, who is from B.C. originally, has been charged with hunting without a license and hunting out of season, among other infractions. His scheduled court date is Oct. 9. Cue the pitchfork- and torch-wielding mob.
In each case, the controversial hunts were for trophies, not game. And in each case, the outrage was fed by photos. There is something about such images — perhaps their inherent blithe hubris — that offends. In an era of increasingly scarce natural habitat, the natural instinct is to wish for wild animals to be protected, and deplore their killing in the pursuit of vanity.
But what are the implications, then, for the future of sport hunting, or angling for that matter?
The connection is not as tenuous as it sounds. Hunting for game — from rabbits, partridge and squirrels to deer and moose — is a hugely popular pastime in Canada. On any given weekend in the fall, drive 90 minutes north of Toronto and you will find primarily men, but also many women, engaged in the fall deer hunt.
Hunting and angling, obeying all game laws and guidelines and with the proper licensing, are pastimes worthy of respect and protection.
Do they require wild meat for sustenance? Not at all. Factoring in the cost of safety training, licensing, gear, a rifle or bow, as well as the time involved, and the cost of any venison taken in a hunt far exceeds that of store-bought beef, even at today’s sky-high prices. In other words, the point of hunting, even when the principal objective is game, is the experience. Moreover, rare is the deer hunter who brings down a buck with a fine rack of antlers and does not have them mounted. Every rod & gun club in the country is decorated with such keepsakes.
Now, extend the logic: does anyone imagine the Chinook salmon or rainbow trout enjoys the experience of being hooked, hauled into a boat and gaffed? We have an easier time with killing fish than we do animals, it seems, because they don’t look much like us. Unlike the case with seals, no one has ever peered into the eyes of a pickerel and seen himself or herself reflected in those inky pools. Nevertheless, what’s good for the goose must be good for the gander; can it be long before all wildlife falls beneath the protective umbrella cast by modern fashion and the anti-hunting lobby?
Hunting and angling, obeying all game laws and guidelines and with the proper licensing, are pastimes worthy of respect and protection. Not only are these traditional means of earning a living for Canadian aboriginal peoples, and still central to life in the far north; not only do they provide an important source of tourism for many communities across Canada; but they remain part of the fabric of Canadian life.
In rural and small-town Canada, many fathers and sons, and increasingly mothers and daughters, hunt and fish as naturally as they would spend time at the rink on Saturday morning, or go apple-picking of a Sunday afternoon. Canada is not, last time we checked, a nation in which the majority are vegetarians. Therefore let the new moral authoritarians take note: there is a very great difference between poachers and despoilers who take nature for granted, and law-abiding sportsmen who don’t.
See the story: http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/national-post-view-stop-hating-hunters
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RYAN LEEF SAYS LARRY BAGNELL CAN’T BE TRUSTED ON LONG-GUN REGISTRY (By CBC News | September 22, 2015)
Yukon conservative candidate Ryan Leef hammered the message during the 2011 election campaign, and he’s doing it again this time around: telling Yukoners that Liberal Larry Bagnell can’t be trusted when it comes to the long-gun registry.
“Larry said once that he would vote to get rid of it, and he lied,” Leef said. “Now he’s saying that he wouldn’t bring it back or the Liberal party wouldn’t bring it back. It’s not credible.”
Bagnell has been an outspoken critic of the long-gun registry, which was first introduced by the Liberal government in 1993. But in 2010, as MP for Yukon, Bagnell voted with his party to keep the registry in place.
“Some people were understandably upset about that and I certainly realize that,” Bagnell said.
He says his decision then was guided by party discipline. Bagnell did not want to be ousted from the Liberal party caucus.
“If you’re not in caucus, you can’t really help your constituents on a whole bunch of other files. So it was that trade off.”
That trade off may have kept Bagnell in the Liberal caucus, but it also likely cost him some votes in the 2011 federal election. In 2012, the Conservative government fulfilled its campaign promise to scrap the registry.
Bagnell says despite what Leef asserts, his party would not bring it back. “A categorical ‘no’,” he said. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has also recently stated that he would not bring back a long-gun registry.
Leef’s campaign advertising suggests otherwise, telling Yukoners that Leef is the only local candidate who will oppose a reinstated registry.
“If Larry Bagnell comes back, a long-gun registry comes back,” a Leef flyer reads.
Yukon NDP candidate Melissa Atkinson says her party also opposes a long-gun registry. The Green Party platform says it supports a reformed registry.
See the story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-election-candidates-long-gun-registry-1.3239396
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FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN PARTS OF DC’S GUN REGISTRATION LAWS (By Matt Vespa | Townhall.com | September 18, 2015)
Today gun owners in the District of Columbia won a partial victory over the city’s stringent gun registration laws. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit noted that the city has the right to establish a gun registry, but tossed some provisions, specifically re-registration requirements (via the Hill):
In a 2-1 decision Friday, a three-member panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the city’s requirements that force gun owners to register long guns, get fingerprinted, photographed and appear in person when registering a gun, pay a registration fee and complete a firearms safety and training course.
The court then struck down four requirements that force gun owners to bring the gun they’re registering with them, re-register a firearm every three years and pass a test on D.C. gun laws. The court also did away with a rule that prohibits gun owners from registering more than one pistol within a 30-day period.
“We agree with Heller that the District has not offered substantial evidence from which one could draw a reasonable conclusion that the challenged requirements will protect police officers; but we think the District has pointed to substantial evidence that some of the requirements — but not others — will promote public safety,” Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in the opinion of the court.
Dick Heller, who is responsible for the 2008 landmark D.C. v. Heller decision, which struck down D.C.’s handgun ban, and stated that a citizen has a right to own a handgun regardless if they’re part of a “well-regulated militia,” brought this current case before the court.
Before the Heller case was decided, prior to 2008, the only handguns allowed in Washington D.C. were those that were registered prior to 1975. It also was limited in that this applied to federal territory. In 2010, McDonald v. Chicago, another landmark case, expanded Heller’s decision into the states, saying that Second Amendment rights are to be respected under the due process clause.
While not a total victory, it’s progress. Who thought D.C. would have an ordinance that establishes some form of carry law 20 years ago? It’s take years, but D.C.’s laws that banned carrying firearms outside of one’s home was declared unconstitutional. The city council’s new law establishing carry right, which included a justifiable need clause for obtaining a permit, was also ruled unconstitutional. The city is now in legal limbo on how to move forward. Now, there’s’ a slight chip in the registration laws. This is a good start. In every part of the country, there is some law honoring the carrying of firearms in public. That’s a good thing.
See the story: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/09/18/federal-court-strikes-down-parts-of-dcs-gun-registration-laws-n2053906
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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 competitions, modern action shooting sports, hunting, and archery. We support and sponsor youth programs and competitions that promote these Canadian heritage activities.
To join or donate to the CSSA, visit: http://www.cssa-cila.org
Subscribe /Unsubscribe to the CSSA-CILA E-NEWS on our website.
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CANADIAN SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION | CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION
116 Galaxy Boulevard, Etobicoke ON M9W 4Y6
Phone: 416-679-9959 | Fax: 416-679-9910
Toll Free: 1-888-873-4339
E-Mail: info@cssa-cila.org
Website: CSSA The Canadian Shooting Sports Assoc.
