cuchulainn
Member
from the Niagra Falls Review
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=37425&catname=Local+News
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=37425&catname=Local+News
Gun owners beg to be arrested
Anti-registration group speaks in Niagara Falls
By LINDSAY SATTERTHWAITE
Friday, July 11, 2003 - 02:00
Local News -
NIAGARA FALLS – They have no intentions of dropping their weapons, but, then again, they haven’t been asked to.
“Arrest us!†they threaten. “Throw us in jail!†they yell, but five provincial legislatures and a multitude of police stations later, no one has taken the Canadian Unregistered Firearms Association up on their offer.
The association, comprised of six gun-owning men, is travelling across the country in an effort to be properly charged with possession of an unregistered firearm under the Firearms Act.
En route to Queen’s Park in Toronto, the association hosted an informal meeting at the Regency Motel Thursday, attended by 15 anti-registration supporters, in an effort to increase awareness and build a network.
Federal gun licensing came into effect Jan. 1, 2001, and as of Jan. 1, all guns were required to be registered in the estimated $1 billion federal gun registry. The government then granted an additional six month grace period for all owners to abide.
As of July 1, it is illegal to be in possession of an unregistered firearm, so the CUFA took to the streets to test it out.
These opponents of gun registry have staged several displays of civil disobedience in hopes of having the law subject to the proper judicial tests. Declarations of their unlawfulness has been made directly to the government and police, to no avail.
“Nobody has arrested us and we want to know why,†said CUFA member Bruce Montague. “With such an expensive, fancy new law, you think they’d be willing to take it for a spin around the block.â€
He added: “We think the police know it wouldn’t stand up in court, and deep down, the government knows they’re right.â€
According to CUFA, the Firearms Act violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically rights to privacy, security of person, presumption of innocence, association, representation, mobility and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. By registering their guns, they would be complying with these personal infringements.
“We’ve got wives, kids, families, we go to church and have normal jobs,†said Montague, a gunsmith by trade. “We’re just as concerned about public safety as the next person,†but this law didn’t change anything about safety.
“The law is going to drive a wedge between the public and law enforcement,†said John Gayder, an off-duty Niagara Parks Police officer who attended the meeting. “There is a marked decrease in respect for law enforcement because of the gun laws.â€
“The piece of paper does nothing but cost a lot of money and fools the public into thinking something is being done about gun safety,†added Al Muir, one of the CUFA organizers. “A lot of serious precedents are set with this law and it doesn’t just affect gun owners.â€
Muir said their plight would not stop “till we’re all in jail.â€
“I don’t care what the numbers say. I will not comply, period,â€said Montague. “This is not up for public vote, these are my rights and liberties at stake.â€
