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Old 01-24-2019, 01:24 PM
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Text from part 1 thanks to an astute FB NFA member;

The Gun debate in Canada: Where lies truth? Part-1

As we approach a national election, in 2019, the issue of even stricter gun control has come up, along with potential bans. even as a new gun law is being debated in Canada which puts further restrictions on legal gun owners. (Paul Chiasson- CP)

By RCI | english@rcinet.ca
Monday 3 December, 2018 , 28 Comments ↓

(public commenting open at bottom- comments will be posted after moderating)
The first of a series of responses to claims about guns in Canada

Canada is facing a federal election in October 2019. With an apparent increase in criminal use of guns, the gun control debate is set to become an election issue with the anti-firearms rhetoric ramping up.

Several statements have been made by the governing Liberal Party of Canada, and by gun-control lobby groups even as the Liberal government mulls a complete ban on handguns and possibly also on so-called “assault weapons”.

Firearms hobby and sporting advocacy groups are not often heard from in this issue.

Their responses to such public statements shows a strong difference to what appears to be those apparently unsubstantiated claims being made by various government and police officials, and gun control lobby groups.

Firing blanks from real revolvers at balloons, the growing sport of cowboy mounted shooting would likely be devastated with a handgun ban. Thousands of businesses across Canada, their, employees, and even tax revenues would also be negatively affected if such a ban was imposed (Ulli Hoeger-via CBC)

Such statements have been refuted by a limited number of mainstream investigative media, but nonetheless these statements continue to be repeated by those officials, gun-control lobby groups and also by many mainstream media outlets.
Domestically sourced crime guns

With the theory that banning private ownership of handguns will reduce, or even eliminate criminal use, several comments by proponents of such a ban have been made to support this claim.

Canadians have long believed that because of our strict gun control laws, most criminals got guns that have been smuggled in from the U.S. Some police claim that “crime” guns are now mostly being sourced in Canada. Various police and other official claims have been made that up to 50 %, even 60% of crime guns now originate in Canada. This is either through break and enter and theft from legal owners or through so-called “straw purchase”.

“It is a fact that the majority of gun-related crimes in our communities are committed with guns that are domestically-sourced” RCMP Inspector Chris McBryan, Vancouver Sun News 2016.

This statistic is from figures compiled by the Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit of the Ontario Provincial Police. (OPP). (CBC)

A “straw purchases” whereby a legally licensed individual buys a firearm and then sells it illegally on the black market to someone who is unlicensed and so not allowed to have a gun, handgun or other.

“It’s the main source of how firearms are being purchased and how they come into people’s hands on the streets nowadays,” Sgt. Eric Stewart, head of the Guns and Gangs unit for the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT).

These claims have been, and continue to be, widely reported by media and gun-control lobby groups without verification of facts.
QUESTION: How many illegal firearms “crime guns” are actually “domestically sourced” and how realistic is the so-called straw purchase issue?

First an explanation by Nicolas Johnson, editor, TheGunBlog.ca
“Crime gun”: Any firearm, airgun, antique, starter pistol, toy gun, replica, etc. that police think was owned for crime, whether unlawful possession or a violent attack;. e.g., if a pellet gun or nail gun is used to rob a bank, it’s deemed a “crime gun.” Also any firearm with serial number removed.

RESPONSE : Johnson adds, “about 31 percent of firearms seized by Toronto police each year are considered “crime guns.” Toronto police data show the percentage of so-called “crime guns” traced to Canada fell for a second straight year in 2017 to the lowest level in at least four years, contrasting with claims that outlaws are getting more of their firearms from domestic sources.

Only 20 percent of firearms, airguns, toy guns or replicas seized by the Toronto Police Service and deemed “crime guns” were traced to Canada in 2017, the least since at least 2014, according to calculations by TheGunBlog.ca based on police statistics. The earliest year available was 2014.

It is not clear what effect increased restrictions or a ban on handguns would cause for Canada’s Olympic shooting competitors. (via olympic.ca)

More than a third of the so-called “crime guns” seized by Toronto police last year weren’t firearms, and many were never used in a crime, according to an analysis of police data obtained by Dennis Young, fuelling new concern about the reliability of statistics.

The data show 469, or 65 percent, of the 726 “crime guns” seized by Toronto police in 2017 were counted among the three classes of firearms in the Firearms Act: “Non-restricted,” “Restricted” or “Prohibited.” That leaves 35 percent that weren’t firearms regulated by the Firearms Act.

Police use their best judgement when investigating and reporting on complex crimes with imperfect information. But counting non-firearms and non-crimes as “crime guns” makes the data unreliable and undermines trust in police records.

Response: Dennis R Young (retired RCMP) and Gary Mauser (professor emeritus) and others have researched gun issues extensively, often through access to information (ATIP) requests on government and police documents.

From the website Justice for Gun Owners, “Between 2007-2016, StatsCan reports that only 5% of the firearms involved in homicides were registered and used by someone other than the legal owner to commit murder – this percentage includes thefts as well as straw purchases”

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale who leads the gun-control issue and Bill C-71 with its proposed new restrictions on gun owners has tweeted, “With so many crime guns coming from legitimate domestic sources, we need effective firearm measures that prioritize public safety while ensuring fair treatment for law-abiding firearm owners.” revealed they had no information on stolen firearms whether from private citizens, retailers, museums, police, military or other”.

Presumably legitimate domestic sources means “stolen” from legal owners, or perhaps “straw purchase”.

Canada Border Services Agency shows pistols it has seized attempting to come into Canada (Denis Dossmann/CBC)

Another ATIP request from Mr Young to Public Safety Canada headed by Minister Goodale revealed they had no information on stolen firearms whether from private citizens, retailers, museums, police, military or other.”

Response : Tracey Wilson- VP Public Relations, Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights

“I attended the Summit on Gun & Gang Violence last March on invitation from the Minister. The resounding issues and complaints brought forth by law enforcement at every level was there was a lack of credible data to verify any of this debate about domestically sourced.

As far as those stolen from legal firearms owners homes – since when is the answer to a victim of crime (theft) to ban them from owning it in the first place? Is this not victim blaming? Have they completely given up on prevention, crime solving and investigative policing?”
Straw Purchases

“The straw purchase issue is high profile because media chooses to use it as an example of lax gun control laws without any statistical evidence, and with unsubstantiated remarks from some law enforcement officer”. B Hagen, NFA.

An ATIP request from Mr Young to Canada’s national police force, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) indicated that they could find no documents related to so-called “straw purchases” in their files .

Response: Nicolas Johnson- TheGunBlog.ca

– Canada’s biggest municipal police force, Toronto, has quoted the same four straw purchasers for more than two years. That suggests it’s not a major issue, or we’d have a couple more names.

– Is it true that a tiny handful of licensed gun owners sell guns illegally? Yes. Does this reflect a broader or systemic problem? No.

– Canada’s firearm-licensing system is highly controversial and of questionable use for public safety, but it has yielded at least one accidental benefit. We have decades of statistics showing that millions of lawful, legitimate gun owners are the closest thing Canada has to a crimeless demographic

Response: Blair Hagen: National Firearms Association– advocacy group

It is important to remember that the firearms programme and provincial Chief Firearms Officer approve and track all transfers of restricted and prohibited firearms. They can and do investigate every transfer, they can even investigate the license holder making the purchase beyond routine investigations that are in effect now.

I personally have had many cases where license holders making legitimate purchases of multiple restricted firearms have been targeted for secondary investigation, interrogation by firearms officer and even inspection because of the purchase. The fact that it happens at all is being used to justify calls for gun bans. It is the extreme minority of illicit purchase and transfers.

There are two issues not being addressed.

The demand to confiscate the property of Canadians because of the risk of theft or illicit transfer. Since when do you punish people who have broken no laws and confiscate their property, and since when are victims of crimes made responsible for those crimes?

Response : Tracey Wilson- VP Public Relations, Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights

There have been very few cases of straw purchases, and as Mr Johnson (TheGunBlog.ca) stated, they seem to re-use the same ones over and over to prove a point. Fact is – this is already illegal and I think we’ve got the CFP failing to follow up on things, likely due to the fact they are already over-burdened with bureaucracy. Wait until C-71* kicks in and watch them fall apart. (*The proposed Liberal gun control legislation)
SUMMARY

According to these sources,

about a third of “crime guns” seized by police aren’t firearms at all.
The claimed number of domestically sourced crime guns stated by the federal government, some police officers, and by gun-control lobby groups is wildly exaggerated at best
The claimed number of straw purchases stated by the federal government, some police officers, and by gun-control lobby groups is wildly exaggerated at best

for more information on this subject

CBC:Jun 14, 2018: J St-Onge: Straw purchase guns for criminals ALERT
CBC:Aug 10,2018: E Dyer: Canada Can’t say where guns coming from
CBC: Sep 3 2018: E von Scheel: Handgun ban would have no effect- Police union head
Global news radio 640: Matt Gurney (Sept 6,2018): “Toronto’s gun surge never happened”
Globe and Mail Nov 27,2017: Bulk of seized guns are domestic (B.C.)
Cheryl Gallant: Conservative Member of Parliament
CBC News in Review; Feb 2003: Gun law- Pro and Con
Statistics Canada: June 2018: firearm related violent crime
Statistics Canada: June 2018 Homicide rates 2017
CSSA website

And part 2;

The gun debate in Canada: Part 2 – ‘Assault weapons’

Several years ago Halifax police joined most other police forces across Canada acquiring semi-automatic carbines. These are the exact same firearms Canadians can buy after completing the restricted licence system mandatory course and in-depth police background checks, Civilians can only use these "restricted" versions on accredited shooting ranges. Canada’s national law enforcement magazine indicates these types of firearms are not “assault weapons”. (CBC photo)

By RCI | english@rcinet.ca
Monday 21 January, 2019 , 4 Comments ↓

(Public commenting open at bottom. Comments will posted after review)
Gun control and claims about gun misuse in Canada

Canada is facing a federal election in October 2019. With claims of an increase in criminal use of guns, the gun control debate is set to become an election issue, with rhetoric around gun ownership and use of firearms ramping up.

“We will take action to get handguns and assault weapons off our streets” – Liberal Party of Canada website

Several statements about firearms use and misuse have been made by the governing Liberal Party of Canada, and by gun-control lobby groups even as the Liberal government mulls a complete ban on handguns and possibly also on so-called “assault weapons,” which are modern semi-automatic sporting rifles.

With an election looming, Prime Minister Trudeau is studying a possible ban on handguns and certain types of long guns. Many lawful gun owners say the Liberals seem to ignore facts on the issue and they’re being targetted unfairly. (Martin Ouellet-Diotte-AFP-Getty Image)

“When a man uses a van to run down and kill people, the public and media blame the man not the van, but a punk or madman uses a gun to kill someone, they blame the gun, not the man,” anonymous Range Safety Officer, Quebec, as told to RCI in January 2019

The latter involves semi-automatic technology that has been around for more than 100 years, and in common use for about 80 years. Modern sporting rifles have adopted this widely used technology but have combined it with modern ergonomics and materials.

The latter often involves plastic components instead of wood. This plastic or synthetic material is becoming the standard for most rifles and even handguns in order to keep costs down. Modern sport rifles commonly use these materials, often black in colour which has led to them also being nicknamed as “black guns”, although they have been produced in other colours, tan, green, blue, and even pink.

Firearms hobby groups say more girls and women are getting licences to enjoy shooting sports (CCFR)

“These are guns designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. They are designed for military contexts,” Heidi Rathjen, co-founder of the Coalition for Gun Control lobby group.

Firearms hobby and sporting advocacy groups often feel they are not contacted by the media on the gun-control issue to the same extent as gun control lobbyists. The firearms hobby and advocacy group responses to public statements made by the groups seeking to ban guns, present a very different picture to the opinions and claims of the gun control advocates.

Heidi Rathgen, who heads the gun-control lobby group Polysesouviens, holds a photo of Kel-Tec RDB. “It’s not a hunting weapon. It’s not a sport pistol. It’s a weapon of war, and it is non-restricted.”
(The exclusive Canadian importer of Kel-Tec told RCI that the photo in fact shows a “restricted” version they have never imported to Canada. Sporting goods stores have responded to RCI that the Canadian non-restricted version is indeed popular among hunters as they are light and their overall length makes them easily handled when walking through bush. (Radio-Canada)

“We believe there is no good reason that a law-abiding citizen of Canada needs to own a handgun or assault rifle. These are weapons that are designed to kill people,” Alex Norris, Montreal city councillor (Global TV news Aug. 20, 2018)

The federal Liberal government, some municipal politicians and anti-firearms lobby groups have made statements similar to that of Montreal councillor Norris above.

It is interesting to note that almost all police forces in Canada have the exact same firearms that properly licensed and vetted Canadians can buy. While politicians and anti-firearms lobby groups call these firearms “assault weapons,” the police themselves do not,

The police instead label them as “patrol carbines”. To quote from Canada’s national law enforcement magazine Blue Line, “Police carbines are not military-style ‘assault rifles’ because they have no full-automatic capability.” (Blue Line, Dec. 15, 2017)

According to sports stores asked, the “bullpup” style is a popular type of hunting rifle as it’s easy to use in the bush. (A. Voth)

In light of the debate about these new and popular styles of sporting rifles, we asked several expert groups the following:
1 – What is an “assault” rifle?

Response: Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA)

The generally accepted definition of an “assault rifle” is defined by three characteristics; medium power ammunition, large capacity magazines and selective fire capability. The last term means ability to switch to full automatic from semi-automatic. (see also “Blue Line” quote earlier) Unlike the police versions, however, civilian versions cannot have high capacity magazines and are limited to five cartridges. Of the three tests (for classification as an assault rifle), modern sporting rifles do not meet two of them. All we have is an intermediate cartridge, like a groundhog rifle.

Response: Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR)

“Assault weapon” is used intentionally to instil fear into the public. This kind of messaging is easily absorbed by people who simply don’t know better. This really is through no fault of their own, I wouldn’t expect the average Canadian to be an expert on firearms regulation and terminology. But, this also proves the argument we always put out there; asking people with no topic knowledge or expertise to impact actual regulations doesn’t fly in any other file under the purview of the government except guns.

Response: Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH)

There is no definition of “assault weapon” in Canada. Unfortunately, people tend to jump to conclusions about firearms based on their appearance. Many modern sporting firearms, including some used for hunting, don’t always have a traditional look. Features such as a synthetic stock, curved magazine and a semi-automatic action are often confused with what is perceived to be an “assault weapon”. In reality the form and function could be the same as your grandfather’s wooden stock hunting rifle. You can’t classify a firearm by its appearance.

Hunter with non-restricted modern sport rifle “Trucks have changed since ‘Grandpa’s old Dodge’ Well, so have hunting rifles. This government promised us evidence-based policy making. Demand they keep that promise and stop judging firearms on appearance” (supplied CCFR-Facebook).
B – Are any actual assault rifles allowed to be sold, bought or possessed by Canadians

Response: CSSA

No, they are prohibited by law and have been since the 1970s.
2 – Certain politicians and anti-firearms lobbyists have often claimed that modern sport rifles “are only designed to kill humans” and are “no good for hunting.” Is this true?

Response: CSSA

It is total nonsense. In fact, the guns were designed for light weight, reliability and versatility of operation.

Modern sporting rifles, as typified by the AR-15, are the most common sporting firearm produced today. They are available in many models with different cartridges designed to make them ideal for many types of hunting and sporting use. Indeed, even the original cartridge was based upon a very common cartridge used extensively around the world for pest hunting. Of note, the standard AR-15 cartridge, the 5.56mm NATO (aka .223 Remington) is forbidden for use on deer in many areas of North America because the cartridge is too weak to ensure humane kills on medium size game.

The standard police Patrol Carbine is identical to a (AR-15) M4 civilian rifle. Do we give them to police so they can kill people? No, we give them to police so they can defend people. Sportspersons don’t buy them to kill people either.

The modern sporting rifle – whether black, brown, green or other colour – is popular with hunters as it is lightweight, and reliable (A Voth)
3 – Police and gun control lobbyists have occasionally said that certain of these firearms can be quickly and easily converted to full auto capability. Is this true? What does it take if so?

Response: Dennis Young, former RCMP officer who has filed many Access to Information and Privacy requests (ATIP). These include information requests to a specific RCMP claim, “CZ858 Tactical-2P firearm proofed 2007 can be converted to a fully automatic firearm in a relatively short period of time with relative ease.” Asking about questions of length of time needed to convert, equipment needed, parts required, skill level needed, and cost, he says the RCMP took 14 months to respond and the 28 pages supplied did not answer any of his questions.

“The point is the RCMP keep saying the reason they reclassify these firearms as ‘prohibited’ is because the RCMP say they are ‘easily converted to full auto’ and yet they are unable to produce ANY evidence proving their point. Also defying Justin Trudeau’s promise for ‘evidence-based gun control”.

Response: National Firearms Association (NFA)

The ease-of-conversion canard is a favourite of RCMP. In a court case the NFA asked the police to prove this claim of ease of conversion to full auto, but the police refused claiming “public safety”.

Response: CCFR

It would require expensive machinery, serious machining knowledge and it is actually already illegal. If someone did convert it to full auto, they are already breaking the law. We also did an ATIP on this, asking for data on how many cases the RCMP have of people machining their semi’s into full auto to figure out what “problem” they are trying to fix. The data doesn’t exist, they are creating a solution for a non-existent problem – a manufactured hysteria. It’s dishonest”.

Women are now joining in domestic and international firearms competitions like 3-gun (shown), skeet, pistol, cowboy shooting, etc as these are sports where they can compete on entirely equal footing with men. (A .Voth)
4B – Has a converted firearm ever been used in a violent crime?

Response: CSSA

Not that I am aware of. It is a federal offence to convert a firearm already. The vast majority of firearms are very difficult to alter unless the individual has access to a machine shop.

Response: Dennis Young

Request to the RCMP Canadian Firearms Program for any statistics on use of full automatic firearms in crime, and use of converted firearms in crime received the following response, “Our office can only answer questions pertaining to Canada’s federal firearms laws. Therefore, we cannot address your question on statistics”.

RCI contacted police forces in the major urban cities of Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver to ask if they had any incidents involving a “converted” semi-automatic. Although not used in a crime, Winnipeg has a 2017 crime listing of an “automatic” rifle being found in home under investigation, however it was later clarified to us as being a mislabelled entry. The Vancouver Police Service said they were aware that crimes have been committed with modified weapons but had no recorded data on any such incidents. Montreal responded that after checking files they had no reports of converted rifles used in a crime. Others have not yet responded a week after they were contacted.

Modern sport rifles, lighter and with better ergonomics, are attracting women to hunting,. (CCFR)
SUMMARY

1 – Terminology:

According to these sources, the term “assault weapon” is deliberately incorrect. These are modern sport rifles appreciated for their light weight, ergonomics, and reliability:

-The national law enforcement magazine, Blue Line, indeed emphasizes that the patrol carbines they use, the exact same that civilians can buy (having completed the proper licensing and vetting), are not “assault weapons”. Canadians who have completed additional mandatory course and police background checks can buy these AR style carbines but they can only be used on authorized shooting ranges. .

-Use of the term “assault weapon” by certain authorities and anti-firearms groups is felt to be a deliberate effort to both confuse the public and promote fear

2 – No good for hunting only killing people

-The claim that modern sport rifles are not good for hunting is deliberately incorrect.

-Non-restricted versions are indeed used and appreciated by hunters, with larger calibre bullets for large game, and smaller calibres for small to medium game and pest control like coyotes.

3 – Easily converted to automatic fire

-In spite of several efforts by private individuals and these groups above to find evidence of claims that modern sport rifles can be converted easily to full automatic mode, there seems to be no evidence available to that claim, or that a converted firearm has ever been used in a crime

More information
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