- National Firearms Association

CANADIAN
Firearms Journal
December
$4.50
Youth Mentors - Preserving our Firearms Heritage!
Political Activism & New Firearms Media
Wanted...Guns or Else! - CFO Under Fire!
Fully Committed On All Fronts:
Canada’s National Firearms Association
Greeting from Head Office
Happy Holidays from Head Office!
We are starting the New Year full of enthusiasm, optimism, and with
many ideas to make 2011 the best year ever for Canada’s National
Firearms Association.
Early February will mark the start of our long-awaited court
challenge over the RCMP’s right to unilaterally reclassify a modern
semi-auto sporting rifle such as the Norinco Type-97A. Check our
website www.nfa.ca for updates on the proceedings and to make a
donation! We need your help!
Although the planned Canadian Firearms Summit, previously
scheduled for this December, has been scrubbed, we have faith in
the concept and hope to host a similar event sometime in 2011.
2
We’re also in the process of planning our next AGM as well.
This year, why not plan your vacation around the Annual General
Meeting and stop by for a visit? Last year’s AGM was a great
success and we look to 2011 to be even better.
Finally, if you are hosting a gun show in 2011 and would like the
NFA to attend, or are interested in helping to man the NFA table at
your local show; please drop us a line so we can put your it on our
schedule or add you to our volunteer roster.
In closing, thanks to one and all for your past & future support; and
from everyone here at head office, please have a safe and happy
holiday!
Bev, Megan, Ted & Diane
December
www.nfa.ca
Inside
This Issue
Regulars
From the Editor’s Desk ...................................................... 4
Sean G. Penney
Members Survey .................................................................. 5
NFA Exerctive
President’s Message – . .....................................................6-7
Sheldon Clare
Vice President’s Column – . ..............................................8-9
Blair Hagen
Letters to the Editor. ..................................................... 10-11
Preserving Our Firearms Heritage – ................ 12-13
Gary K. Kangas & Branko Diklitch
Politics & Guns
The Rule of Law, The Police and the Common Man.....14-17
La Police en Politique..........................................................30-33
On The Cover
Tyler Vance
From The NFA Bookshelf –
Hawken Rifles - The Mountain Man’s Choice .................... 20
Canada’s recreational firearms community is aging. New
shooter recruitment is critical if we are to preserve our
firearms heritage. Introducing kids to the shooting sports
in a fun, safe and ethical manner is critical to both the
future of our sport and the preservation of our rights as
law-abiding gun owners. Please consider becoming a
mentor to youth in your area. Contact your local gun club,
provincial hunting org or similar group and volunteer
your time in this exceedingly important initiative.
Gary Mauser
Photo: Jeff Helsdon
Member’s Soapbox.........................................................38-39
Wm. R. Rantz
The International Front –
Public Health and Gun Control.................................. 26-27
Legal Corner.....................................................................34-35
Sean & Grayson Penney
Team NFA Update...........................................................36-37
Grayson Penney
Jon McCormick
Old Western Armoury –
The Life and Guns of John Wesley Hardin - Part 1I......40-43
Mission Statement
Jesse L. “Wolf” Hardin
The Last Word. ................................................................46-47
Grayson Penney
Canada’s National Firearms Association exists to promote,
support and protect all safe firearms activities, including the
right of self defence; firearms education for all Canadians;
freedom and justice for Canada’s firearms community, and Youth Apprenticeship: Introducing Kids to the Shooting
to advocate for legislative change to ensure the right of all Sports in the Right Way .. ..................................................18-19
Jeff Helsdon
Canadians to own and use firearms is protected.
The New Face of Firearms Media..................................22-25
Features
The contents of the Canadian Firearms Journal are copyright- Mike Dixon
ed and may be reproduced only when written permission is Shooting Like a Girl..........................................................28-29
Oleg Volk
obtained from the publisher.
www.nfa.ca December
3
From The
Editor’s Desk
As 2010 draws to a close, we cannot help
but look to the future with optimism. As we
were putting the final touches on this issue
of CFJ, we learned that the Conservatives
had won 2 of 3 federal by-elections,
including the long-time Liberal bastion of
Vaughn. Will 2011 see a metro-Toronto
breakthrough for the CPC? We can only
hope, but the recent win by Julian Fantino
and Rob Ford, as mayor of Toronto, would
indicate that even urban voters are growing
discontented with the status quo.
In keeping with the ‘future’ theme, in
this issue we look to the broader issue
of recruitment and more specifically
the place kids and female shooters will
play in this quest. New contributor Jeff
Helsdon writes about his involvement
with youth mentoring programs that
aid kids in becoming safely involved in
hunting activities and the shooting sports.
My co-editor, Grayson, touches on some
of the same material in his column the
‘Last Word,’ while past contributor, Jon
McCormick, hops up on the Members
Soapbox and offers his view on the issue
of kids, guns and zero tolerance in our
schools.
Long-time photo contributor and writer,
Oleg Volk joins us this issue with the story
of several very talented female shooters.
Hopefully, those reading these words
will look to these two amazing women
for inspiration and introduce their wives,
daughters, sisters and mothers to the
shooting sports.
Many of you, who have recently visited
our web page, will notice the distinctive ‘F’
logo off to the side. Thanks to a dedicated
volunteer, the NFA is now on Facebook
and we are working to improve both our
website and RSS feed. Check back often to
see the improvements. In this connection,
we welcome another new contributor,
Mike Dixon, to the CFJ fold, with his
article on ‘New Firearms Media’ and the
role Internet forums, podcasts and video
sharing sites has played and will continue
to play in our push to protect our rights as
law-abiding gun owners
Our regulars are back once more, with Bill
Rantz hitting the NFA Bookshelf with his
review of “Hawken Rifles.” Gary Mauser
returns with his fascinating essay on
public health and the issue of gun control;
while Gary Kangas, and new writing
partner Branko Diklitch, offer up their
own ingenious approach to ‘preserving
our firearms heritage’ by putting vintage
firearms back in action. You handloaders
out there will be sure to appreciate this one!
Perennial favourite, Jesse Hardin, returns
with Part II of his take on the life of
notorious ‘badman’ John Wesley Hardin
in this issue’s ‘Old Western Armoury,’ and
I weigh in with another edition of ‘Legal
Corner.’ Owners of S&W MP-15-22
rimfire rifles will want to check this article
out!
My co-editor, Grayson, also checks in with
TEAM NFA members and provides us
with another fascinating update as to what
this trio of talented competitors have been
up to for the past couple of months. For one
team member, the past two months have
been life-changing! You’ll have to check
out the update to find out how.
piece, and then with his regular English
language column. We’d originally planned
on running a ‘police & guns’ trilogy, but
response has been so overwhelming that
we decided to revisit another aspect of
the issue. Recent revelations concerning a
provincial CFO has certainly raised more
than a few eyebrows across the country.
Getting back to pure politics, National
President Sheldon Clare discusses his
recent trip to San Francisco to attend the
annual gun rights policy conference hosted
by the Second Amendment Foundation;
while VP Blair Hagen provides his analysis
of the terrible private member’s bill offered
by NDP MP Charlie Angus. Once again,
the ‘progressives’ totally miss the boat.
Also, to better service our members, we’ve
included a short survey in this issue to help
us better assess what services are most
important to you. Please take a few minutes
to fill out the survey and return it as soon
as possible. We will randomly draw for
three NFA ‘SWAG’ bags consisting of a
selection of NFA merchandise, including
hats, shirts, tote bag, etc… To get you
name in the draw, you need to send back
your survey!
Finally, on behalf of my co-editor and I,
along with everybody here at Canadian
Firearms Journal, I would like to extend
our best wishes to you all for a happy and
safe holiday season. Merry Christmas
everybody!
Popular and controversial commentator,
Tyler Vance returns this issue for a ‘twofer’ at the request of our Quebec directors;
first with a full French language translation
of Tyler’s previous Politics & Guns
4
June/July
December
www.nfa.ca
www.nfa.ca
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Swag NFA
bags!
WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK!
AN IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL
NFA MEMBERSHIP SURVEY REQUEST
In order to provide the best value to our membership we urgently require feedback from all of our members
to effectively represent, protect and fight for your Canadian firearms rights. We need to know what benefits
are important to you and how the NFA can best use your membership fees and donations. You can help us
by filling out this short membership survey below, and mailing it TODAY to the NFA or you, your family and
club members can also fill it out on-line NOW at www.nfa.ca
1) Your Canadian Firearms Journal (CFJ) is mailed with Canada’s Outdoor Sportsman magazine 6 times a year. Please circle
the answer that best applies to you.
I read the Canadian Firearms Journal 1 Always 2 Sometimes 3 Rarely 4 Never
I read The Canada’s Outdoor Sportsman Magazine 1 Always 2 Sometimes 3 Rarely 4 Never
I would prefer to continue receiving both publications paid by my NFA membership fees.
I would prefer to receive the Canadian Firearms Journal and be given the option to continue to receive
Canada’s Outdoor Sportsman Magazine at discounted subscription rate of $1.75 per issue equal to an additional $10.50 a year. (A savings of $14.50 off the regular rate)
2) Currently the NFA covers the mailing costs of both publications and pays a subsidized subscription rate to Canada’s Outdoor
Sportsman for members to receive both publications. Please check only one of the three statements that would best apply.
I would prefer to receive only the Canadian Firearms Journal and have the NFA use the savings for other
important firearms rights programs.
3) Please answer the following statement with either a true or false response.
If I no longer received Canada’s Outdoor Sportsman magazine with my Canadian Firearms Journal
I would not renew my membership.
True
False
4) As a not for profit organization with an all volunteer, elected executive, comprised of members just like you, from across
Canada, we are looking at ways to reduce mailing costs and maximize effiency. Please answer the following questions with a
yes or no response.
I would prefer to receive my yearly renewal by a secured email to help save cost rather than have it printed and sent by mail. YES I would prefer email
NO I would prefer to be mailed my renewal
Would you be willing to receive other information and updates on important firearms issues or NFA
matters by email. YES
NO
Thank you for providing your feedback regarding this valuable information that will help the NFA make some important
decisions as to how you and other members would like to see your membership fees managed. Please complete the survey,
fill out the information below, enclose this page in an envelope and mail it to the NFA Box 52183, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T5
First Name
Address Last Name: Membership No
City
Postal Code
If you would like to receive your membership renewal and other communications by email please print your email
address clearly in the space provided. Check out our website at www.nfa.ca for our newest membership benefits from
Uniglobe GEO Travel offering exclusive travel discounts to NFA members. Go to the member’s section and enter your
membership number to find incredible savings from the city closest to you. Don’t forget our hotel and car rental savings.
Now you can become a friend of the NFA by joining us on Facebook.
YES, I would like to be contacted by email to save costs Email address
Please note: The Canada’s National Firearms Association is a not for profit organizations and abides by all the privacy laws and rules.
While you may receive additional marketing and general information from the National Firearms Association, our members information is
protected. We do not sell or provide list information to private, corporate or government organizations.
www.nfa.ca December
5
President’s
Message
Looking Toward a New Paradigm
by Sheldon Clare
In September, Gary Mauser and I
represented Canada’s National Firearms
Association at the Second Amendment
Foundation’s and Citizen’s Committee on
the Right to Keep and Bear Arms’ annual
Gun Rights Policy Conference; this year
held in San Francisco, California. There,
Gary and I joined approximately another
thousand or so firearm rights activists;
representing organizations from all over
the United States.
In addition to the larger nationallevel orgs such as the SAF, GOA and
NFA, etc., there were representatives
from related advocacy groups such as
Concealed Carry on Campus, Knife
Rights, the Pink Pistols, as well as a
broad cross-section of various state and
community shooting organizations,
and many other American civil rights
organizations.
There were many big names in firearms
rights present to support the event.
Speakers included Paxton Quigley,
Massad Ayoob, Alan Gottleib, and
many other pro-civil rights activists
as well as lawyers, representatives
from the media, and politicians and
supporters from both the Democrat and
Republican political parties.
It was a completely open event, with
strategy and policy on the floor for all to
participate in. It was an inspiring event
and it got me to thinking about why we
don’t have this sort of collaborative
meeting of the best and brightest
in Canada? Many of these groups
clearly have differences in their goals
and methods and some are clearly in
competition for members and resources
– nonetheless, they were capable of
putting aside their differences, at least
publicly and focusing on common
goals. What I saw in San Francisco was
open co-operation and collaboration, as
well as many people and a lot of money
to support activism.
Collaboration
between
firearms
organizations is always a topic for
discussion, and on the face of it one
would think that it should be a nobrainer. After all, don’t all gun groups
want the same things – recognition
of the right of armed self-defense,
fewer restrictions on firearm users,
more freedoms, less bureaucracy and
regulation? In short, don’t we all want
more respect?
Well yes, and unfortunately no.
Canada’s
National
Firearms
Association wants to change Canadian
firearms law in a fundamental way.
To achieve that change means that we
need to challenge the laws that are in
place and the regulations arising from
them and to have what has not worked
completely repealed.
We are not satisfied with compromises or
part measures such as merely eliminating
the so-called long-gun registry. Major
changes mean confronting sacred cows
and exposing flaws. It means making
political connections and working to
get people elected who support our
collective goals.
6
December
Compromise positions from firearms
organizations have contributed to both
gradual and dramatic erosion of our
civil rights around the ownership of
firearms. Compromise positions mean
that we give up something and our
opponents gain something – it certainly
doesn’t work the other way. That is
not to say that change can’t happen in
steps, but be wary of firearm activists
that make their living from an endless
fight for minor changes. These types
are usually more afraid of competition
from other groups than they are
interested in achieving real change.
Canada’s NFA wants real change and
with your help we will continue to get it.
In that respect, the Firearms Act as
composed of Kim Campbell’s old
Bill C-17 and the Liberal’s Bill C-68
must be repealed. In its place we need
minimal laws that limit access of bad
people to dangerous things. What
we don’t need is more law that treats
Canadians with disrespect and makes
them into criminals for paperwork
offences.
Legal firearms in the hands of
responsible firearms owners have never
posed a significant risk to the public
safety, but unfortunately Canadian law
presumes otherwise and forces a reverse
onus upon gun owners to disprove the
official government position that we
are dangerous.
President...Continued on Page 21
www.nfa.ca
Message du
Président
Regard vers un Nouveau Paradigme
En septembre dernier j’ai assisté à la
conférence sur les politiques des droits
des armes à feu présenté par les Second
Amendment Foundation et Citizen’s
Committee to Keep and Bear Arms
à San Francisco, Californie. J’étais
accompagné de Gary Mauser, nous
représentions l’Association Canadienne
des Propriétaires d’Armes à Feu.
Nous nous sommes retrouvés parmi
des milliers de militants des droits en
matière d’armes à feu qui représentaient
des organisations de partout aux ÉtatsUnis.
À part les organisations de niveau
national telles que la Second Amendment
Foundation, la Gun Owners of America
et nous même, plusieurs autres s’y
trouvaient : Entre autre, la Concealed
Carry on Campus (port d’arme
dissimulées au campus), Knife Rights
(droit aux couteaux), les Pink Pistols
(pistolets roses), plusieurs organisations
communautaires et d’États représentant
les sports de tir et d’autres organisations
de droits civils américain.
Plusieurs têtes d’affiches des droits des
armes à feu appuyaient l’événement et
ont donné leurs allocutions respectives.
On a pu voir Paxton Quigley, Massad
Ayoob, Alan Gottleib et plusieurs autres
défenseurs de droits civils, des avocats,
des représentants des médias et des
politiciens sympathisants des 2 partis,
soit des Républicains et des Démocrates.
Il s’agissait d’un événement où les
politiques et les stratégies étaient
diffusées librement et tous les participants
étaient invités à fournir leurs idées.
Cette démonstration de collaboration
fût extrêmement inspirante et je me suis
demandé pourquoi n’aurions nous pas
ce genre de réunion entre les différentes
organisations Canadiennes? Comme au
Canada, les différentes organisations
américaines qui étaient présente ont des
objectifs différents et des méthodes de
fonctionnement différentes, il y en avait
même qui sont en compétition directe
pour l’allocation des ressources et le
recrutement des membres! Mais malgré
tout, ils ont été capables de mettre leurs
différences de côté et de se concentrer
sur leurs objectifs communs. J’ai été
témoin d’une franche collaboration, de
la présence de beaucoup de militants et
de beaucoup de ressources financières
pour soutenir la cause.
La collaboration entre les organisations
pour la défense des droits en matière
d’armes à feu est toujours un bon sujet
de discussion qui pourtant ne devrait pas
en être un, car tous les groupes ont les
mêmes objectifs : La reconnaissance du
droit à la légitime défense armée, moins
de restrictions sur le dos des propriétaires
d’armes à feu, moins de bureaucratie et
de règlements. En résumé, nous voulons
tous être mieux respectés, non?
Président...Suite page 21
Sheldon posing with American author, self-defence instructor, and firearms rights activist, Massad
Ayoob.
www.nfa.ca December
7
Vice President’s
Column
Bill C-580: NDP Smokescreen
Blair Hagen, National VP Communications
Bill C-580, introduced by NDP MP Charlie
Angus (Timmins-James Bay), is a private
members bill that proposes amendments to
the Firearms Act.
Bill C-580 was born out of the controversy
over another private members bill, C-391
introduced by CPC MP Candace Hoeppner.
Candace Hoeppner’s bill proposed to end
the long gun registration component of the
Firearms Act, fulfilling part of the promise
of the Conservative Government to begin
much needed firearms law reform.
To the surprise of many, Hoeppner’s
C-391 received wide bipartisan support
from Liberal and NDP members of the
House of Commons, in recognition of the
failure of the 1995 Liberal C-68 Firearms
Act. Liberal and NDP members from
ridings with strong firearms ownership
have been receiving complaints and pleas
for assistance for years from constituents
who have been targeted by Canada’s
misdirected firearms laws and the federal
firearms bureaucracy.
The successful second reading vote on Bill
C-391 threw a scare into the leadership
of the Liberal and NDP parties. The gun
control lobby has successfully co-opted
firearms policy in these parties for years,
and there is a large anti gun constituency
in the Liberals and NDP that demands that
the 1995 C-68 Firearms Act be maintained
and expanded, despite its colossal failure
and offense against the civic rights of
millions of Canadians.
In response, Liberal leader Michael
Ignatieff ordered a whipped vote on Bill
C-391. Therafter, Liberal Public Safety
Committee member MP Mark Holland
(Ajax-Pickering) introduced a motion
before the House of Commons that Bill
C-391 should not be allowed to go for a
third reading vote.
As predicted, the results of this vote was
extremely close, with the NDP holding the
balance of power.
Although NDP leader Jack Layton
declared that any vote on C-391 was to
be a free vote for his members, the gun
control lobby, political police chiefs and
other anti gun activist groups undertook a
campaign to pressure both the Liberal and
the NDP to prevent a successful vote on
C-391, and achieve a retention of the failed
long gun registry.
Bill C-391 was defeated by two votes in
this motion, and both of those votes came
from the NDP.
The way the NDP defeated Bill C-391
and made it possible for the long gun
registry to live another day is this: NDP
members in weak ridings that were won
by a small vote margin who had promised
their constituents to vote to end long gun
registration were allowed to do so.
NDP members in strong ridings who had
won by a large vote margin were told to
vote against this effort to end long gun
registration, and they did claiming that
8
the support of the political police chief
organizations for the registry had swayed
their votes.
However, the political conniving of the
NDP on the C-391 vote damaged their
political brand and resulted in dropping
poll numbers as many constituents in NDP
held ridings recognized the betrayal.
In an attempt to quell the controversy and
arrest falling support in these ridings, NDP
MP Charlie Angus has introduced his own
private members bill.
Bill C-580.
There are several key components of Bill
C-580 that should be of great concern to
the firearms community. Far from being a
“compromise” as promised by Angus, Bill
C-580 actually ratchets up the firearms
regulatory and enforcement environment
on the firearms community
Bill C-580 purports to extend a first time
exemption from criminal charge for failing
to register a non restricted long gun. How
nice for Mr. Angus to realize that universal
long gun registration failed to be achieved
by the Liberal government that introduced
it. Unfortunately Mr. Angus confuses
firearms licensing with registration, for
failing to produce a registration is already
punished by a fine under the current
legislation. Failure to hold a valid firearms
license is a Criminal Code offense, and
this does not change under C-580.
December
www.nfa.ca
There are many otherwise law abiding
firearms owning Canadians who never
applied for a firearms license, or have
inadvertently allowed their firearms
license to expire. They’re still criminals
under Bill C-580.
C-580 is also a gun ban bill, as evidenced
by this proposed amendment:
4. Section 117.15 of the Act is
amended by adding the following after
subsection (2):
(3) The Governor in Council may make
regulations requiring a manufacturer or
importer to provide information for the
purpose of establishing that the thing in
question is reasonable for use in Canada
for hunting or sporting purposes.
Sounds reasonable? Think again.
This “sporting test” amendment to
firearms legislation was used in the UK
and Australia to ban and confiscate
every semi automatic rifle and shotgun
in private hands in those nations. You
may not like your neighbour’s AR-15
rifle or think it is practical for the type of
hunting you do, but it’s clear that Angus’s
purpose here is to facilitate prohibition and
confiscation of the new generation of semi
automatic firearms that are so popular
today with new members of the firearms
community.
Furthermore, this facilitates the arbitrary
classification or reclassification of firearms
by the firearms bureaucracy, so essentially
a firearm becomes illegal and prohibited
from import or possession in Canada
because they say so, no other criteria than
that. Canada’s convoluted and broken
firearms regulations already provide for
much of this, but Angus’s bill merely
streamlines the process.
“But also, and this is very important, we
need to have gun policy in this country
that ensures that guns are not able to
get into the country and end up on the
black market, guns that should never be
classified as sports hunting guns, which
are now getting in through some of the
loopholes in the system, a gun such as the
www.nfa.ca Ruger Mini-14. That is not something that
a legitimate duck hunter or farmer would
need” - Charlie Angus, MP, Timmins James Bay.
The promise to ban the Ruger Mini 14
is interesting. The Mini 14 is a .223
calibre semi automatic rifle popular for
defence, varminting, and hunting within
the capabilities of the .223 cartridge.
Thousands are sold to farmers, coyote
hunters, varmint hunters and even Atlantic
Canadian sealers every year. They’re
tough, robust, well-made firearms that
are affordable to the working man, so
why does Angus single out the Mini 14?
My guess is crass political opportunism.
The Mini-14 was the firearm used in the
1989 Montreal slayings of 14 female
engineering students by deranged gunman
Marc Lepine and it has remained a thorn
in the side of the Canadian gun control
movement ever since.
Angus’s Mini 14 ban is payback to the gun
control lobby which has been demanding
a ban for decades on this and all other
semi automatic rifles, nothing more. How
shallow.
It doesn’t stop there. Those of you who have
had to deal with firearms in the estate of a
deceased loved one know how difficult it
is to work through the myriad of byzantine
firearms regulations associated with this.
Angus wants to relieve you of this pressure
by having the firearms seized outright
from the estate by replacing the current
“reasonable time” limit for dispersing the
estate, with a mandatory 90 day limit. As
many know, an estate comprising a large
number of firearms takes much time to
clear, and it takes months if not years to
retrieve estate firearms from police who
consider such things a very low priority.
Angus’s bill would mean estate firearms
could be forfeited and destroyed by
deliberate bureaucratic inaction.
Furthermore, it allows military and police
to share important information with the
Canadian Firearms Program, including
mental health concerns. Essentially the
assertion here is that military and law
enforcement personnel pose an even more
significant risk to public safety than regular
folks if they own firearms, and there must
be extra measures available to take them
away.
How patently offensive!
Angus also promises to end the “fee” for
registration of non restricted long guns,
but keep it for restricted and prohibited
firearms. Why on earth would the firearms
community support an illegitimate fee for
the transfer of private property, especially
one that has not been in force for the
transfer of any firearm for several years?
So Bill C-580 doesn’t actually “fix”
anything at all. It bans guns, imposes
more useless gun control regulations, and
MP Charlie Angus thinks you and the
rest of the firearms community are too
intellectually limited to notice any of this.
Charlie Angus himself looks like the
fool for this effort. Bill C-580 is trash
and enjoys no support from the firearms
community.
None.
It is doubtful that Bill C-580 will get
to second reading. It is a smokescreen
to deflect criticism from the NDP for
saving the long gun registry. The firearms
community of Canada is now a large and
sophisticated block of educated voters.
Until the NDP and Liberals learn this,
and learn from the mistake of the C68
Firearms Act, the firearms community will
continue to support the Conservative Party
of Canada.
And that is just Canadian Gun Politics 101.
C-580 magnanimously promises to protect
the privacy of personal information
contained in the registry, but provides
for the release of that information to
anyone “in the interests of public safety”.
December 9
Letters to the Editor
Dear NFA,
I’m new to the shooting community
and was wondering if you could settle
a question for me and my buddy. He’s
also a newbie. We purchased some
NRA B27 targets at a gun show in
Washington State recently. At the
range today another shooter rushed
up to us while we were engaged in
safe shooting practice using the same
targets and became extremely irate;
shouting at us that such targets were
illegal and obscene. He threatened to
call the police on us.
Discretion being the better part of
valour, my friend and I opted to
remove ourselves from what was
becoming a very volatile situation in
our opinion. I asked a police officer
I knew after the incident about the
targets and he agreed that they were
illegal. More experienced shooters
I’ve spoken with tell me differently.
Who am I to believe?
Bill M.
Hello Bill,
Sorry to hear about your unfortunate
encounter with what we, in the
shooting community, call a ‘Range
Nazi.’ You did the right thing by
extricating yourself from the situation
if you believed it was becoming too
heated.
I would suggest you contact your
club’s executive and lodge a complaint
against the individual in question
concerning his behavior. I would also
seek clarification of your club’s list
of acceptable target standards. Some
clubs expressly forbid certain types
of targets or materials, so it may be
possible that such targets are not
permitted at your club.
That said, targets such as NRA B27,
B34 and B29 targets are merely
silhouettes with a head and a neck and
are commonly used in competition
such as PPC. In legal terms, none
of these are illegal under current
Canadian law. A number of Canadian
retailers sell even more realistic photo
and 3-D targets that are popular in
tactical training and competition
scenarios.
Just like your B27 targets, they are
perfectly legal. However, it would
be advisable to ensure that you are
compliant with your club’s rules. In
this politically correct world, many
club executives now frown upon
certain types of targets for fear of
causing offense and potentially attract
negative press on their club.
- Editors
Dear NFA,
I’m a life-long military surplus
collector. I’ve been extremely worried
about the approaching implementation
of the United Nations marking scheme
that the former Liberal government
signed up for.
Implementation
will
almost
certainly mean the end of importing
inexpensive military surplus rifles.
I know the Conservatives delayed
implementation before, but that
deadline is fast approaching once
more. What is going to happen? Is my
hobby doomed?
Through the efforts of selfless execs
such as Blair Hagen, Sean Penney and
Sheldon Clare and NFA representative
to the Canadian Firearms Advisory
Council, Professor Gary Mauser, I am
happy to report that implementation
has been delayed until 2012
We continue to work this issue
strenuously, and hopefully before the
next deadline we will have succeeded
in returning a majority Conservative
government to Ottawa - one that will
put this matter to rest once and for all.
- Editors
Dear NFA,
I’m currently a serving officer in the
Royal Navy but will shortly be retiring
to Canada. My wife is Canadian and
I am in the process of becoming a
landed immigrant, with the ultimate
aim of acquiring full Canadian
citizenship. My wife and I already own
property in Newfoundland, including
a small farm, and we plan on making
our home there.
I understand from neighbours that
coyotes are a real problem in the area.
Since I plan on raising sheep, I will
necessarily require access to firearms
in order to protect them. My wife’s
family is also keen on introducing
me the joys of moose and partridge
hunting, so I hope to purchase an
appropriate hunting rifle and shotgun
in short order.
James S.
Hello James,
Canada’s
National
Firearms
Association has been working this
issue tirelessly since its inception.
10
December
www.nfa.ca
I’ve already made enquiries with Canadian
officials, but have gotten mixed advice as to what
process is involved in my obtaining a firearms
licence. Can you help?
Capt. John K.
Hello Captain,
Citizenship status or residency is essentially a nonissue under current Canadian law. You may apply
for a firearms licence the same as any Canadian.
The only significant difference is that as a nonresident or pending landed-immigrant, etc., you
will need to provide a police background report
from your place of residence indicating good
conduct for the past five years.
As a serving British officer, a good conduct report
from your MOD may suffice, rather than having
to go through your local police. In some cases,
depending on your current immigration status,
the background check completed for your landed
immigrant application may also suffice. I would
suggest you call the Canadian Firearms Program
at 1-800-731-4000 and ask for their requirements.
You will also need to complete the Canadian
Firearms Safety Course and pass the practical and
written exams the same as any other applicant. You
will then be permitted to file a CAFC 921 form:
Application for a Possession and Acquisition
Licence under the Firearms Act (For Individuals
Aged 18 and over).
- Editors
Canadian
Firearms Journal
The Official Magazine of the National Firearms Association
Editor .................................................................... [email protected]
Sean Penney & Grayson Penney
Executive VP, Operations [email protected]
Diane Laitila ....................................................... 780-439-1394
Accounts / Membership / General Info .... [email protected]
Legal Inquiries .................................................... [email protected]
National Executive
National President .......................................... 1-877-818-0393
Sheldon Clare.................................................... [email protected]
Executive VP, Communications.....................1-877-818-0393
Blair Hagen............................................................ [email protected]
Treasurer......................................................... 1-877-818-0393
Henry Atkinson.....................................................henry@nfa.ca
Secretary.......................................................... 1-877-818-0393
Ted Simmermon.......................................................info@nfa.ca
Regional Directors
British Columbia - Yukon...............................1-877-818-0393
Sheldon Clare .................................................. [email protected]
Blair Hagen ........................................................... [email protected]
Alberta – NWT – Out-of-Canada...................1-877-818-0393
Ed Lucas ................................................................... [email protected]
Ted Simmermon ..................................................... [email protected]
Saskatchewan ..................................................1-877-818-0393
Vacant …….......................................................1-877-818-0393
Manitoba – Nunavut........................................1-877-818-0393
Vacant ………...................................................1-877-818-0393
Ontario .............................................................1-877-818-0393
Bill Rantz .................................................................bill@nfa.ca
Henry Atkinson [email protected]
Quebec .............................................................1-877-818-0393
Phil Simard ............................................................ [email protected]
Stephen Buddo ..................................................... [email protected]
Maritimes – Newfoundland & Labrador..........1-877-818-0393
Sean Penney........................................................... [email protected]
Creative Design by The AD Guys ...................... 780-488-5776
Angie Hutchison ....................................... [email protected]
Canadian National Firearms Association
Box 52183 Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 2T5 [email protected]
www.nfa.ca December
Tel: 780-439-1394
Toll Free 1-877-818-0393
Fax: 780-439-4091
www.nfa.ca
11
Preserving Our
Firearms Heritage
By Gary K. Kangas and Branko Diklitch
INGENUITY PRESERVES OUR FIREARMS HERITAGE
Preserving our firearms heritage takes on many
forms. One of these strategies is the revival of obscure
or obsolete cartridges. Branko Diklitch, renowned
.577 Snider aficionado has again revived a strange
little cartridge and is able to target practice with an
Italian Glisenti revolver in 10.4mm Italian ordnance.
The latter being a very short and very obsure 19th
century cartridge. I will now turn over the narrative
to Branko in the arts of reviving the arcane.
Here is a little history to start with; in the early 1870’s
the newly united Kingdom of Italy decided to replace
its existing stocks of percussion and pin fire pistols
with a modern center fire revolver. After trials a
version of the Chamelot Delvigne design was settled
on. The French Army Model 1873 is a more famous
example of the same revolver. Several European
countries adopted this design with various degrees
of modifications. The Italian Army matched a Swiss
inspired cartridge to
their own Chamelot
Delvigne pistol. Thus
was born the 10.4mm
Italian
Ordnance
cartridge and the
Model 1874 Italian
Ordnance revolver.
moved to Italy with Glisenti of Brescia doing most
of the manufacturing. This is why at times this model
tends to be called the Glisenti.
Many Model 1874 revolvers were still in service
during WW1 and some examples were even around
in WWII. A few more than likely came back to
Canada as souvenirs, having been picked up by our
troops during the Italian campaign in WWII.
When it comes to reloading the 10.4mm Italian
Ordnance round there is a bit of required R&D involved,
especially now that proper components are no longer
available from American suppliers such as Buffalo
Arms. Since the latter company no longer ships brass,
etc., to Canada, I was left with no other choice but to
try and source my components locally. I hit every gun
show I could, checked with area junk shops and metal
recyclers (who buy brass) and had friends and shooting
This is a robust,
well built gun with a
surprisingly
simple
and effective single
and double action
mechanism. Initially
the Model 1874 was
built in Belgium,
but soon production
12
December
www.nfa.ca
with a 7/16 punch is placed over the powder. The .424”
bullet has the grease grooves filled with black powder
lube made of beeswax and Crisco.
buddies check their reloading rooms for any unwanted
or forgotten brass they might have laying about.
Unlike such well known cartridge as the .45 Colt
there is nothing standard about the 10.4mm. For
those of us that aren’t mechanically inclined, there
is hope; we just have to be lucky enough to have
friends who can help.
By the time I acquired my Model 1874 it had the
barrel cut down from the original 6 inches to 4 and
had a wide shotgun bead fitted as the front sight.
At the range the modifications proved to conspire
against my best attempts at marksmanship. Initially
the bullets would not even print on paper. A little
experimentation found that the revolver was hitting
quite a few inches above actual point of aim. Using
some ‘Kentucky elevation’, rather than windage, an
I was comfortabley back on paper.
The original cartridge was loaded with about 20
grains of black powder and a 180 grain hard-cast lead
round nose bullet of .424” diameter. To reproduce
this load I have been recycling damaged .44-40 cases
by cutting them down to the proper length of .890”.
Fortunately in my revolver the .44-40 rim diameter
and thickness are just about exact, so all this is
required to rework the case is to trim the length.
The 10.4mm Italian Ordnance does look like quite
the oddball when one first takes a look and many
might pass on by and not take up the challenge.
However, with a little tinkering and perseverance,
this odd-ball can be brought back to life. So next time
you encounter a similar oddball firearm or cartridge
don’t be so fast to dismiss it. With just a little work it
might prove much easier to put back in service than
its hertitage and age might intially indicate.
To the modern handloaders advantage, the Italians
chose not to mess around with a heeled bullet.
Those who have worked with heeled bullets know
well that there is a special section of hell set aside
just for this bullet design. The Italians, however, did
not make things too easy. In selecting the .424” they
chose an oddball bullet diameter. To overcome this, a
machinist friend made me a .424” swaging die. I use
an old Lyman .44-40 200 grain mold for my bullets.
This is a bit heavier than the original but readily
available and has two deep grease grooves that can
hold enough lube so there is no need to use a grease
cookie.
Ingenuity preserves our firearms heritage.
As for reloading dies, I turn to the .44 special. All that
is needed is to full length size the trimmed case and
this leaves the neck ready for the .424” bullet. The
seating die has been cut down by a quarter of an inch by
another machinist friend. My version of the 10.4mm
Italian Ordnance round is loaded with 15 grains of 2Fg
Goex black powder. A .437” milk carton wad cut out
www.nfa.ca December
13
Politics
& Guns
by Tyler Vance
The Rule of Law,
the Police and
the Common Man
I had originally pitched a ‘police & politics’ trilogy to my CFJ
editors because I felt that there was enough material, and the issues
varied enough, to warrant such attention. What I didn’t count on
was the response my little trilogy sparked. My inbox has been
literally inundated with E-mails from readers thanking me for
the articles, while others have sent me links or clippings to other,
related stories dealing with firearms, politics and police.
Some
Photo: Sean Penney
I was aware of, others were wholly unfamiliar. However, I
did discover one ‘common’ theme through much of these additional
stories and court cases. It was the de facto double standard that has
developed in Canada related to the enforcement and prosecution
of firearms offences.
It is the responsible firearms owner in Canada who has been forced
to bear the brunt of the worst excesses of the Liberal’s failed gun
control program and we have seen the unconstitutional burden
of ‘Reverse Onus’ imposed without debate upon formerly lawabiding gun owners. The presumption of innocence enjoyed by all
other Canadians was simply thrown out like yesterday’s trash by
our former Liberal task-masters.
As the new firearms bureaucracy has developed, we have seen the
growing issue of double standards expand exponentially with it.
The same can be said of the RCMP and the Quebec Surete and
their stand-alone firearms control bureaucracy; especially in the
years since the former assumed complete control of the gun control
program in Canada. Time and again, we have seen serving police
officers cleared of all gun-related charges they have faced; or seen
them pled down to lesser charges. Where and when convicted,
sympathetic judges have imposed extremely light sentences or
conditions that no ‘common’ Canadian gun owner could ever hope
to receive.
Then, you have the various provincial Chief Firearms Officers,
who seem hell-bent on expanding their own petty dictatorships,
just like their federal overlords, the RCMP. Not content with
simply administering the bureaucratic processes involved in
legally owning and using a firearm in Canada, over the past 15
years, CFOs from Newfoundland to British Columbia have been
constantly pushing the envelope, going so far as to not only
‘interpret’ the Liberal’s Firearms Act, but to actually ‘improve’
upon it by inventing and enforcing their own made-up firearms
rules and regulations!
Sadly, I’m not making this up, nor am I exaggerating. All you
have to do is ask any new RPAL holder who has attempted to
14
December
www.nfa.ca
“The rule of law in Canada is under siege right
now and perhaps the worst transgressors are
those holding positions of power, and whom we
entrust to keep us safe. The double standard
has to end, as does the admonishment to, ‘Do
as I say, not as I do.’”
purchase a restricted firearm in the past decade or so. Like
Ivory soap, there is a 99 & 44/100% chance that their CFO
will have demanded that they produce documented proof of
membership in a recognized club or shooting range before
they would even consider approving any such transfer;
despite the FACT that NOWHERE in the Firearms Act does
this ‘requirement’ ever appear in print!
There is a good reason why not: legislators never wrote it
and Parliament never passed it. Instead, this is an example of
the arbitrary nature of Canadian firearms enforcement today.
There is no legitimate rhyme or reason to require individuals
interested in purchasing a restricted firearm for target
shooting or competition to purchase and often exorbitantly
expensive gun club membership that they may not even be
in a position to use!
You do have the ‘option’ of standing your ground and
refusing to produce a membership card; while demanding
that the requested transfer be granted. Eventually, your CFO
will back down and months later, the transfer will grudgingly
be processed. However, you can count on your file being redflagged for all future transfers and it is an almost certainty
that any future transfers, regardless of whether or not it is
a restricted or non-restricted firearm involved, ALL will be
‘referred to the province for final approval.’ I know this for
a fact, because I found myself in just such a position a few
years ago under a now deceased CFO.
Gun owners have found themselves forced into a paternalistic
relationship with their CFO’s, much as the colonial peoples
of Africa, Asia and South America were under their British,
French, German, Dutch or American colonial masters who
assumed ‘the white man’s burden’ to educate, reform and
‘save’ their uneducated and backward charges from their
primitive culture and upbringing. In our case it would
appear that the Liberals, and their left-wing, ‘progressive’
allies within the gun control bureaucracy, are hell-bent on
saving gun owners and the public from themselves. In this
connection, a wholly unbearable attitude of moral superiority
has taken root in Chief Firearms Offices across the country;
one that has seen the old saw, ‘Do as I say, not as I do,’
become the unofficial motto of our firearms ‘officialdom.’
A clear example of this is PEI Chief Firearms Officer Vivian
Hayward. A recent photo of her and two other employees of
www.nfa.ca P.E.I. Chief Firearms Officer Vivian Hayward (center) clearly
demonstrating the Canadian gun control bureaucracy motto of ‘Do
as I say, not as I do.’
her office showing the Chief Firearms Officer posing with a
prohibited HK MP-5 submachinegun, finger on the trigger
and the weapon at the ready. A male subordinate flanks her
on the right, striking a ‘gangsta’ pose, with arms crossed at
the front, wielding a Colt 1911 pistol and revolver. On the
left, Ms. Hayward is flanked by a female subordinate holding
a sawed off Ruger 10/22 rifle, a prohibited weapon under
Canadian law. Both employees are pictured with their fingers
on the triggers of their weapons.
Even more disturbing is the fact that all three were
photographed standing in the back of a pick-up truck filled
with what I presume to be seized firearms, most either
restricted or prohibited in class, and not a single one trigger
locked or safely stored as required by Canadian law. Even
more disturbing is the fact that the P.E.I. CFO office is
located in a strip-mall. A wider angle lens would have shown
that Ms. Hayward and company’s truckload of prohibited
firearms was parked just feet from a candy store on the left
and to the right, a local bar and the Magic Wok restaurant.
Ignoring the obvious breaches of Canadian gun laws related
to safe storage, transportation and common sense, not to
December
15
“There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all,
but especially to democracies as against despots. What is it? Distrust.”
-- Demosthenes, (384 B.C.-322 B.C.)
mention complete disregard for basic safe gun handling
(ACTS/PROVE) what I found most appalling about this
photo was the underlying threat it represents. Its leak to
Canadian gun orgs comes at a time when we’re seeing
an organized ‘search & seizure’ campaign being carried
out by police agencies in large metropolitan cities such as
Toronto. Remember ‘Operation Safe City’ and the seizure
of thousands of firearms from honest gun owners who had
failed to renew their firearms licenses in a timely fashion?
Given the option of turning their guns over to the police
for destruction, or face criminal prosecution, these ‘paper
criminals,’ overwhelmingly opted to give-up their property
for fear of the police. Is this the type of “…Or Else” Ms.
Hayward and her gun-wielding cohorts were referencing?
The facts are, had an ordinary citizen attempted to replicate
the same photo for which the Chief Firearms Officer of P.E.I.
posed, there would have been immediate panicked phone
calls to the RCMP, an immediate ‘gun call’ would’ve been
transmitted over the police band and an Emergency Response
Team would’ve been rolling for what the law enforcement
community had dubbed ‘a high risk’ takedown.
Mr. Johnny Canuck, average gun owner, would’ve very
shortly thereafter found himself facing multiple automatic
weapons in the hands of heavily armoured ERT ‘operators’
and the prospect of having his face jammed into the asphalt
of the strip mall parking lot with a 200lb. cop kneeling on
his neck; while another handcuffed him. He could count on
a slew of criminal charges ranging from unsafe storage of a
firearm, to possession of a firearm dangerous to the public
good, to pointing a firearm and everything in between. He’d
be looking at serious jail-time and a legal defence bill that
would run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
When questioned about the photo and the message it sends to
Canada’s millions of law-abiding gun owners, a spokesman
for the P.E.I. Department of Justice stated that from their
perspective there were, “no safety or legal issues with the
photo.” Indeed. This blasé attitude and complete dismissal of
genuine safety concerns that every responsible firearms user
should have, and which under our current gun laws enforces
upon us a LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY TO OBSERVE AND
OBEY said provisions under penalty of criminal prosecution,
is simply outrageous!
DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO…OR ELSE! I guess for
responsible firearms owners, we can interpret that institutional
ethos as a genuine threat. Go to jail, face the prospect of
having your legally acquired firearms seized by government
agents, lose the right to legally own firearms in the future and
16
face financial ruin attempting to legally counter the burden
of reverse onus forced upon Canadian gun owners under the
Liberal gun control scheme.
As I was writing this column, I read with equal indignation
of the case of veteran RCMP detachment commander, Sgt.
Doug Smith, who stood trial this fall on several firearms
charges, including a Criminal Code charge of careless
storage of firearms and contravening related Firearms Act
safe storage regulations. One of the firearms in question
was a pistol that a member of the public had turned into the
officer for destruction…in 2004! Sgt. Smith explained that
he had never gotten around to turning it in due to work and
family problems. The rifle found in the Sergeant’s closet, sans
trigger lock, it was argued, should not have been considered a
firearm, as Sgt. Smith had determined that it was inoperable;
yet firearms technicians were able to successfully fire it later.
Regina Provincial Court Judge Marylynne Beaton’s final
decision was to acquit Smith of the criminal charge, but
find him guilty of the Firearms Act offence. He was handed
a nine-month conditional discharge with an order that he
perform 60 hours community service.
In attempting to justify her painfully altruistic sentencing,
Judge Beaton argued that while police officers should be
held to a higher standard than civilians, Smith’s personal
problems merited treating Smith as an individual rather than
a police officer. Directing her statement to Smith, the judge
said of the RCMP commander, “You are also a human being,
and human beings make mistakes.”
Juxtapose the above cases with that of Burton, N.B.,
neighbours Brian Fox and Lawrence Manzer, both retired
Canadian Forces members and victims of repeated break-ins
and acts of vandalism of their property.
Over the course of weeks and months, both men had found
their homes and their lives essentially under siege by these
unknown criminals. Repeated calls and requests for aid
from local police and RCMP were rejected, as the offenses
to that point had ‘only’ involved property crimes. The loss
of sleep, feelings of lack of safety and fear of leaving their
loved-ones home-alone, was of little consequence to local
law enforcement.
The only hope Fox and Manzer had of bringing their living
safety nightmare to an end was to catch the perpertrators
‘red handed’ according to local police. Only then would the
RCMP be justified in taking action, since there was little else
they could do against minor property crime offenses.
Matters came to a head last March when Fox discovered
December
www.nfa.ca
“It is when power is wedded to chronic fear that it becomes formidable.”
-- Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American author, philosopher,
awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
three intruders on his property just before 3 A.M.. Fox and
his son rushed outside to confront the intruders before they
could get away, while Manzer, hearing the commotion ran
outside to help his neighbour. On the way, he grabbed his
unloaded shotgun and a fistful of shells; instructing his wife
to immediately call the police for help.
The intruders, who turned out to be a trio of teenagers, were
easily subdued by the property owners. Manzer, recognizing
that there was minimal risk of further danger from the cowed
intruders, returned his still unloaded firearm to his home,
locking it up, as per our safe storage laws.
The police arrived shortly thereafter and arrested the teens;
and one was fined for underage drinking. While no other
legal action was taken against them, the spree of break-ins
and vandalism plaguing the community stopped after this
incident.
Chief Firearms Office
The Chief Firearms Office’s (CFO) mandate is
to ensure public safety as set out in Section5
of the Firearms Act. The Chief Firearms
Officer has the responsibility of administering
the licensing requirements of the Act to
individuals and businesses residing and
operating within each province.
Public safety, as defined in Section 5 of the
Act, is the fundamental principle upon which
all licensing decisions are made.
The CFO is responsible
following activities:
The victims/heroes of our story, however, did not get off as
lightly. The RCMP, who could do nothing to help the two
law-abiding retired Canadian Forces members besieged by
attempted B&E’s and destruction of their property, arrested
Fox some six days later, charging him with assault. His
neighbour, Lawrence Manzer was subsequently arrested for
‘pointing a firearm.’
Where is the justice here? Have we fallen so low that
only serving law enforcement are worthy of such? It is
unconscionable that the outlaws in our country, whether
civilian or in uniform get off with fines and ‘community
service,’ while honest citizens, men who served Canada
in our military, are treated worst than their tormentors and
villains.
Yet, such is the state of firearms law and self-defence law in
Canada today. Even if the charges against Fox and Manzer
are subsequently dropped or reduced, the fact is they should
never have been charged in the first place. The rule of law
in Canada is under siege right now and perhaps the worst
transgressors are those holding positions of power, and
whom we entrust to keep us safe. The double standard has
to end, as does the admonishment to, ‘Do as I say, not as I
do.’ Space restrictions prevent me from expanding upon the
many, many incidents of such double standards being applied
in just the past few years alone. Suffice to say, their number
is legion, when even a single incident is one too many. That
is truly a sad state of affairs.
Tyler Vance can be reached via E-mail at:
for
the
* Issues, refuses to issue, renews or
revokes firearms licences for businesses
and individuals, authorizations to transport
restricted
and
prohibited
firearms,
authorizations to carry restricted and
prohibited firearms for purposes prescribed
within the Act.
* Approves shooting ranges.
* Approves the transfer of prohibited and
restricted firearms and other regulated
items between individuals and businesses.
* Conducts inspections of firearms licensed
businesses and firearms shooting ranges to
ensure compliance with the Act.
* Attends court in relation to challenges to
decisions made under the Firearms Act.
* Prepares affidavits on behalf of police
services for use in criminal trials and
proceedings.
* Maintains records in the Canadian
Firearms Information System (CFIS)
* The protection of public safety is the
paramount goal of the CFO. The CFO
achieves this goal through partnerships
and the professional, rigorous enforcement
and administration of the Firearms Act and
Regulations.
[email protected]
www.nfa.ca December 17
Running ahead of the dog,
the pheasant felt pressured
and took flight. The young
hunter lifted the shotgun,
led the bird and gently
squeezed the trigger.
A proud young hunter
had just harvested his
first pheasant.
That scene has been repeated dozens of times in Southwestern
Ontario at organized youth pheasant hunt days. Ontario
Stewardship Councils – organizations that are supported
by the Ministry of Natural Resources and are charged with
educating landowners and the public about the importance
of a healthy ecosystem – in Elgin County, Perth County and
Middlesex County have been organizing such events for five
years.
Elgin County’s Youth Hunting Day, which is held at Fingal
Wildlife Management Area near St. Thomas, was the first
such event. Fingal Wildlife Management Area is a 700-acre
property where pheasants are released for hunters, so it was a
perfect site for the program.
The Elgin event is set up with a morning and afternoon
program that share a common lunch of pheasant. Elgin
Stewardship Co-ordinator Mark Emery believes the pheasant
lunch is an important part of the day to give a connection
between the hunt and food.
The event is set up with a variety of stations designed for
apprentice hunters. It starts with a review of hunter safety.
Participants then get a chance to trap shoot, attempt to judge
distance and then move on to the hunt. The hunt itself is set up
with the pheasants set in wire tubes under bales of straw. That
doesn’t mean the bird can’t get out and run ahead, but it does
give the young hunters a heads-up when there will be a flush.
“We basically took all the elements of a high-quality pheasant
hunt and repackaged it for the kids,” Emery said. “For me, it
shows a lot about character being around a kid 13 to 14 who
can handle a firearm. That speaks a lot about maturity.”
Cameron McCurdy, 14, was among the participants in
November 2010. He had been deer, turkey, grouse and rabbit
Youth Apprenticeship: Introducing Kids to
By Jeff Helsdon
18
December
www.nfa.ca
hunting, but the Youth Hunt Day was
his first exposure to pheasant hunting.
Walking into the field, he was a little
nervous at the prospect. His nerves
didn’t keep him from getting his first
pheasant though.
Mark Hopper is the father of two of
the eight girls participating in the
event. They had both been last year
and had so much fun they wanted to
come back. In fact, both had just made
the volleyball team and missed part
of a tournament to participate in the
hunt even though they were given the
option of not going.
An idea is born
Emery was the originator of the concept
after tossing around ideas with a few
members of his stewardship council
in fall 2004. The idea was to discuss
possibilities to address problems
with retention of youth hunters and
to work within the council’s mandate
of recognizing hunters contribution
to conservation, nature education
and involving the public in nature.
They recognized hunters have a role
in sustaining the province’s natural
resources and it is important to work
on hunter recruitment.
“They said they liked the idea but let’s
see what else is out there,” Emery
recalled. He searched around and found there were no
programs with a goal of education and putting more hunters
in the field.
Personally, waterfowl hunting is what got Emery interested
in hunting. “I had been to Pelee Island a couple of times
pheasant hunting,” he said. “Waterfowl was my primary
interest to get hooked on hunting.” He saw pheasant hunting
as the ideal medium to deliver the program. By using
released birds and trained hunting dogs, the success rate is
high, something that is important to build the enthusiasm of
the hunters.
In January 2005, Emery organized a planning committee
in anticipation of the event. Robert Pye of the Ontario
Federation of Anglers and Hunters, who oversaw the group’s
Get Outdoors program at the time, was consulted for advice.
The first hunt went off that November, with a lot of support
from the community.
“We’ve done it all through community involvement,” Emery
said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He said volunteers take time off work to help out. Financial
contributions from the Aylmer Order of Good Cheer, Ducks
Unlimited and private sector firms have been consistent since
day one.
The concept quickly caught on. The stewardship council
in Perth County launched a youth hunt at Hullet Provincial
Wildlife Area, where there is also a pheasant release program,
the following year. In 2007, the Middlesex Stewardship
Council put a new twist on the program, hosting it at Gold
Creek Game Farm. Essex County Stewardship council
has also held a youth hunt in conjunction with an Ontario
Federation of Anglers and Hunters affiliate club.
The youth hunting concept has also spread within Elgin
County. The National Wild Turkey Federation affiliate hosted
a youth hunting day for apprentice turkey hunters.
Emery would like to see the apprenticeship program expand
across Ontario. To that end, the Elgin, Middlesex and
Perth Stewardship Councils collaborated on a web site to
assist other potential hunt hosts. Called the Youth Hunting
Day Planning Toolkit, it is located on the Internet at www.
youthhunting.ca
“We’ve done a lot of documentation over the last five years
of what went well,” Emery said. “With Middlesex and Perth,
we could draw a lot of experience.”
The web site includes everything hunt planners would need to
know. It starts from pre-planning, giving advice on choosing
an appropriate site and ensuring the necessary insurance
is in place. Then it guides organizers through determining
the correct number of apprentices to aim for, seeking
sponsorship, promotion, obtaining the necessary approvals
and preparing pheasants for lunch. For event day, advice for
setting up the various stations is organized. Templates for
both event planning and budgeting are also on the web site.
Hopes are to work with conservation organizations such as
the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, National
Wild Turkey Federation, Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited,
Pheasants Forever and others to expand the program. Emery
doesn’t see these programs competing with the youth
pheasant hunt, but complimenting it through the various
seasons. He would like youth hunts for ducks, pheasants,
turkey and deer to be in place five years down the road. Such
a program would be an extension of the current apprentice
program.
ids to the Shooting Sports in the Right Way
www.nfa.ca December
19
NFA Book Shelf
By Wm. R. Rantz
HAWKEN RIFLES:
- The Mountain Man’s Choice
Author – John D. Baird
Publisher – Gun Room Press
95 Pages, 136 Black & White Plates
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
ISBN: 088227-010-9
HAWKEN RIFLES: The Mountain Man’s Choice,
originally published in 1968, was the first book devoted
exclusively to the famous rifles produced by Jacob
and Samuel Hawken and subsequent owners of the
Hawken company. Original copies of the first edition
are collector’s items selling for hundreds of dollars.
Fortunately, it has been reprinted many times to satisfy
Hawken rifle enthusiasts who wish to know more about
the history of this famous rifle and its makers.
Jacob Hawken moved to St. Louis in 1807 and opened
his gunshop on Main Street in 1815. Brother Sam moved
from Ohio to St. Louis in 1822. The firearm business that
they established went through a variety of owners until
its eventual demise in 1915 when J.P. Gemmer closed
down his shop and retired.
Hawken started producing percussion muzzleloading
rifles shortly after the invention of the percussion cap.
These rifles were made in a variety of configurations
but they tended to have a broad buttstock with a curved
cheekpiece, set triggers and a heavy octagon barrel held
in place by two barrel keys. The trim was made of plain
iron as were the simple sights so as to not reflect light.
Stocks were made of either walnut or maple and Hawken
produced both full and half stocked versions depending
on the customer’s preference.
These rugged rifles were carried throughout the west on
a daily basis by both trappers and hunters. The result is
that surviving Hawken rifles are rare and any specimens
encountered reflect the difficult conditions in which they
were used by the original owners. Purchasing an original
“Hawken” would be challenging and very expensive.
Black powder muzzleloading shooters from the 1960s to
22
the present created a market for newly manufactured rifles
which were soon to be referred to simply as Hawkens.
These rifles were produced by a variety of companies
including Thompson Center, Connecticut Valley Arms
and Lyman. The degree of authenticity varied with both
the manufacturer and the models that they produced.
Many black powder hunters and target shooters were
quite content with the resemblance of originality being
offered.
There were also shooters who wanted to own a highly
authentic looking rifle but could never afford an original
specimen. Those who did own the true Hawken rifles
were unlikely to ever risk damaging such a valuable
gun by firing it. As a result, smaller companies and even
talented individuals began their quest to produce rifles
with features identical to known Hawken specimens.
Without HAWKEN RIFLES: The Mountain Man’s
Choice this task would have been virtually impossible.
John D. Baird has compiled all the information that one
would need to create an accurate copy of a “Hawken”.
Close up black and white photographs of a variety of
original guns allow for detailed inspection of each part
of the rifles shown.
Firearm experts, collectors and black powder shooters will
find HAWKEN RIFLES: The Mountain Man’s Choice a
valuable addition to their reference library as it covers
this subject in greater detail than any other publication.
The painstaking research by Baird fills fifteen chapters
and covers all known variations of the Hawken rifle as
they evolved over the years of production.
The current list price for HAWKEN RIFLES: The
Mountain Man’s Choice is $55 and it is available from
the Gun Room Press. Check with your local book dealer
and they may be able to obtain a copy.
Wm. R. Rantz
December
www.nfa.ca
President... Continued From Page 7
Président... Suite page 7
Ultimately, the shape of Canada’s
future gun laws, along with the choice
of what type of firearms control system
that will evolve from the Liberal’s
failed gun control program, lies with
you, the responsible gun owner.
Bien oui, mais malheureusement,
non. L’Association Canadienne des
Propriétaires d’Armes à Feu veut faire
des changements fondamentaux aux lois
Canadiennes. Pour accomplir cette tâche
nous devons mettre les lois et règlements
actuels au défi et faire abroger celles qui
ne fonctionnent
vraiment pas.
Nous ne sommes
pas
satisfaits
de compromis
ou de mesures
partielles telles
que l’élimination
du registre des
armes longues.
Nous
devons
confronter les
Sheldon Clare with John Lott Jr. author of “More Guns, Less Crime” vaches sacrées
et exposer les failles du système actuel
You can join with us to help create pour y apporter des changements
a new and better system; one that nécessaires et majeurs. Nous devons
respects the rights of all Canadians, établir des contacts politiques et
including gun owners, or settle for the travailler pour faire élire des gens qui
status quo and the system we have now appuient nos objectifs communs.
with its institutionalized disrespect of L’acceptation de compromis par les
gun owners and the unreasonable legal organisations de défense des droits en
and administrative burdens it places matière d’arme à feu ont contribué à
l’érosion graduelle et dramatique de nos
upon law-abiding gun owners.
libertés civiles. Accepter des compromis
I know the option I’d choose.
signifie que nous perdons un acquis et
que nos opposants gagnent du terrain.
If you haven’t already done so, please Le contraire ne s’est pas encore produit.
take the time to write your MP and Il est vrai que les changements se font
let him or her know that you are a souvent par étape, mais vous devez vous
responsible firearms owner and an méfier des militants qui gagnent leurs
active voter; share with them your views vies en visant des changements mineurs
on the state of our current firearms laws et sans fin. Ces genres de personnes
and your desire for positive change ont souvent peur de la compétition
today. The New Year fast approaches, des autres groupes, plus que le désir
and with it new opportunities; we look d’apporter des changements réels.
forward to 2011 with optimism and L’Association
Canadienne
des
anticipation. For now, I would like Propriétaires d’Armes à Feu veut
to take this opportunity to thank all apporter de réels changements et avec
of our members for their support and votre aide nous continueront de le faire.
dedication over the past year, and to La Loi sur les Armes à Feu qui a été
extend best wishes on behalf of your créée à partir du projet de loi C-17 de
National Firearms Association for a Kim Campbell et de C-68 des Libéraux
very Merry Christmas and a Happy doit être abrogée. Nous devons la
remplacer par des lois minimales qui
New Year!
limitent l’accès aux objets dangereux par
les mauvaises personnes. Ce que nous
devons éviter à tout prix est la création
www.nfa.ca December
ou le maintien de lois qui manquent de
respect envers les bons citoyens et qui
les criminalisent pour des erreurs de
paperasse.
Les citoyens respectueux des lois et
les armes qu’ils possèdent en toute
légitimité n’ont jamais posé un risque
significatif à la sécurité publique.
Malheureusement les lois Canadiennes
font la présomption du contraire et les
propriétaires d’armes à feu sont obligés
de prouver qu’ils ne sont pas dangereux.
La forme que les lois Canadienne
prendront dans l’avenir ainsi que le type
de contrôle des armes à feu qui naîtra
après le système raté des Libéraux sera
déterminé par vous, les propriétaires
responsables d’armes à feu.
Vous pouvez vous joindre à nous pour
contribuer à créer un nouveau système
qui respectera les droits de tous les
Canadiens y compris les propriétaires
d’armes à feu, ou bien vous satisfaire
du statuquo où le manque de respect
est devenu une institution et le fardeau
administratif et légal est placé sur le dos
des tireurs respectueux des lois.
Pour moi le choix est clair.
Si ce n’est pas encore fait, prenez
quelques minutes pour écrire à votre
député, dites lui que vous êtes un
propriétaire d’armes à feu et rappelez lui
que vous êtes aussi un électeur. Partagez
vos opinions sur les lois actuelles et
votre désir de changement. Le nouvel
an approche à grands pas, de nouvelles
opportunités pointent à l’horizon. Nous
sommes optimistes face à l’an 2011.
J’aimerais remercier tous nos membres
pour leur appui durant l’année qui vient
de passer et leurs souhaiter joyeux Noel
et bonne année de la part de l’Association
Canadienne des Propriétaires d’Armes à
Feu.
Sheldon Clare, Président
21
22
December
www.nfa.ca
The New Face
of Firearms
Media
By Mike Dixon
In the not-so-distant past, mainstream media outlets such as
the traditional television networks were the sole source of
much of the information consumed by the public at large.
If there was an idea, an issue, or a message that needed to
be broadcasted, it was first filtered by those in positions
of power within the traditional media structure. If you had
deep pockets and a message that was deemed acceptable for
public consumption, you could speak your peace. It would
be difficult, as a gun owner, to ignore certain biases prevalent
within Canada’s largest media outlets today. But now the age
of the internet has dawned, conventional media architecture
is in tatters, and all gun owners stand to benefit.
There is now an endlessly open vista of independent outlets
for politics, news, entertainment, and the commerce of
thought. The advent of the internet has turned the old model
on its ear. When one envisions tools of political activism,
Facebook may not be the first that comes to mind; yet it is
emblematic of the societal shift to a new media standard. It
is this shift that should be raising the pulse of shooting sports
enthusiasts across the nation, and the reason is simple: at last,
we have a voice. In the age of the internet, any TV show, news
program, magazine article, or radio talk show that displays
an anti-gun bias and selective supporting statistics need only
be caught by one gun owner. That person, using Facebook,
a blog, email, or online forums, can alert thousands of other
gun owners to respond and debunk the bias and mistruths
presented therein. Think of it as an intellectual “call to arms”
for gun owners nation-wide!
While the six o’clock news is still flush with veiled attacks
against legal gun owners, enthusiasts across Canada can use
the internet to balance the score. Most gun owners reading this
article know about the controversey surrounding the RCMP’s
re-classification and subsequent confiscation of legally
owned Norinco T-97 rifles and High Standard Model 10B
shotguns. The original government stance on this issue was
that the RCMP would seize these guns without compensating
their owners. A concerted letter writing campaign, organized
nation-wide through the website “Canadian Gun Nutz,”
combined with continued pressure from the NFA and the
www.nfa.ca CSSA, resulted in the government acceding to demands that
fair compensation be paid to those affected. That is to say,
an egregious police action that would have passed almost
unmarked a decade ago was recognized, organized against,
and responded to by average gun owners across Canada to
such an extent as to force government intervention in police
autocracy. This is the power of new media. This is what gun
owners should be excited about.
Perhaps even more important than application in political
activism, the online environment provides a unifying
influence on Canadian gun owners. On an average day, your
typical target shooter may only run into a typical hunter if
they both happen to be buying ammo at the local shop. On the
internet, however, they can interact uninhibited and in a safe
and anonymous environment, sharing ideas and exploring
areas of the sport that they may not be familiar with. Maybe
the seasoned hunter warms to the notion of the AR-15 as a
legitimate sporting platform; perhaps the target shooter can
find value in the opinions and experiences of the collector,
trap shooter, and hunter. Where gun owners were once
divided into small, disconnected groups, they now have the
ability to unify and to interact. There are online communities
of gun owners already sharing hunting stories, political
ideas, and reloading tips. Firearms owners, historically a
varied and disparate bunch, now have the ability to mend
the inter-discipline fissures that have become entrenched in
previous decades.
While out enjoying that particular aspect of our sport that
you know and love, it’s worth considering that millions of
Canadians enjoy using guns in very different, but equally
rewarding activities. If you’re only active in one facet of the
shooting sports, it may be worth opening up your internet
browser and searching out what the other half of gun owners
are up to. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you
find.
The inevitable question, then, is this: “How do I get involved
and use these new tools to their full advantage”. The first
step to answering that question is to identify the most visible
online destinations. The largest and most diverse online
December
23
community of firearms owners in Canada can be found at
www.CanadianGunNutz.com. This website offers access to
a knowledge base previously unknown and provides a forum
for all types of shooters to interact fully. It is filled with
people who are deeply involved with the shooting sports in
Canada, and in this author’s opinion is the most important
advancement for pro-gun activism in Canada since the
inception of the NFA and the CSSA.
There are hundreds of people on this forum every minute of
the day monitoring news outlets and government websites,
and who provide instant alerts to the rest of the firearms
community when gun-related issues pop up. It was a member
of this forum who created www.Democracy-Machine.com, a
tool that enables a single user to send emails to every single
Member of Parliament with the click of a button. If you own
a firearm, it is worth your time to join up with the other sixtythousand Canadian Gun Nutz online. This is doubly true if
you are an experienced gun owner as the internet is not just
for twenty-somethings. You may be surprised by just how
much you can contribute to the ongoing discussions there.
In addition to internet forums, there are Facebook groups.
These are collectives of Facebook patrons that gather online
around a particular issue; in our case, the love of firearms
and liberty. Recently even Canada’s National Firearms
Association launched its own Facebook page, with the aid of
dedicated volunteers.
In addition to the NFA’s page, there were groups created in
support of Bill C-391 that aided gun orgs like the NFA in
coordinating gun owner’s responses vis a vis political action,
and enabled them to reach an entirely new audience. While
C-391 failed thanks to flip-flops by select NDP and Liberal
MPs who broke their word, gun owners on Facebook aren’t
going to forget or forgive. Facebook is another tool in our
gun orgs arsenal, and when the time comes, there will be
a Facebook group aimed at informing the voting public of
those MP’s treachery and offering the public more gunfriendly alternatives.
New media outlets and social networking sites are opening up
an entirely new battlefront in our fight to protect and preserve
our rights as responsible firearms owners. Obviously,
Facebook groups are a great way to pull the younger crowd
into the fold, and to engage people who don’t own firearms in
discussion. It doesn’t always have to be uber serious either,
there are groups for hunting, a group for concealed carry in
Canada, and a multitude of various gun owner groups for
various types, model and styles of firearms. Your imagination
is the limit of what type of group you may find on Facebook,
or you can even start your own!
YouTube is yet another online resource that gun owners
can use. Not only can you find great explanatory videos
for reloading, shooting technique, and equipment reviews,
but you will see inspired pro-gun speeches, parliamentary
GFGF In Remembrance of Our Dear Friend FGFG
It is with sadness that the National
Firearms Association announces the
passing of Dennis G. Wright of Ontario.
Dennis succumbed to pancreatic cancer
on September 30, 2010 at the age of 73.
Dennis will be missed by his wife
Monica of 50 years. He will also be
missed by his three children, Darrell,
Westly and Trudy and their partners.
Dennis was a devoted grandfather and
will be deeply missed by grandchildren
Kristen, Zack, Jake, Grace, Luke and
Abby.
The firearms community in Ontario has
lost a true friend who was best known
for his role in establishing a network
of gun shows throughout southern
Ontario. Over the last 35 years Dennis
and Monica ran hundreds of shows
in many different locations. Dennis
always had several tables of goods for
sale and was an avid and extremely
knowledgeable cartridge collector.
Dennis was also actively involved in
politics related to firearms. He helped
establish the Fed Up rally in Ottawa
and was very proud to have walked
in the first row of the procession as it
headed towards Parliament Hill.
Dennis will be remembered for both his
contribution to the firearms community
and as a friend to all who shared his
interest in gun and cartridge collecting.
The National Firearms Association, on
behalf of its membership, would like
to extend our heartfelt condolences to
Monica and her family for their loss.
24
Dennis G. Wright of Ontario
December
www.nfa.ca
proceedings, and stirring depictions of hunting and nature.
Youtube and other on-line video hosting sites are doing more
to keep politicians ‘honest’ than just about any other factor
in recent memory. If they open their mouths on video, within
minutes some helpful Internet savvy member of the public
has uploaded those comments or speech for the entire world
to view.
The last internet medium discussed here is the “podcast”.
This is a pre-recorded internet-based radio show that you
can download to a computer or MP3 player and listen to at
your leisure. You can subscribe to these shows so that they
are automatically downloaded for you each week as new
episodes are released. By far the easiest way to listen in is
to install iTunes (www.itunes.com) on your computer and
search topics of your choosing in the iTunes store. It’s all
free! If that is a whole lot of mumbo-jumbo to you, enlist
anyone under the age of 30 to help you and they’ll have
you setup in minutes. You will find a staggering array of
podcasts out there covering everything from cooking to pets,
and of course, guns! There are numerous American podcasts
which are resplendent with good information, and recently a
Canadian podcast called Canadian Reload Radio was started
up by a few gun nutz north of the border.
NFA and its fellow pro-firearms gun orgs, have consistently
challenged the tenuous claims of the gun control industry
and the biased coverage of the media.
The glue binding this sustained effort in recent years has
been the Internet, and the tools that it provides. With the
combined efforts of our gun organizations in parliament and
around the world; coupled with everyday gun owners writing
letters and using the internet to organize themselves, we are
turning things around; we are shifting social momentum
back in our favour.
Bill C-391 was just the first of many tests we shall yet face;
and I believe it will ultimately serve as a corner-stone upon
which we can build even greater momentum, and to gather
greater numbers to our side in anticipation of the battles that
lay ahead. C-391 was a close-fought battle and just a single
vote made the difference. Next time, we will be even better
prepared, will assemble in even greater numbers and will
be more fully engaged than ever before; from teenagers to
senior citizens. From where I sit, even with the failure of
C-391, for the first time in a long while, the future of our
sport is looking a little brighter, and we have technology to
thank for it.
The media landscape has undergone a dramatic
transformation, and we as gun owners are in an excellent
position to reap the rewards. Gun owners, in concert with the
Each One
Of Us Is...
An ambassador, a teacher, and
a member. One of the most important functions of Canada’s
National Firearms Association
is making firearms ownership
and use relevant to growing
numbers of Canadians.
To prosper, we must have a
steady flow of new shooters
and enthusiasts entering our
proud firearms heritage.
Your membership and your
donations to Canada’s National Firearms Association
are helping us develop the
programs Canada
needs to make
sure our firearms
heritage continues
to grow.
I want to help Make It Happen!
Here is my contribution to the
Canada’s National Firearms Association
to help protect my rights to own and use firearms.
􀁔 $100 􀁔 $50 􀁔 $25 􀁔 $________
􀁔 My Cheque or Money Order enclosed
􀁔 Charge my Visa/MasterCard/AMEX
Card #:______________________________ Expiry: ______________
Signature: ________________________________________________
Name: ___________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________
City/Town: ________________ Prov:_________ Postal Code: _______
Ph.:__________________________ Fx.: ________________________
E-mail: ___________________________________________________
Mail this form to: Canada’s National Firearms Association, Box 52183, Edm., AB T6G 2T5
or Call
www.nfa.ca our Toll Free Number at 1-877-818-0393
December
25
Public Health
and Gun Control
By Gary Mauser
In September, I represented the NFA at the World Forum’s
Fall meeting in Australia where we discussed how to respond
to recent initiatives by the United Nations that have the
potential to destroy civilian gun rights.
The World Forum is one of the few organizations that actively
stand up for civilian gun owners at the UN. The UN may
appear distant and even irrelevant to ordinary folks busy with
such things as family and work, but the UN disarmament
efforts continue to threaten law-abiding civilians. Elitist
anti-gun groups, such as IANSA and SaferWorld, are the
driving force behind the gun-related moves of the UN. Antigun organizations are well-funded, convinced of their moral
superiority, and they persistently push the view that civilian
firearms owners are a major threat to world peace.
The World Forum continues to urge the UN to exempt
civilian firearms from disarmament efforts and instead
focus on military firearms. What are civilian arms? The
Forum argues that civilian arms should be defined as those
that are not fully-automatic military firearms. IANSA and
SaferWorld urge the definition be restricted to “sporting
arms.” Restricting the definition of civilian arms in this
way has been the key to governments capriciously banning
firearms that even by their colour or other design feature may
look undesirable to some official.
Until the UN recognizes the positive contribution to society
made by civilian firearms owners, everyone should remain
concerned. The UN’s stated goal is to protect the public
through limiting access to firearms, although in practice
the UN tends to confuse firearms owned by law-abiding
civilians with those in the hands of criminals and terrorists.
Arguably, the UN is influenced in this by the percentage of
dictatorships among member nations that are eager to restrict
their citizens’ freedoms.
The UN’s overly bureaucratic style equates emerging nations
and countries in the developed world. Paternalistic programs
26
that may be of some value in fragile post-conflict regions
are then adopted by “progressive” governments in developed
countries, such as Canada under Chretien’s Liberals.
Guns as a Disease
Why would seemingly intelligent people confuse civilian
firearms ownership with criminal violence and terrorism?
Anti-gun groups that infest the UN are inspired by an
elitist “public health” ideology that equates firearms with
dangerous diseases. If firearms are a “disease” then strict
governmental controls on firearms and their “sick” owners
are justified in the same fashion as mandatory inoculations
would be to combat an ebola epidemic. The anti-democratic
arrogance of such an approach should be obvious.
The assumption that civilian firearms are intrinsically
dangerous diverts the UN away from murderous
governments, such as the Sudan or Zimbabwe. Governments
are responsible for inspiring genocides, not farmers with
firearms protecting livestock. Remember Stalin’s USSR,
Nazi Germany, as well as Rwanda. The public health view of
the world is responsible for the complex rules that Canadians
are familiar with: licensing, waiting periods, safe storage;
restrictions on types of permitted firearms, and, of course,
firearms registration.
Moral crusades need metrics. For the public health crusaders
it is “gun deaths” that they use to equate guns with killing
and to justify draconian public safety measures. Focusing on
gun deaths ignores other means to commit murder or suicide.
More important, making guns the issue diverts attention from
murderers and even social problems: criminals are not seen
as responsible for their crimes, nor do we need to invoke
complex social problems, such as racism, poor parenting or
welfare dependency. Threats to public safety are reduced
to merely the availability of guns. Public health offers a
simple solution that allows its advocates to feel good about
themselves.
December
www.nfa.ca
of such as suicide and accidents. Suicide and murder are seen
as impulsive acts. This is flawed. The persistent failure of
The term “gun deaths” is widely adopted by activists
gun laws to reduce murder and suicide refutes that. Reducing
when it is nothing but a red herring masking changes in
gun availability does not remove access to equally deadly
more important indicators. Counting “gun deaths” is not
alternatives.
an appropriate measure for evaluating firearms laws. If
the objective of gun laws is to improve public safety, then Compare this objective with the more traditional goal for
the proper measures are homicide, violent crime rates, and criminal legislation of protecting the public order. Setting
suicide rates, in that order. All civilized countries recognize idealistic goals subtly (if substantially) expands police
these phenomena. Public safety involves protecting the powers. Traditionally, the police have focused on guarding
public from criminal violence, including terrorism, and only the peace and detecting crime. By ambitiously expanding
secondarily diminishing suicide rates. Since more than 75% what is meant by improving public safety, criminal legislation
of gun deaths are suicides, this reverses the proper priorities. now becomes open-ended; the more modest goal of reducing
criminal violence is usurped by the broader goal of preventing
Counting gun deaths misleads policy makers. Given the many
all potential threats to individual safety. Suicide and accident
ways of killing, a drop in “gun deaths” does not necessarily
prevention now receive as much or more attention from
imply any lives are saved. Murderers are opportunistic. If a
firearms law than do more traditional policing goals such as
gun is unavailable, a person intent on murder in virtually any
detecting and preventing crime. The beat cop is replaced by
home can readily find a sharp knife or heavy object that may
the nanny state.
be used as a bludgeon. For anyone tempted to suicide, other
alternatives are available and just as effective as a firearm. Conclusion
There is no compelling evidence that general gun-control
Good intentions do not guarantee success. It is too easy to
laws can reduce overall murder or suicide rates; this is easily
be diverted by definitions or simplistic metrics, such as gun
seen by the failure of murder and suicide rates to fall as a
deaths. Idealists are too easily seduced by warm and fuzzy
consequence of the introduction of more restrictive gun laws
concepts that frequently produce the opposite effect. To
(Baker, 2006; Kates and Mauser, 2007; Lott, 2010; Mauser,
successfully protect the public, gun laws should focus on
2008).
criminal misuse of firearms rather than their potential misuse
The influence of the public-health approach on the Federal by law-abiding civilians. Citizens rely upon organizations
Government is evident in the idealistic goal set for the like the World Forum to vigilantly guard against self-serving
1995 firearms legislation of improving public safety. The bureaucracies and self-satisfied idealists. This is even more
current Canadian firearms law (Bill C-68) also assumes that important in non-democratic organizations like the United
restricting firearms availability will reduce the human cost Nations.
The term ‘gun deaths’ is a red herring.
References
Baker, Jeanine, and Samara McPhedran (2007). “Gun Laws and Sudden Death: Did the Australian Firearms Legislation
of 1996 Make a Difference?” British Journal of Criminology.
DOI: < HYPERLINK “http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azl084”
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azl084>.
Kates, Don B. and Gary Mauser (2007). “Would Banning
Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide? A Review of
International Evidence and some Domestic Evidence,”
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Spring 2007, Vol.
30 (2), pp 650-694.
Canadian Firearms Advisory Council Meeting, November 2010
Left to Right: Jerry Gamble, Tony Bernardo, Louis D’Amour, Canadian
Firearms Centre Minister Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety John Gayder,
Gary Mauser, Steve Torino, Co-spokesperson of the Committee Shawn
Fried, Office of the Minister of Public Safety
Lott, John R Jr (2010). More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding
Crime and Gun Control Laws, Third Edition. (Available from
the NFA Office).
Mauser, Gary (2008). “Firearms: Do Restrictive Laws Improve
Public Safety?” In John Meadowcroft (ed.), Prohibitions,
Institute of Economic Affairs, London, England.
Missing: Mike Ackerman, Linda Baggaley, Alain Cossette, Greg Farrant,
Murray Grismer, and Linda Thom.
www.nfa.ca December
27
Shooting
like a
Girl
By Oleg Volk
Among firearm trainers, the expression
“shooting like a girl” is a compliment.
Women are reputed to be easier to
train to use firearms. Women sports
shooters, despite being less common
than men, win a disproportionate share
of trophies. Despite that, many men
express a frustration at their female
relatives’ lack of interest in learning to
shoot. How could this be?
The reasons are many. Some women
just never perceived guns as a girlish
interest, others were turned off by poor
initial instruction. With less upper body
strength and shorter arms than most
men, women have to adjust to overlong stocks that make recoil harder to
control, large grips and front-heavy
guns. Cross-eye dominance, at 3-4
times the rate for men, also makes
using iron sights more challenging.
The deck appears stacked against
the female shooter from the start, yet
many excel in shooting sports. How
can good results be achieved despite
the challenges? Three defining factors
come to mind.
The first and foremost is the parental
and spousal support. Heather and
Halie Pitts, sister national champions
in many competitions including the
challenging 910 meter F-class shoots
are a case in point. Their consistently
superb performance has been enabled
by the support and the coaching of
their father Howard Pitts. Howard, a
maker of world-class custom precision
rifles used by his daughters and other
trophy winners, has gently coached
his daughters through their teen years.
The results of their efforts are the many
medals the girls proudly wear.
The second is the mind-set to tackle
and surmount all challenges. A decade
ago, Stacy Lear was sedentary and
apprehensive of firearms. In a selfassigned “Sarah Connor project”,
she defined numerous competencies
as goals and worked unceasingly to
reach them. Several friends and her
eventual husband provided support in
the form of encouragement, instruction
and resources, but the drive to
accomplish was intrinsic. Today, Stacy
is a detective with a Pacific Northwest
police department and a competent
recreational shooter with pistol and
rifle. She serves as inspiration for
many who followed her evolution
from a timid novice to the well-trained
close quarters fighter and long range
marksman that she is today.
The third is having appropriate
equipment. Though gear appropriate
for women and other shooters of
modest size and strength has often
28
December
been restricted by law, the following
equipment and features are generally
helpful:
* Light weight: a 3kg rifle generally
works better than a 5kg rifle.
* Adjustable stock or grips: many
fixed stocks are far too long for
short shooters. A telescoping stock
with several intermediate positions
permits proper form when firing
and thus better recoil control and
accuracy. With pistols, stocks that
allow custom fit to the hand are
preferable.
* Low recoil: rimfire or self-loading
centerfire guns usually have less
felt recoil than centerfire guns with
manual actions.
* Low report and muzzle flash:
flash and sound suppressors
keep the new shooters from
developing a flinch in anticipation
of the uncomfortable muzzle
blast. (100% legal in the USA &
throughout much of Europe but
illegal in Canada! Why?)
* Laser sights: an excellent tool for
observing and correcting trigger
control problems.
For learning long guns, a support
would be helpful at first to allow trigger
control exercises without having to
www.nfa.ca
Halie Alexandra Pitts & Heather Nicole Pitts
Halie Alexandra Pitts
Smallbore:
Freshman-University of Alabama
in Huntsville-Major-Aerospace
Engineering
1st Place-Prone Junior-Tennessee-2006
Distinguished Shooter Badge-3 Position
International Air Rifle
National Record Holder
F-Class:
1st Place-Zone 3x20-2008
1st Place-Alabama Smallbore 3-Position
Championships-2007
2nd Place-3x20 Smallbore-2009
1st Place-NRA Smallbore 3 Position
Sectional-2008
Junior National Champion-2005
High Woman-Warren County Rifle
Club-Southeast F Class Shootout-2007 (2
Matches)
High Junior-Warren County Rifle ClubSoutheast F Class Shootout-2007 (2
Matches)
learn proper gun holding techniques at
the same time. Large, reactive targets
up close give the first taste of success
to the new shooter, encouraging her
to try more challenging targets next.
Marjorie, a multi-talented illustrator,
clothing and graphic designer from
Nashville, learned the basics in
exactly that manner. Her first shots
were with pistol at 3 meters from the
target, within an hour she could hit a
2cm circle reliably with a .22 carbine
at 25 meters. To her advantage was
the low-recoil rifle, a 1-4x scope and
a sound suppressor. The acquisition
of marksmanship skills went on
undisturbed by physical discomfort of
heavy recoil or loud report. With proper
hearing protection – muffs over ear
plugs – an unsuppressed .22 rifle would
have been almost as comfortable.
The challenges women shooters face
are substantially similar to those faced
by men. However, the issues of social
pressure and gun fit are often greater for
them and should be considered. Given
the disproportionate defensive benefit
provided by firearm competency to
the otherwise smaller and weaker
females, providing all possible support
to the interested novices is of utmost
importance to both Canadian and
American trainers.
High Junior Shooter-Tennessee State F
Class Championship 2006
Junior Mid-Range ChampionTennessee-2009
High Woman-Tennessee State F Class
Championship-2006
Air Rifle:
Tennessee State Champion-2007
Tennessee State 3-Position
Champion-2008
NRA Air Rifle Sectional-2008
1st place-3-Position Junior-2006
1st place-Zone Match 3x20-2008
1st place-Tennessee Junior Olympic
International Air Championships-2008
(earning a chance to compete at the
National Junior Olympic Championships
at the Olympic Training Center in
Colorado Springs)
1st place-Tennessee Junior Olympic
International Air Championships-2009
(earning a chance to compete at the
National Junior Olympic Championships
at the Olympic Training Center in
Colorado Springs)
Earned spot on the Tennessee State All
State Air Rifle Team-2007 & 2008
www.nfa.canfa.ca December
Heather Nicole Pitts
Senior-University of Alabama in
Huntsville-Major Aero-Mechanical
Engineering
F-Class:
National Champion-F-Class High
Junior-2004
National Champion-F-Class High
Intermediate Junior-2005
High Junior-Tennessee State F-Class
Championship
High Woman-Tennessee Service Rifle
Championship-2005
High Junior High Power Tennessee State
Championship-2003
High Junior-1000 Yard-Tennessee State
Championship-2002
1st Place-F-Class 1000 Yard Tennessee
State Championship-2002
High Woman-1000 Yard Tennessee State
Championship-2004
High Junior-1000 Yard Tennessee State
Championship-2004
Overall Winner-1000 Yard Tennessee
State Championship-2004
1st Place-Elk Valley Shooter’s
Association-Youth Division-2000
1st Place-Warren County Rifle Club-1000
Yard F-Class-2002
1st Place-Elk Valley Shooter’s
Association-Long Range Rifle-2003
29
La Police
en
Politique
par Tyler Vance
La route vers
le Désatre
Depuis le mois de juin 2010, les électeurs Canadiens, en particulier
les propriétaires d’armes à feu ont été forcés d’être témoin de la
plus féroce bataille politique sur le contrôle des armes que notre
pays ait vu depuis le débat initial qui a vu naître la Loi C-68 en
1995. L’enjeu portait sur la décision d’abolir le registre raté des
armes longues, suite à la présentation du projet de loi C-391 de la
Député Candice Hoeppner.
Les partisans du contrôle des armes et les représentants des partis
d’opposition tel que Michael Ignatieff, aussi connu sous le nom
de Iggy, se sont très bien démarqués et les propriétaires d’armes
à feu ont encore vu leurs armes et leurs raisons pour en posséder
ridiculisées, démonisées et rejetées du revers de la main.
Or, Iggy a cité l’exemple de l’Association Canadienne des Chefs de
Police (ACCP) et l’Association Canadienne des Policiers (ACP),
qui continuent d’appuyer le registre comme étant la raison pour
laquelle il a changé son fusil d’épaule en obligeant tous ses députés
à voter contre le projet de loi C-391. Mis à part l’opportunisme
politique de Iggy, tous les contribuables, les propriétaires d’armes
à feu et les politiciens devraient se demander pourquoi ces
Associations de police appuient-ils le registre des armes à feu? En
fait, pourquoi les a-t’on laissé faire de la politique, d’influencer la
création de lois? Pourquoi ne les remettons nous pas à leur place
quand elles mentent ouvertement et régulièrement aux Canadiens
sans aucune hésitation ni aucune crainte de conséquences?
Le président de l’ACCP et chef de police de Toronto Bill Blair,
prétend que les policiers de première ligne sont quasi unanimes
à appuyer l’utilité du registre des armes longues. Au fur et à
mesure que la fin de l’existence du registre approchait la version
‘officielle’ sur les statistiques de son utilisation les ont fait
augmenter de manière exponentielle! Au dernier décompte, il
semble que les policiers l’interrogent presque 11,500 fois par jour!
En augmentant artificiellement ces statistiques, la police influence
l’opinion publique en sa faveur. Les policiers ne devraient pas
s’abaisser à utiliser ce genre de méthode.
Ces statistiques sont fautives puisque le logiciel national le CIPC
a été programmé pour interroger le registre à chaque fois qu’un
policier vérifie une adresse, une plaque d’immatriculation ou bien
qu’il réponde à un appel de routine. En plus, à chaque fois qu’une
arme change de propriétaire le registre est interrogé au moins 3
fois.
Je viens d’acheter une carabine cal .22, sans restriction d’une autre
personne. Cette seule transaction a généré, à ma connaissance,
au moins 8 ou 9 interrogations du registre : Des interrogations
30
December
www.nfa.ca
automatiques ont été créées de la part du vendeur, de
l’acheteur et de l’arme comme telle. En suite Miramichi a
référé la cession au contrôleur des armes à feu Provincial
pour l’approbation finale, qui elle a généré plusieurs autres
interrogations au registre. Lorsque j’ai appelé le Centre
Canadien des Armes à Feu pour vérifier l’état de ma demande,
encore d’autres interrogations ont été faites!
Une carabine .22 à verrou est une des plus banales et ‘non
menaçante’ forme d’arme que l’on puisse trouver et pourtant
cette simple cession a servie à gonfler les statistiques en
faveur de l’utilisation du registre des armes longues comme
outils de travail essentiel pour la police.
Le contexte du contrôle des armes Canadien en a toujours été
un de contrôle plutôt qu’un programme d’amélioration de la
sécurité publique. Ces tentatives audacieuses par la GRC et
l’ACCP de passer outre le privilège du Parlement et de notre
Gouvernement élu en faisant la promotion de leur propre
agenda politique sont inacceptables. Ils placent leurs pions
en gonflant les statistiques et en évoquant des faussetés.
Malheureusement, il a été impossible de les punir pour ce
comportement jusqu’à présent.
C’est donc la responsabilité des propriétaires d’armes à feu
et de l’opinion publique de les dénoncer comme nous le
faisons ici aujourd’hui.
Heureusement l’attitude méprisante et les propos mensonger
du chef Bill Blair ont enfin été dénoncés publiquement. Il
est quand même inconcevable que ses maitres politiques lui
permettent encore d’être le chef du plus gros corps de police
municipal au pays!
Ce qui est encore plus enrageant, c’est qu’il ait réussi à mettre
de côté la protection contre les fouilles et saisies abusives
garantie par la Charte Canadienne des Droits et Libertés
durant le sommet du G20 en inventant une loi. Je parle ici
de la ‘Loi du 5 mètre’, qui selon le chef Blair donnait le droit
aux policiers de fouiller quiconque s’approchait à l’intérieur
d’un périmètre de 5 mètre de la clôture de la zone sécuritaire
du G20. Durant les manifs, plus de 900 manifestants
légitimes ont été arrêtés sans motifs et relâchés plus tard sans
aucune accusation. Lors d’un entrevue après l’événement,
Bill Blair a été forcé d’admettre avec son petit sourire en
coin, qu’il n’existait pas vraiment de ‘Loi du 5 mètre’. Il a
passé tout cet entrevue à justifier ses écarts constitutionnels
et ses mensonges en disant que l’objectif était d’empêcher
les criminels de s’approcher de la clôture de sécurité. En
résumé, il a brisé la loi pour faire respecter sa loi.
Ce n’est pas le travail de Bill Blair chef de police de Toronto,
d’inventer des lois, de faire changer des lois ni de faire du
lobbying politique. Le lobbying de la part de la GRC sur le
registre des armes longues est tout aussi inacceptable.
Le rôle de la police est d’appliquer les lois qui ont été
créée par les autorités civiles, élues démocratiquement. Ces
www.nfa.ca autorités ont le pouvoir de créer des lois pour le peuple et
par le peuple, leurs légitimités dépendent de l’accord et de
l’appui de leurs électeurs.
La GRC ne jouie pas de ces privilèges et ne doit pas être
permise d’agir comme si elle les avait, car ceci déconsidère
l’administration de la justice.
Il est évident que des individus tels que Bill Blair et le
Commissaire Adjoint Killam de la GRC sont des bêtes
politiques. Ils n’ont pas réussi à gravir les échelons de leurs
organisations sans savoir jouer les jeux politiques internes.
Le problème est qu’ils essaient d’étendre leurs activités audelà de leurs champs de commandement respectifs. Lorsque
les chefs de police, hauts gradés et services de police
s’affichent politiquement comme ils le font à propos du
registre des armes longues et d’autres enjeux sur le contrôle
des armes, ils abaissent leurs organisations respectives dans
l’abime ténébreux de la politique sale. Leurs réputations sont
ternies et ils minent la confiance des citoyens respectueux
des lois en faisant du lobbying politique pour conserver des
lois considérées répugnantes dans leur aspect moral et fiscal.
Il est évident que les partis d’opposition ont bénéficié du
lobbying policier, mais considérant qu’il s’agit de Iggy et du
parti Libéral du Canada, c’est certain qu’il a voulu maintenir
le registre puisqu’il a été créé sous leur règne.
Cet appui ne vient certainement pas d’un élan de politique
bienfaisante ou d’une morale sans taches.
Nos corps policiers ne doivent pas faire de la politique, ils
ne doivent pas compromettre leur neutralité. Ils ne doivent
pas accepter de larges sommes d’argent de compagnies avec
lesquelles ils font affaire ou pourraient faire affaire dans
l’avenir. Ils doivent toujours dire la vérité, ne jamais mentir
au peuple dont ils ont le devoir de servir et protéger.
Malgré l’existence de ces règles de base, l’ACCP dirigée par
le chef Bill Blair, a accepté des dons dépassant largement les
$100,000.00 du Groupe CGI, une compagnie de technologie
de l’information. Ce ‘donateur’ fait un chiffre d’affaire de
plusieurs millions de dollars grâce à des contrats avec la
GRC et le Programme Canadien des Armes à Feu pour
l’entretien du système informatique du registre des armes à
feu.
D’autres dons excédant les $200,000.00 ont été acceptés de
TASER International, la même compagnie qui fabrique les
pistolets électriques qui ont causés plusieurs décès à travers
le pays. L’ACCP s’est payé des banquets et conférences
luxueuses avec ces dons parmi lesquels figuraient aussi des
billets de spectacles de Céline Dion. Il y a de quoi s’inquiéter
car ces gestionnaires policiers établissent les politiques
opérationnelles à savoir comment les pistolets électriques
seront utilisés à tous les jours dans nos rues. Ce n’est pas une
coïncidence que seulement 6 semaines après leur congrès
l’ACCP et l’ACP ont tenu une conférence de presse à Ottawa
December
31
pour annoncer leur position officielle sur l’utilisation des
pistolets électriques, qu’ils appuient tous les 2 comme étant
un outil essentiel au travail policier.
C’est intéressant de constater qu’ils ont utilisés les mêmes
termes pour défendre le registre des armes longues!
Malheureusement, lorsqu’on accepte ce genre de ‘cadeau’ ce
n’est jamais sans conditions. L’indépendance et l’intégrité
de nos forces policières doivent demeurer sans reproche
pour que le publique reconnaisse leur autorité morale et
légale dans l’application des lois. La plupart des Canadiens
n’approuvent pas ce genre de comportement venant
d’organisations normalement respectables. Ils représentent 2
des 3 plus grandes organisations policières au pays et sont
celles qui ont dirigées la lutte contre le projet de loi C-391
dans les médias et à Ottawa. Nous les avons vues lors de
leurs présentations faites devant le Comité Parlementaire.
L’ACCP et l’ACP ont tous deux défendus publiquement
TASER International en prétendant qu’ils voulaient corriger
l’information erronée et incomplète transmise par les médias,
qui selon eux, a influencé l’opinion publique sur ce genre
d’arme. Leur communiqué de presse est ni plus ni moins un
appui publique des pistolets électriques et une exonération
de tous blâmes envers le leader mondial dans la fabrication
de ces engins, TASER International.
En prenant position de la sorte et en acceptant des ‘cadeaux’
qui font penser à des pots-de-vin, l’ACCP et l’ACP se sont
placés dans une position des plus compromettante. Le
peu d’intégrité qu’ils paraissaient avoir en étant liées aux
organisations policières a été détruite à tout jamais. Bill
Blair et son acolyte Charles Momy ont oublié l’immuable
loi naturelle suivante : Quand on se couche avec des cochons
on se réveillent pleins de boue.
Le Dr. John Jones était conseiller en éthique pour l’ACCP.
Lorsque les chefs de l’ACCP ont décidé de continuer
d’accepter des dons et des commandites énormes, il a
démissionné, dégouté de leurs agissements, en avril 2009.
Il décrit cette situation en détail dans son livre : Reputable
Conduct : Ethical Issues in Policing and Corrections.
Notre service de police national n’est guère mieux, la
GRC suit les traces de l’ACCP et de l’ACP quand il s’agit
du registre des armes longues. Le fait d’avoir transféré
l’administration du Programme des Armes à Feu libéral et
toute sa bureaucratie gonflée à la GRC a été, avec du recul,
une erreur monumentale du Gouvernement. Au lieu d’avoir
remplacé un groupe de fonctionnaires de gauche, anti-armes
par ce qu’on croyait être une organisation policière neutre
et dont l’objectif principal devait être d’administrer de
manière juste le programme de contrôle des armes à feu :
Les propriétaires d’armes à feu se sont retrouvés devant une
autre bureaucratie hostile, mais ses fonctionnaires possèdent
des armes aussi! L’ironie est à son comble!
Le manque de neutralité de la GRC en matière d’armes à feu
32
se trouve dans leur lien direct avec un allié de la Coalition
pour le Contrôle des Armes : Le Conseil Canadien de la
Sécurité. Le Conseil est bien connu pour sa position antiarme et son ancien président, Émile Thérien est un franc
partisan de l’interdiction totale de la possession d’arme par
la population civile. M. Thérien a publié plusieurs écrits sur
ce sujet. À leur lecture, force est de constater la collusion
directe entre son organisme et la Coalition pour le Contrôle
des Armes. Les lettres de M. Thérien sont des ‘copiéescollées’ de celles publiées par Mme Cukier elle-même! Mme
Cukier a admise publiquement qu’il existe un lien étroit entre
son organisation et le Conseil Canadien de Sécurité (CCS),
ce qui nous permet de conclure que le CCS est membre de
facto de sa Coalition.
Depuis que les Conservateurs sont au pouvoir, la Coalition
de Mme Cukier a cessé d’être financée par les fonds publics.
Mais ses sources de financement actuel soulèvent plusieurs
questions. Or des rapports publics indiquent qu’en 2009, la
GRC a fourni plusieurs subventions totalisants $110,000.00
à l’allié de Mme Wendy Cukier, Émile Thérien et le Conseil
canadien de Sécurité pour fournir de ‘l’éducation’ aux
propriétaires d’armes à feu! Les contribuables doivent se
demander pourquoi la GRC fait-elle des dons de la sorte et
où est passé cet argent? Le Cours Canadien de Sécurité dans
le maniement des armes à feu est toujours diffusé et est la
pierre angulaire du programme de contrôle des armes à feu
des Libéraux.
Donc, il est très important de le répéter : En 2009, la GRC
a donné plus de $100,000.00 de l’argent des contribuables
à un groupe de lobby reconnu pour sa position anti-arme,
radicalement politisé avec un agenda de gauche pour que ce
groupe fasse la ‘promotion’ de la sécurité en matière d’armes
à feu. Pourquoi?
Selon la preuve disponible, la seule raison est pour le
contrôle. Tant et aussi longtemps que le registre des armes
à feu existe, la police conservera son contrôle sur les
propriétaires d’armes à feu et sur leurs armes. Ils savent qui
en possède et ou elles se trouvent, tout est en place pour le
moment de leur confiscation. Du moins, ils pensent qu’ils
savent où elles sont…
Alors que devons nous faire pour remettre notre corps de
police national à sa place?
Premièrement : Ses dirigeants doivent reconnaitre que des
erreurs graves ont été commises et ils doivent en accepter
la responsabilité. Les actions des membres actifs de la GRC
doivent se conformer à la Loi sur la Gendarmerie Royale du
Canada (DORS/88-361) et les Règlements qui s’y rattachent.
L’examen des récents agissements de la GRC telles que
ses interventions politiques directes et son lobbying public
opposant le projet de loi C-391 indique qu’ils ont agi en
contravention avec leur propre Code de Déontologie a
multiple reprises. Voici l’intégral des articles d’intérêt :
December
www.nfa.ca
Règlement de la Gendarmerie royale
du Canada (1988)
DORS/88-361
LOI
SUR
LA
GENDARMERIE
ROYALE DU CANADA
Règlement de la Gendarmerie royale du
Canada (1988)
REGLEMENT CONCERNANT L’ORGANISATION,
LA FORMATION, LA CONDUITE, L’EXERCICE
DES FONCTIONS, LA DISCIPLINE, LE RENVOI
DES MEMBRES PAR MESURE ADMINISTRATIVE,
L’EFFICACITE, L’ADMINISTRATION ET LE BON
GOUVERNEMENT DE LA GENDARMERIE ROYALE
DU CANADA
PARTIE III
DISCIPLINE
Code de déontologie
37. Les articles 38 à 58.7 constituent le code de
déontologie régissant la conduite des membres.
DORS/99-26, art. 1.
57. (1) Sous réserve du paragraphe 58(2), le membre
qui se livre à des activités politiques ne peut
présenter ses opinions ou observations comme
étant faites pour le compte de la Gendarmerie ni
permettre à une personne faisant campagne pour
lui de le faire.
(2) Le membre qui se porte candidat à l’investiture
ou est candidat à une élection fédérale, provinciale
ou territoriale, au conseil d’une administration
régionale, municipale ou locale, au conseil ou
corps dirigeant d’une bande ou d’une première
nation ou à la direction d’un parti politique, peut
faire état de son grade ou niveau, de son poste et
de son expérience au sein de la Gendarmerie afin
de se présenter.
DORS/94-219, art. 22(A); DORS/99-26, art. 2;
DORS/2000-251, art. 1.
58. (1) Sous réserve du paragraphe (2), le
commissaire et les membres des grades de souscommissaire, commissaire adjoint ou surintendant
principal, ou les membres de niveaux désignés
équivalant à ces grades, et les membres exerçant
les fonctions de commandant, directeur général ou
agent de la police criminelle ne peuvent se livrer à
des activités politiques.
(2) Il est entendu que tout membre visé au paragraphe
www.nfa.ca (1) peut, pour le compte de la Gendarmerie, donner
des renseignements sur la prestation de services de
police par celle-ci en vertu de contrats municipaux,
provinciaux ou territoriaux lorsque la prestation de
tels services doit être soumise au vote direct de la
population.
DORS/99-26, art. 2; DORS/2000-251, art. 1.
L’interprétation logique de ce règlement indique,
qu’en tout temps, aucun membre de la GRC n’est
autorisé de se prononcer de manière officielle
pendant qu’il occupe d’autres tâches non-officielles
et-ou lorsqu’il est engagé dans une activité
politique.
Un bon père de famille peut conclure que faire
du lobbying contre le projet de loi C-391, que ce
soit de se présenter en comité parlementaire, ou
en fournissant des données et des informations
erronées, ou en diffusant des communiqués de
presse, ou en donnant des entrevues même de
manière indirecte, constituent toutes des ‘activités
politiques’.
Après avoir communiqué via mémo interne
la position officielle pro-registre de la GRC, le
Commissaire Adjoint Killam, a ordonné à tous
ses membres de se taire s’ils avaient des opinions
personnelles contraires à cette position officielle.
Pour le commun des mortels, ce genre ‘d’ordre’
s’apparente facilement à la définition d’une ‘activité
politique’. Bâillonner ainsi les policiers avec l’objectif
de les empêcher d’exprimer publiquement des
opinions contraires à l’agenda de la direction, est
effectivement un acte politique, en contravention
avec l’article 58 du règlement. Le fait d’avoir des
opinions contraires à la politique officielle sur le
registre des armes longues aurait aussi dévoilé
au grand jour la prétention criminellement
frauduleuse qui disait que les policiers de première
ligne appuient complètement le contrôle des armes
et l’enregistrement universel.
Le détective Randy Kuntz du Service de Police
d’Edmonton a fait un sondage auprès de collègues
dans la revue Blue Line en juin 2010. Les résultats
étaient concluants : 2410 policiers ont répondus
en faveur de l’abolition du registre des armes
d’épaules contre 221 en faveur de le conserver.
Pendant ce temps le Commissaire Adjoint de la
GRC profitait ouvertement de sa position pour
appuyer une politique controversée sur le projet
de loi C-391, pendant qu’il était encore devant la
Chambre des Communes. Ce geste est clairement
La Police...Suite page 44
December
33
In 2007, Questar International, the Canadian distributor
of Rock River Arms firearms succeeded in obtaining a
legal ruling from the Senior Firearms Technologist of the
RCMP’s Firearms Support Services Branch/ Firearms
Reference Table Section concerning the admissibility of a
new 10 round magazine designed specifically for the RRA
LAR-15 Pistol. The latter model of firearm is the virtual twin
of RRA LAR-15 rifles, the most obvious difference being
that it lacks a buttstock. In all other respects, it was an AR15 pattern firearm and offered the full interchangeability of
parts that the AR family is known for.
In the ruling, the RCMP accepted as fact that:
1. The Rock River Arms, LAR-15 Pistol qualified as
a, “handgun, commonly available in Canada.”
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2. The cartridge magazine for said handgun, as
manufactured by C Products LLC, was deemed to
be acceptable as a “handgun magazine” as it met the
following criterion:
a. It was designed and manufactured for use in a
handgun commonly available in Canada and had a
capacity of not more than ten cartridges of the kind
or type for which the magazine was designed.
b. The cartridge magazine for this handgun as
manufactured by C Products LLC was not an
adaption of a magazine designed and manufactured
for use in a semi-automatic rifle.
3. The design that was found acceptable as a handgun
magazine was held by the RCMP, Firearms Support
Services, Firearms Reference Table Section to be
a “pattern”. This particular design and NO other
design was approved for use as a handgun magazine
for a handgun commonly available in Canada.
4. As an assist to identification, the cartridge
magazines which were deemed acceptable as a
magazine for use in a handgun commonly available
in Canada, were to bear the following identification
markings on the body or magazine case, applied at
the time of manufacture by the manufacturer:
RRA MODEL LAR-15 PISTOL MAGAZINE
223 REM/5.56 MM NATO - 10 ROUND CAPACITY
As a consequence of this ruling, the RRA LAR-15 10 round
magazines were imported into Canada in full compliance
with existing firearms laws. Almost immediately thereafter,
owners of AR-15 rifles and variants purchased these
magazines in quantity for use in their AR-15 RIFLES.
34
December www.nfa.ca
Contrary to ‘common opinion’ this is 100% legal and users
are in full compliance with Canadian legislation. The crux
of the decision lies with how the legislation is written. As a
result, technically, your local range Nazi or gunshop ‘expert’
is wholly mistaken in their assertions that all rifles in Canada
are limited to 5 rounds and all handguns are limited to 10
rounds.
In actuality, the relevant legislation specifies how to
determine the capacity of a magazine; and it does so by
classifying the magazine itself for type and capacity based
on what that magazine was “designed and manufactured”
for and not what type or model of firearm it is used in.
In fact, the legislation makes no reference to what
firearms the magazine is subsequently used in once it
has been classified and its legal capacity determined.
The classification of, and the legal capacity of a magazine
does not change simply because it is placed in or used in a
handgun, a semi-auto rifle, a pump rifle, a bolt action rifle,
etc.. Consequently, AR-15 shooters were completely within
their rights to purchase and use LAR-15 Pistol magazines
in their Rifles. The same rules apply to owners of Beretta
CX4 ‘Storm’ carbines who utilize Beretta 92 magazines in
their semi-auto carbines, or M-14S owners who use AIA
magazines in their rifles.
Unfortunately, this same ruling has now come full circle and
the RCMP Firearms Investigative & Enforcement Services
Directorate (the old Tables Section) has issued a new ruling
that will affect all owners of S&W M&P 15-22 Rifles.
The S&W M&P 15-22 is Smith & Wesson’s flagship .22LR
rimfire rifle, and has become hugely popular amongst ‘black
rifle’ aficionados and the dedicated rimfire crowd within
the Canadian recreational firearms community. Sales of the
original rifle version were so strong that S&W also released
a pistol version. Currently, both the rifle and pistol versions
of the firearm are listed in the RCMP’s Firearms Reference
Table. The manufacturer, S&W has subsequently promoted
both firearms in their sales literature and advertising
campaigns, along with the fact that their OEM 25 round
magazine sold with both firearms, was designed and
manufactured for BOTH the handgun and the rifle.
Unfortunately, as a consequence, said magazines have been
deemed to be handgun magazines; which necessarily must
be limited to no more than 10 rounds under Canadian law.
• This model is manufactured in both rifle and handgun
configurations. The magazine is interchangeable between
the two configurations and must therefore be considered a
“handgun” magazine.
• Because handguns are limited to a ten shot magazine
capacity in accordance with the CC PART III, S.84,
Regulations PART 4 Para 3.(1)(b) “The Former Cartridge
Magazine Control Regulations”, this limits the magazine
capacity for the rifle configuration to ten (10) shots,
despite the firearm being designed to use rimfire
ammunition. (Rimfire rifles ordinarily being exempt from
magazine restrictions)
Therefore, the RCMP has ruled that the S&W 25 round
magazine (Part No.404850000) is a “Prohibited Device”
as it has a capacity in excess of 10 rounds. As such, we are
left with a situation where hundreds, if not thousands of lawabiding gun owners, now find themselves in possession of
“Prohibited Devices”.
Canada’s National Firearms Association is currently seeking
additional clarification from the RCMP and provincial
CFOs on this matter and have requested a formal written
determination as to whether or not it will be permissible
for owners currently in possession of these magazines to
permanently alter or pin them in such a manner as to limit
their capacity to a legal 10 rounds, rather than be forced
to turn them in for destruction. Once we know more, our
website www.nfa.ca will be updated to reflect the final ruling
on this matter.
Should any current owners wish to take a more proactive
position and contact their provincial CFO individually,
I would suggest that you do so in writing and request any
official response from your CFO to take the same form. Do
not rely on ‘advice’ supplied by a nameless clerk over the
telephone to provide any legal protection. Get it in writing.
NOTE: This RCMP ruling affects ONLY the S&W 25
round rimfire magazine (Part No.404850000) and has
no bearing on any other make or model of magazine.
Therefore, individuals possessing rimfire magazines, other
than the S&W M&P 15-22, such as those neat 50 round
rimfire drum magazines or 30 round Black Dog rimfire
magazines, and similar, etc., are completely unaffected by
this ruling. Said magazines remain completely legal to use
and posses!
There is little room to argue the point here, as unquestionably:
• S&W offers for sale a 25 shot magazine available for the
M&P 15-22.
www.nfa.ca December 35
Team NFA
Update
By Grayson Penney
Megan Heinicke
We’ve had several happy developments
since our last update. All of us here at the
Canadian Firearms Journal and NFA are
very pleased to announce that our very
own Megan Heinicke delivered a beautiful
baby boy, Monday the 15th of November.
Mother and Baby Predo Emil Heinicke are
doing great and according to ‘Mom,’ both
have already been on their first Nordic
walking loop! Congratulations to both
Megan and husband iLmar on this happy
occasion!
For much of this past fall Megan had been
training in Germany. Feeling quite well, on
the whole, as she entered the latter stages
of her pregnancy. Megan and iLmar took
a short trip to the Piemont, (a mountain
region in Italy and Switzerland) where they
worked in some long bike rides and roller
ski training sessions.
This trip was the last major intensive
training block of Megan’s pregnancy and
thereafter, slow and steady was the name
of the game; rather than the high intensity
training she would normally have been
focusing on as an Olympic-class biathlete.
Luckily, one of Megan’s favourite types
of training has always been the long, slow,
endurance/strength building exercises and,
as Megan noted, “Nothing beats a few
hours on the road bike climbing a 40km
pass road with a great view and fresh
mountain air!”
Back in Germany most of her training
was focused on roller skiing and shooting.
The latter activity had proved to be an
interesting challenge for Megan in the two
36
months before the birth of Baby Predo,
as her balance and shooting positions had
changed dramatically with her pregnancy.
Megan found that she needed to adapt both
her breathing patterns and shooting position
to accommodate the physical changes her
body was undergoing. The majority of her
shooting is done in a ‘rhythm,’ where she
applies trigger pressure, pauses on what she
calls her ‘out breath’ and then take the shot;
December
www.nfa.ca
trusting that when the trigger breaks, the bullet will go to the
same point of aim, every time.
That is how many top tier biathletes train and it was the
regime that Megan had developed over her years of national
and international competition. However, her pregnancy forced
her to reassess and readapt, leading her to look back to the
basics and focus more on the sight picture and trigger pressure
elements of her competitive manual of arms; as opposed to
letting her rehearsed rhythm control the shot as she had in the
past.
According to Megan, the process has been both interesting, and
at times frustrating, but maintains that the added challenges
she has faced during this time has served as a positive learning
experience and worthwhile mental exercise for her as an
athlete. However, Megan enjoyed her first snow of the year
back in November and was able to get some actual skiing in
for a full three days between the 9th and 11th of November.
Brave lady indeed!
According to Megan, with the birth of Baby Predo, the next
two months will see her focusing on getting back into race
shape as fast as possible. On the shooting side this will mean
some long hours put into reacquainting herself with the prone
position, and she will be doing drills focusing on speed and
fluidity until the position feels automatic once again for her.
As well, now that her physical training will no longer be
limited to low heart rate work, Megan will also be doing a lot
of combo shooting in her upper heart rate zones, as is required
during actual competition. From a purely physical training
perspective, the plan is to take things slowly at first to ensure
that her body fully recovers from the stress of her pregnancy
and reduced training regime, and to once again rebuild a
healthy training base that will get her back into top tier form.
For now, Megan tells us that she is feeling great and is eager to
resume training full-time. If everything continues to go well,
she hopes to be in a position to return to competition as early as
this February or March. With her grit and determination, I’m
sure she’ll meet her personal goals in that regard.
www.nfa.ca Matt Neumann
Our friend Matt Neumann has also had a very busy fall. Last
update we mentioned that Matt had made the move to Canmore
full-time to access the critical training facilities available there.
Over three months have gone by and the wisdom in making
the move is now becoming apparent in Matt’s dramatic
improvement.
As Matt explained it, when he got to Canmore he was still
skiing with his head down; thinking that working hard was
enough succeed and honestly believing that if he pushed hard
enough he could achieve the goals he had set for himself this
year.
As Matt tells it, “It took about a week with my new coach
to realize that working hard helps, but skiing is a much more
complicated puzzle.” He realized that when he was skiing with
faster skiers, everyone worked their hardest to stay with the
pack; so he would have to learn new tricks and techniques
if he wanted that critical edge needed to win. By necessity,
Matt’s focus has become razor sharp and he has seen some
amazing results with even some small technique changes. The
improvement continues and Matt says that these successes
have seen him start to carry a new mentality about, ‘being fast.’
In his own words, Matt has finally come to the realization that,
“Skiing smarter is so much more rewarding than just working
hard.” Matt has been involved with biathlon and competing for
eleven years now, and even he tells us that he is amazed that
he can continue to learn so much more every day he continues
to train. All of us here at NFA are very proud that we can be
a part of Matt’s journey toward becoming one of Canada’s
preeminent male biathletes.
This past October, Matt started skiing on a 1km man-made
loop with snow that had been saved over the summer. As with
Team NFA... Continued on Page 45
December
37
Member’s Soapbox:
Another Perspective on Kids,
Guns & Zero Tolerance
in our Schools
By Jon McCormick
Is a zero tolerance for weapons in
schools unjustifiably “terrorizing kids,”
as noted in the April/May issue of
Canadian Firearms Journal, or can we
make a case in support of the policy?
players or “gamers,” spend an average
of 45 hours a week gaming or watching
violent television and videos. 45 hours
doesn’t leave much time for studies or
socializing.
For my part, I look to recent history
for the answer. It shows us that
practically all incarcerated Canadian
and U.S. teen shooters share numerous
common denominators; perhaps the
most important from my perspective
is the fact that none of these obviously
troubled young shooters participated
in any sort of adult-led structured
activities.
Studies have shown that this level
of exposure to violence shuts down
the left side of the brain; which is
largely responsible for logic and
rational thinking. This often results
in the creation of a type of “media
intoxication” that often manifests
during subsequent incarceration or
denial of access to the same. Kids
often develop additional behavioural
problems and actually suffer from a
psychological craving for violence.
This is telling, since according to
the U.S. Secret Service’s Threat
Assessment in Schools, children who
do participate in adult created functions
have a greater opportunity for success
than those who don’t.
The question then is why?
Perhaps the most obvious answer is
because responsible adults do not
normally organize violent activities
or knowingly condone teen violence;
or for that matter permit their kids
to participate in the same. From my
perspective: Violence is addictive.
Teens and video games, whether
they’re played on the latest generation
of smart phone or a home computer,
unfortunately go together far too
often today. Surveys show that serious
In addition, Secret Service experts
found that just five hours of daily
television for 2-3 year old children
adds a 50% chance of the development
of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
at age 5. There are consequences to
allowing the “Boob Tube”, or for that
matter YouTube to raise our kids.
Parents, ask yourself: Has your child
returned to school after a summer of
unsupervised video gaming or was s/
he working mowing lawns, babysitting
and doing odd jobs? Does your child
recluse her/himself in their bedroom
for hours at a time rather than spend
time in outside activities with other
kids and peer groups?
To prove the Secret Service’s point
38
and to discover any lasting effects
of high levels of television viewing,
Stanford Medical School in Palo
Alto, California, studied grade 3 and
4 students in two elementary schools.
Stanford’s study involved a control
group and another that was asked to not
engage in watching television, playing
video games, etc., for thirty days.
The Stanford researchers found that
there was a 40% reduction in violence
and a 55% reduction in bullying in the
next semester within the test group.
Isolated experiment? Absolutely not!
Col. Dave Grossman (Ret.’d), in
Preventing School Violence (www.
killology.com) points out in his
presentation to the Annual Convention
of the Pediatric Academic Society that
the Stanford study is supported by
numerous other peer-reviewed works.
As in the case of the Stanford study,
most found that ready access to firearms
and extensive exposure to violent video
games were two of the key contributing
factors in both youth and school-related
violence.
Principal Mike Smajda, of Lemmer
Elementary School in Escanaba,
Michigan, was horrified to learn that one
of his first-grade pupils at had watched
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Not
long afterward, the boy was playing in
a school-yard leaf pile with a girl when
he suddenly began kicking her in the
December
www.nfa.ca
head. Another boy joined in.
“They felt it was part of the game,” Smajda later said. “They
both kicked her until her head was bleeding and she had to
go to the hospital.”
Attempting to make a change, Smajda challenged students
to do without TV and all other screen entertainment for ten
days; then afterwards to limit themselves to just seven hours
a week of non-violent programs. A full 90% of the 400plus students took part. Administrators and teachers said
short-term results were amazing; observing less aggressive
behaviour and, in some cases, better standardized test scores.
Smajda says the school is, “Trying to educate parents to
monitor what their kids are watching, many of the parents
don’t have a clue.”
What else may possibly cause child aggression? One
bitter seventh grader would continually jump unsuspecting
students in the hallway and beat them to unconsciousness.
No apparent reason. No apparent motivation other than his
uncontrolled rage.
The father criticized the school saying, “When the little sonof-a-bitch gets out of line I hit him with a 2X4, why can’t
you control him?”
So where do firearms enter the equation? Where do children
obtain them? Black market? Unlikely. Stealing them?
Possibly. But how? Break and enter? That would be a hit
and miss proposition unless, s/he knew someone who had
unsecured firearms. Perhaps from a family friend or local
hunter or collector? A collection possibly left unsecured or
improperly secured permitting unauthorized access?
Such answers are important. For instance, earlier this spring
a 13-year-old Surrey, British Columbia boy was arrested
after a nine-millimetre handgun and bullets were found in his
backpack on school property. Whether we like it or not, kids
with problems are finding access to firearms, either legal or
illegal. The former we, as responsible firearms owners, can
control. The latter are the responsibility of law enforcement.
In the case of the Surry, BC teen, RCMP say they were
called to Johnston Heights Secondary school after someone
tipped off the school’s liaison officer. The officer found the
weapon. In a search of the student’s guardian’s residence,
police later found two rifles, magazines and a large amount
of ammunition in a locked safe. Yet somehow the child in
question still obtained access.
Yes, suspending children for pointing a finger at another
child imitating a firearm is a bit much; but remember, Canada
has already had several incidents of violent school behaviour
which may warrant RCMP intervention and a zero tolerance.
However, perhaps such actions would not be necessary if our
children received more hands-on attention from parents and
other role-models instead of from “Master Chief” of HALO
fame on Xbox.
It is the job of parents to protect their kids and to prepare
them to become fully functional members of society. There is
a reason why children who grow up hunting and fishing with
their folks rarely ever fall into the trap of misdirected youth
violence and usually prove to be well-rounded and adjusted
kids; one that you won’t find in Grand Theft Auto or “The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Become a Member of
Canada’s National Firearms Association!
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q Family* ( $45/yr) *Family Membership consists of 2 adults and anyone under 18, living under one roof.
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www.nfa.ca December 39
The Life & Guns of
John Wesley
Hardin - Part II
By Jesse “Wolf” Hardin
John Wesley was
carrying a double
action Colt Model
1877 “Lightning”
and rolling ivory dice,
when he was smartly,
but cowardly gunned
down from behind.
Photo by Jesse Wolf
Hardin.
40
John Wesley Hardin, as he may have
looked around the time of his release
from the Texas prison where he had
spent so very many years, heartbroke
to have lost his wife only a few years
prior. Photo courtesy of the author.
December
www.nfa.ca
The middle-aged shootist John Wesley Hardin was released
from prison with a new suit and a state issued check for just
under $15. His mother, who had always loved and protected
him, had died during his imprisonment, in 1885, followed by
his son in early 1893. His wife Jane, faithful and supportive
throughout her impoverished separation, died at age 36...
tragically only one year and fours months before John
Wesley’s release!
Brooding, but hopeful, in early 1895 attorney-at-law, J.W.
Hardin chose El Paso to hang out his shingle, ( less than 200
uninhabited miles Southeast of the cabin where I write this, )
just a short ride the other side of the Texas/New Mexico state
line. Whatever hopes he might have had for a profitable and
legitimate career were soon crushed; finding that few outside
of the impoverished Latino community would trust an exconvict with their legal work. Hardin increasingly turned to
the solace of caramel tinged whiskey, and the more lucrative
gaming tables found in the back of local saloons.
It didn’t help Hardin’s chances any that El Paso authorities
anticipated his arrival with both concern and trepidation.
Most lawmen feared him, a few envied his nerve, skill
and reputation, and all expected that sooner or later there
would be trouble. The respected Chief of Police, Jeff
Milton secreted a number of Burgess folding shotguns in
strategic location around town, for such an eventuality, while
sometime deputies John Selman and George Scarborough
constantly drafted and redrafted plans for how to deal with
him when the time came. John Wesley didn’t help matters
by his regular demonstrations, of his sublime gun handling
abilities and impressive marksmanship almost from the day
of his arrival.
Hardin was always game to tweak the noses of the powers-thatbe, yet, having spent close to half his life in the penitentiary
he had developed a degree of judgment and temperance,
if not reserve. For instance, in August of ‘95 he prudently
acquiesced to an outraged Milton, when confronted with
accusations he’d supposedly made. Hardin was “so much
faster,” the courageous officer later admitted, “that if he had
gone for a gun, I wouldn’t have had a chance.” Similarly, the
previous July he made no objections when asked to come in
and appear on charges of gambling, carrying a firearm, and
robbery.
This newfound judgement had its limits, however, and
whether he felt cheated or merely offended at being called
a “jail rat,” by a fellow gambler on May 2nd an inebriated
Hardin produced a pearl handled Colt .41 caliber double
action revolver and relieved the offending player of the $95
he’d just lost at craps; all the while humming a happy tune.
Then to the newspapers that had questioned the necessity
and severity of his response, he wrote a number of lines of
explanation and defense including: “I admire pluck, virtue
and push wherever found. Yet I contempt and despise a
www.nfa.ca John Wesley studied law in prison and briefly hung out a lawyer’s
shingle, though he quickly found out few desired the services of a
incontrovertibly deadly ex-convict. Art by Jesse Wolf Hardin.
coward and assassin of character, whether he be a reporter, a
journalist, or a gambler.”
Hardin was a natural born gun-handler and was blessed with
extraordinary hand-eye coordination. From the time he was
kid he loved to stalk “among the big pines and oaks with
a gun,” but soon enough his primary use for a firearm was
armed combat, rather than boyhood fun. While he may have
killed one hapless fellow in 1876 with a Winchester rifle,
he preferred the kinds of up close confrontations in which
purpose shotguns and handguns so excel.
He dropped his first man with what was likely a Colt Dragoon
.44, and used Colt and Remington percussion revolvers for
most of his other many kills. We can be sure that by 1874
he’d converted from carrying percussion models to the latest
in American made cartridge revolvers– as it was on Hardin’s
birthday, in May of that year, that he used an ivory handled
“Russian” model Smith & Wesson .44 (serial number
#25274) to take Sheriff Charley Webb’s life. And Colt Single
Action .45’s may have been the instruments of destruction
for pursuing Pinkerton agents in 1876, and possible two
Mobile, Alabama police.
Upon his release he seems to have preferred the rapidity
of fire offered by double action revolvers. As most readers
are aware, single-action designs require that the hammer
be cocked with the thumb for every shot, whereas with so
called double-action arms the shooter not only spins the
cylinder but cocks and releases the hammer with a single
long pull of the trigger. The SA is nearly as fast for the first
shot, but subsequent aimed fire is considerably improved in
the double-action mode. Besides the .41 Colt 1877 used to
dominate the crowd at the Gem, he also owned at least one
‘77 “Lightning” in .38 LC (Serial number #84304– gifted by
friend Jim Miller), and the larger framed double-action Colt
1878 in .44 WCF (serial number #352) removed from his
body at the time of his death.
It goes without saying that the drop-loop “quick draw” or
“buscadero” holster popularized by 1950’s T.V. shows never
existed in the historic West, nor would it have been desirable
December
41
The Texas Governor’s official secretary
signed off on John Wesley’s restoration of
citizenship, meant to pave the way for a law
abiding future. Courtesy of the author.
Hardin was quicker than perhaps any
other known shootist. He was just as quick
to try out the latest in modern designs
such as double-action Colt 1878 .44-40
revolvers like this one. Photo courtesy
of Jim Supica.
many gunmen and shootists,
Hardin really was as fast as he
was accurate. Sometime after his
capture he put on a display of
quick draw, border shifts and
rolls for the entertainment of his
guards.
Ranger
Jim
Gillette
described
his
“slight
of hand” gun
handling as having been
executed with nothing less
than “magical precision.”
t o have a gun positioned so low whether planting fence
posts or snaking through the crowds of a smoke filled saloon.
Most common were the tight fitting “Slim Jim,” skirted
designs, and surplus military models with their protective
rain flaps removed. None of these had tie-downs, requiring
the wearer to grab them with one hand while drawing their
weapon with the other– hence the expression “slapping
leather.” It’s suggested that at least towards the end, Hardin
preferred to carry his arms in shoulder holsters or tucked
conveniently into his waistband. However they were carried,
his proficiency in getting them out and hitting what he was
aiming at was nothing less than amazing– a skill that he
demonstrated first through a growing body count, and later
by blasting poker cards held up by his admirers. Unlike
42
A fast gun and heart full of
“pluck and push,” however,
could guarantee neither
freedom nor life. And now
he was finding out the hard
way: that a willingness
to stand up to insult and
injury was no longer
considered a manly
virtue by civilizing
residents.
Millions
of dollars were being made by bankers and
speculators through systemic manipulation and deception–
while the woman and men who candidly spoke their mind,
who leveraged power face to face and gladly met each test,
often found themselves pariahs in the rapidly urbanizing
West. It’s hard to imagine their alienation, their grieving
over lost values and lost ways, or the existential loneliness
that must have haunted their sleepless nights. The damage,
and the despair.
On the afternoon of the 18th, August of 1895, John Wesley
Hardin was in the midst of rolling dice at the Acme saloon
bar– standing uncharacteristically with his back exposed to
anyone stepping through its louvered swinging doors. An
agitated Constable Selman had barely entered the room
before blasting the preeminent shootist of all time in the
back of the head. He then pumped two more rounds into
December
www.nfa.ca
his target’s chest and arm, as he lay
motionless on his back in a spreading
puddle of blood and gore.
It could be said that Hardin was
weary, but that’s not the same as either
indifferent nor oblivious. Our man
was well aware of the many dangers he
faced, and had only a short time before
had a major row with Old Man Selman
and his son John Jr. It was something
more than alcohol induced laxness that
predetermined his attitude and posture
on that fateful day.
Hardly a month goes by that we don’t
read in some newspaper or hear on the
radio about another case of what is now
called “suicide by cop:” someone at the
end of their emotional rope ignoring
the repeated calls by the police to
drop their weapon, orchestrating the
situation so that the police have no
option but to shoot. But as much as
he must have suffered at that point,
Hardin’s death was no form of suicide,
nor was it Hardin’s wish to die. More
than anything else he was gambling
www.nfa.ca that fateful afternoon– with not only
his money, but with his life. He was
upping the ante, increasing the severity
of the test, and calling the opposition’s
bluff! He was ready to rake in the
winner’s chips, to break the bank with
the next throw of dice, as well as to pay
what has always been the highest price.
The last sounds he likely heard were
the shuffling of the constable’s feet
some 6 or 8 feet behind where he stood,
and the rattle of dancing ivories on the
bar’s polished wood.
And it’s not hard to see why the
wizened Selman carried out his ignoble
plan with such stealth and haste. A split
second before the two-hundred and
fifty grain slug roared in his direction,
Hardin began instinctively reaching for
the gun long at home at his waist.
Indeed, even as his world was
collapsing around him, firearms were
something he felt he could count on and
thus he never went anywhere without
them. They were more than a means
for defense, more than a strategy for
December
The grave of John Wesley Hardin marks
the final resting place of perhaps the most
efficient and willing of Old West shootists.
Photo courtesy of the author.
the attainment of deference and respect.
Guns became the buddies that would
never let him down, the girlfriend
that would never leave, the wife that
would never be taken away from him
by disaster or disease. They came to
represent for the aging shootist – as
they do for this author – the possibility
of a code, an independent way of being
and acting that we hope will never die.
43
La Police...Suite page 33
une tentative d’influencer l’opinion publique et la
création des lois, donc une activité politique illégale.
Certains viendront au secours de la GRC en disant
qu’il est normal que le Commissaire Adjoint agisse
ainsi, qu’il diffuse des communiqués de presse sur
la position de son organisation, qu’il est normal
qu’il informe le Gouvernement sur divers enjeux.
Ceci est permis seulement lorsque que des hauts
gradés ou d’autres représentants de la GRC sont
sommés directement par le Gouvernement, de
se présenter devant des audiences officielles
telles que le Comité sur la Sécurité Publique pour
répondre à des questions précises. Dans le cas qui
nous préoccupe le Commissaire Adjoint ne s’est
pas limité à un rôle non-partisan, informatif ou du
genre expert conseil.
La GRC a outrepassée son mandat en émettant son
opinion sur le projet de loi C-391, puisqu’elle n’a
pas été sollicitée par le Gouvernement.
La GRC ne légifère pas. Elle est un outil non-partisan
important créé par une autorité civile qu’est le
Gouvernement. Sont rôle est de voir à l’application
des Lois créées par cette même autorité civile.
Elle doit appliquer les Lois existantes et s’adapter
à toutes les modifications des Lois dictées par le
Parlement. Pour que l’administration de la Justice
soit protégée, il doit exister une séparation entre
ceux qui font respecter les Lois et le Parlement.
Les organisations telles que l’Association
Canadienne des Chefs de Police, (ACCP),
L’Association Canadienne des Policiers ainsi que
la Fraternité des Policiers et Policières de Montréal
(FPPM) ont tous participé à du lobbying politique
contre le projet de loi C-391. Ils sont tous en
contravention directe au règlement de la de la GRC
et de la Loi sur la Police du Québec.
Au Québec, la Loi sur la Police et ses articles 122
à 125, définissent l’interdiction de se livrer à des
activités politiques et le devoir de neutralité.
L.R.Q., chapitre P-13.1
LOI SUR LA POLICE
Voici l’article 125 :
125. Les dispositions du présent chapitre
s’appliquent sans préjudice des dispositions du
Code de déontologie des policiers du Québec
(R.R.Q., c. P-13.1, r. 1), notamment de celles
qui concernent le devoir de neutralité politique
dans l’exercice de leurs fonctions, le devoir de
réserve dans la manifestation publique d’opinions
politiques, le devoir de discrétion, le devoir
d’impartialité dans l’exercice de leurs fonctions et
les conflits d’intérêts. Elles s’appliquent également
sans préjudice des règles de discipline.
2000, c. 12, a. 125.
Les commentaires et contributions directes des
policiers doivent se manifester seulement lorsque
le Gouvernement en fait la demande spécifique.
Ils ne doivent jamais se faire spontanément par
des conférences de presse, sur les sites web
gouvernementaux ou par des campagnes postales
payées par les contribuables. Le Commissaire
Adjoint Killam n’a pas respecté ces règles.
Si vous êtes en désaccord avec les agissements de
la GRC vous pouvez porter plainte ici :
Le summum de l’odieux est de constater leur volonté
manifeste de contourner leur propre règlement
en fournissant de l’argent au Conseil Canadien
de la Sécurité, sachant que cette organisation
est reconnue pour son lobbying anti-arme et son
association avec la Coalition pour le Contrôle des
Armes à Feu.
Association Canadienne des Propriétaires d’Armes
à feu
Un nouvel organisme civil de surveillance
déontologique de la GRC vient d’être créé, mais c’est
tout nouveau et pas encore tout à fait opérationnel.
Donc c’est à nous les propriétaires responsables
d’armes à feu de porter plainte contre ces horribles
transgressions des corps policiers dans le domaine
politique.
Steve Buddo, Directeur Régional Québec, 450-4300786 [email protected]
44
www.cpc-cpp.gc.ca
Si vous êtes en désaccord avec les agissements
d’un corps police de la province de Québec vous
pouvez porter plainte ici :
www.deontologie-policiere.gouv.qc.ca
Sans frais : 1-877-818-0393
Contacts :
Sheldon Clare, Président, 250-981-1841 sheldon@
nfa.ca
Phil Simard, Directeur Régional Québec, 514-3650685 [email protected]
December
www.nfa.ca
Team NFA... Continued From Page 37
anything artificial, one of the challenges any athlete has to
overcome is the boredom of repetition. Matt was no exception
and even though this man-made loop quickly became boring
for him and the artificial snow conditions was very poor; his
work ethic ensured that his dedication remained unaffected.
Considering the fact that he often turned in full three hour
training sessions, day after day, on what was for him a three
minute loop, we can all appreciate just how dedicated Matt is
to his sport.
With the dip in temperatures and the first real snow of the
year, Matt is finally in his element once again and hard at
work training on the skis and hitting the firing range. For now,
Matt has a busy pre-season ahead of him with a full slate of
competitions booked for December, including:
December 4th - 5th
- Alberta Cup, Canmore Nordic Kickstart (Canmore, AB)
December 11th – 12th
Haywood NorAm & Teck Sprints (Sovereign Lakes, BC)
December 17th – 19th
- Haywood NorAm Teck Sprint Series Multi-Stage Tour
(Rossland, BC)
are on top of this! Over the past decade, Rob has run over 5000
student shooters through one or another of his various classes
of instruction. For a guy with a full-time job and a full-time
athlete, that number is something to be applauded.
For the rest of the off-season, Rob plans on continuing with
his regular training regime and shooting practice. At the same
time, he’s already in the process of scheduling additional intro/
basic shooting courses, as well as more advanced intermediate
level courses for more experienced pistol shooters that will
occupy much of his free time for the next three months.
If that wasn’t enough, Rob is also hoping to help get an IPSC
club going and start hosting matches.
Longer-term, Rob has already started his preparation and fundraising for the 2011 World Shoot in Greece. Unfortunately, it
appears that Rob’s injury from last year will have dropped him
just enough in the rankings to miss the cut for the 2011 national
team. However, Rob’s standing is high enough to put him on
the alternates list if someone drops out or is unable to make the
World Shoot. For now, he’ll be competing as an independent,
representing Canada’s National Firearms Association. With
the fantastically successful competition season Rob has just
wrapped up, we all expect big things from Rob in 2011.
Rob Engh
Robert “Fang” Engh
Rob, our ‘summer sport’ team member is looking toward
his off-season training and assessment of this past season’s
performance. He enjoyed another great competitive season
and is getting back to top form after his unfortunate injury last
year.
With winter finally here, there are no scheduled matches for
Rob until the end of January, and the big Montreal shoot. With
the exception of Montreal, Rob’s competition schedule will
remain free until the start of the new season this spring.
In the meantime, Rob and the gang from his home club have
thankfully completed the renovations we previously covered
in our last TEAM NFA Update, and according to Rob, the new
indoor range at Abbotsford Fish and Game Club is top notch.
As a very community-oriented individual, Rob continues to
give back to our recreational firearms community with his
regular training sessions and new shooter classes. As we go to
print, Rob has already held one introduction to handguns class
on the renovated shooting range, and improved facility has met
with universal approval from both new and old shooters alike,
especially in terms of better ventilation and air quality.
Rob has also been running free ‘Skills and Drills’ nights at his
home club for the past ten years. His other teaching activities
www.nfa.ca Rob in a shooting competition in the Czech Republic
Competing in the shooting sports at the national or
international level is extremely expensive and young
shooters such as the three members of TEAM NFA are
constantly forced to devote much of their extremely
limited time to fund-raising. Canada’s National
Firearms Association is proud to help sponsor these
fine young athletes, but they can always use more
help and more support. If any readers would like to
make a direct donation to TEAM NFA, please E-mail
[email protected] or call us toll free at 1-877-818-0393
December
- Editors
45
Teach them young,
‘n teach them right!
On a per capita basis, Canadian gun
owners are veritable senior citizens.
Our ranks show far more greybeards
than smiling youth. Blame increasing
urbanization, changing employment
patterns, the dissolution of the traditional nuclear family; but most of all,
the forty years of Liberal-directed ‘social re-engineering’ Canadian society
has been subjected to. Starting with the
unlamented Pierre Trudeau, Canadians
have been inculcated to fear and/or hate
firearms, and by association hunting,
whether for sport or sustenance.
The ranks of Canadian hunters are similarly lacking in ‘youthful vigour;’ here
in my home province of Newfoundland
the average age of a Newfoundland
big game hunter is north of 50! That
doesn’t bode well for future conservation efforts for our provincial natural
resources department, nor for that of
the remaining DNR bodies across the
country.
With the perceived increase in moosevehicle accidents on Newfoundland
highways, there is an increasing movement within some segments of the population to institute culls or install prohibitively expensive highway fencing
that would be of questionable efficacy.
As I understand it, similar calls are being heard across Canada. As any conservation officer or wildlife biologist
will tell you, there is a far simpler and
effective solution to such a conundrum:
the responsible hunter.
Properly educated, ethical hunters are
the single most valuable conservation
‘tool’ available to any provincial DNR
or environment ministry. Not only are
they available at minimal cost, they are
willing to pay for the privilege of doing so. When legal hunters are removed
from the equation or proper attention
isn’t paid to population management,
disaster strikes.
What most urban dwellers and nonhunters fail to realize is: hunting matters. It is an integral part of what it
means to be a Canadian. Our shared
cultural heritage is built upon a foundation constructed by the generations of
fur trappers and explorers who made
their living from trapping and hunting;
and in doing so opened up what would
become Canada to the world. Our
French cousins, the famed voyageurs,
did the same. Their exploits and stories
inspired generations of early colonists
and later pioneers and settlers who
pushed the frontier of the Canadian wilderness ever westward. Whether with
flintlock musket or percussion rifle, all
were armed and used their firearms to
harvest the bounty which the land offered up.
Guns were both prized possessions and
essential survival tools. They protected
the early explorers, trappers and settlers
and put food in their bellies through lean
times and fat. Children on the frontier
were never taught to fear firearms; respect, most certainly, but never to fear
them. Children were taught how to use
and maintain firearms, essentially from
the time they were strong enough to
keep both ends of the traditional flintlock trade musket or later percussion or
cartridge long gun from dragging in the
dirt. Pistols were not uncommon either,
although not as abundant in their distribution due to the often modest means
of many early settlers and explorers.
Children in 18th, 19th and even 20th
Century Canada, especially in rural
areas, shared a connection to the land,
nature and thus to firearms. They grew
up using and shooting guns, just as did
their fathers and grandfathers before
them.
Obviously, that natural state of affairs
is changing or has changed, and not
for the better; but there certain forces
working to swing that particular pendulum back the other way. Thanks to
the Internet and the explosion in social
networking sites, we’re seeing adults
and kids alike who have zero ties to the
recreational firearms community or our
hunting traditions, seek out information
and mentors to aid them in joining our
ranks. Such developments are indeed
heartening. We’re also seeing many
more kids from single-parent or broken-homes take to the shooting sports
through the good graces of communitybased volunteers, local outreach programs sponsored by various gun clubs,
and various wildlife organizations. In
my relationship with National Firearms
Association, I’ve worked to do much
the same thing in my local area.
Seeing such kids, who were formerly
so disconnected from the world, experience the joy of their first successful
hunt, and to witness the pride and confidence such experiences instil grow
within them is truly rewarding. We’re
not only creating better hunters, we’re
building better citizens.
Yet, there is a right way and a wrong
way to effect this transformation. Safety and responsibility have to be paramount and kids need to recognize the
grave responsibility that firearms bring
with them.
You don’t hand an inexperienced youth
a loaded firearm and send him or her
out into the woods without the proper
training to make good decisions. That
sense of responsibility and respect has
to be instilled into our kids and they
must be taught that, unlike in the world
of video games and movies, there is no
‘power packs’ or ‘med kits’ to be found
By Grayson Penney
46
December
www.nfa.ca
that will regenerate ‘war wounds’ and
there is no hidden ‘Easter egg’ or ‘cheat
code’ that will grant them unlimited
lives so that they can finish the ‘game.’
This warning is not without cause.
While pondering a topic for my latest
column I learned of a tragic shooting
that recently occurred in the woods surrounding the small community of Musgravetown, NL. I know that area well,
and my own boys have hunted those
same woods with their cousins growing
up. The 15 year-old boy in question apparently sustained a shotgun blast to the
head and neck area while rabbit hunting with two other teenagers. As I write
this, he remains in critical, but stable
condition. Obviously, my thoughts and
prayers go out to the family of the injured boy and everyone here at CFJ
hope for a speedy recovery.
Not surprisingly, however, in the days
since the incident the anti-gun crowd
has jumped on this tragedy; calling for
greater gun control measures and citing
the shooting as proof that the Liberals
and NDP made the right call in ‘saving’ the long-gun registry. Interestingly
enough, none sharing this belief could
offer a valid argument as to how exactly a computer database could have
prevented such a needless and wholly
avoidable incident.
To update a well-known adage from
famed Roman statesman Seneca, ‘a
firearm is never a killer, but merely a
tool in the killer’s hands.’ The Musgravetown shooting was not triggered by
the shotgun that fired the actual charge
of lead that wounded the youth in question; it was merely an improperly employed tool in the hands of an inexperienced or improperly trained youth.
An unfortunate teen who had obviously never received the adult instruction necessary to teach him to be a safe
hunter, and/or supervision required by
law, that may have possibly prevented
him from pulling that fateful trigger.
Some commentators gasped in shock
when they learned that the hunting
party consisted of three teenagers, and
calls immediately went out to impose
‘bans’ on youth hunting. The irony being that current Newfoundland hunting
regulations prohibit teens under the age
of 16 from carrying firearms for hunting purposes unless under the direct
supervision of a qualified adult. Obviously, if the shooting victim’s companions were of a similar age, none of the
party was in compliance with current
legislation.
Honestly, other than the fact that is the
current law of the land and should be
obeyed, the relative youth of the teens
involved did not give me pause. I was
trusted at a far earlier age by my father
to take my prized Cooey .22 afield, just
as I did with my own boys. They were
taught not to fire at sound or movement,
and to clearly identify what they were
shooting at. Clearly, the Musgravetown
youths had not, otherwise their schoolmate would not be laying in a hospital
bed right now.
As tragic as the Musgravetown incident
was, I don’t consider it an ‘accident.’
I worked hard to instil in my kids a
profound respect for the awesome responsibility that accompanies the carrying of a loaded firearm. It angers me
that there are other parents who either
through omission or a misplaced sense
of right and wrong deliberately choose
not to teach their children gun safety.
The Musgravetown incident therefore,
must properly be classified as a negligent discharge by a poorly trained youth
who obviously lacked the skills or maturity to make good decisions under
field conditions. Plainly, he found himself in a situation he was ill-prepared to
deal with and made the wrong decision.
Consequently, fault must be equally
shared by the boy’s parents, who had
a duty to teach their child proper gun
safety and equip them with the hunting skills necessary to protect them and
their companions while afield. Legally,
if proper supervision was not provided
to the three youths in question, none
of them had any business in the woods
with firearms anyway.
Recently, a real debate had finally been
started within government and hunting
fraternity circles toward lowering the
minimum age for Newfoundland youth
to carry firearms under adult supervision to age 10-12. Such a move would
bring our hunting regulations more in
line with the rest of North America,
where tens of thousands of pre-adolescents regularly take to the field under
adult supervision and enjoy great success, safely harvesting both small and
big game for the table.
It will indeed be unfortunate if that
debate is subsequently derailed by the
events of recent days; but there is no
question that putting more hunters in
the field, who are fully trained, educated and properly supervised is one of the
quickest and most cost effective ways
to help conserve our natural resources
and reduce the incidence of moose and
deer-vehicle collisions.
Current sociological research, backed
up by government statistics, clearly
shows that kids who are taught to hunt
and shoot by their folks grow up to be
well-adjusted, happy and productive
members of society. They tend to do
better in school, get better grades, are
more respectful of themselves and their
peers; not to mention their teachers and
elders, and typically have a higher incidence of community volunteerism. As
I said, in doing so we’re also building
better citizens. We just need to make
sure we ‘teach them right!’…And that
is the last word.
The Last Word...
www.nfa.ca December
47
Pen
Belt Buckle
Embroidered Patch
Canvas Hat ..................................Qty. _____ x $15.00 = $__________
TBlack THunter Orange TCamouage TClay
Oilskin Hat - Brown ....................Qty. _____ x $20.00 = $__________
Leather Hat..................................Qty. _____ x $40.00 = $__________
TBlack TGreen
Canvas - Black
T-Shirts ........................................Qty. _____ x $20.00 = $__________
TBlack TSand TKelly Green
TForest Green
TSmall TMedium TLarge TXL T2XL T3XL
Travel Mug
Tote Bag ......................................Qty. _____ x $20.00 = $__________
TRed TDark Grey TBlue
Stainless Steel Travel Mug..........Qty. _____ x $15.00 = $__________
Canvas Hunter Orange
Silver Belt Buckle .......................Qty. _____ x $20.00 = $__________
Knife with Carry Pouch ..............Qty. _____ x $15.00 = $__________
Pen.................................................Qty. _____ x $3.00 = $__________
Canvas Camouage
Large Crest Lapel Pin ...................Qty. _____ x $5.00 = $__________
Crest Lapel Pin
Sold Out
Knife w/
carry pouch
Embroidered Patch ........................Qty. _____ x $5.00 = $__________
Shipping & Handling:
Up to $20.00 - $5.00
Over $20.00 - $10.00
Total $__________
Canvas - Clay
Name: __________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________
City:____________________________________________________
Oilskin - Brown
Prov:______________________________________P.C.: _________
Ph: ( _____ ) ____________________ Fax: ( _____ ) ____________
TCheque or Money Order enclosed
TVisa/Mastercard/AMEX
Card #:_________________________________ Expiry: __________
Signature: _______________________________________________
Kelly Green
Leather - Green
Mail to: National Firearms Association
Box 52183, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2T5
Fax to:
(780) 439-4091
*Prices subject to change
Leather - Black
Sand
Tote Bag - Blue
Tote Bag - Dark Gray
Tote Bag - Red
Forest Green
Dec09Jan09.indd 47
10/12/2009 12:54:51 PM