Larry Miller Needs to Stop Quoting the NRA and Ezra Levant Just Needs to STOP!

Last week, Conservative MP Larry Miller, compared support for the gun registry to Adolf Hitler and his apparent disarming of Germans.

Most people were shocked but they shouldn't have been.  The NRA uses this argument all the time and before they pried the gun from his "cold, dead hands", Charlton Heston declared:  "Any of the monsters of modern history such as Hitler and Stalin-confiscated privately held firearms as their first act."  Wayne R. LaPierre, the current executive vice president and chief executive officer of the NRA, similarly highlights the link between gun registration, confiscation, and the German experience." (1)

Miller uses his NRA material to challenge the statement that the conservative movement is determined to socially re-engineer Canadians.  Maybe instead of reading the American Rifleman, Miller should read a bit of history on his boss.  Tom Flanagan claimed that Stephen Harper wrote the Reform Party's policies on guns and only stopped short at calling it "a right to bear arms".

Scrapping the gun registry is being seen by the gun lobby as only an important first step.  They firmly believe that if we all carried guns there would be less crime.

I watched an interesting documentary Gun Fight, and in it Diane Sawyer, after receiving so many emails that if students could carry guns the Virginia Tech tragedy would never have happened, she challenged gun enthusiasts to prove it.

Recreating the scene, when the gunman came into view, those involved couldn't even get their weapons out in time.  The shooter had the element of surprise.  Had others been armed, I think there would have simply been more deaths.

Miller claims that his comments were taken out of context, but I'm curious just how he would like us to take them.

Then of course, Ezra Levant, tiring of performing his impersonation of an owl on crack, for Sun TV, decided to pen (type, scratch?)  his support for Miller.  Under the heading: Censoring Hitler — and the Past, he gives one of the most convoluted history lessons, using not only gun control, but free speech and concern for human rights; as ingredients for a return to Nazi tyranny.

However, Levant does not blame Hitler, but  "do-gooders" and the Treaty of Versailles.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1918 and covered military disarmament.  The gun control law was passed a decade later, in 1928, by the Weimar Republic, to deal with the civil unrest after the war.

The Weimar government was attempting to bring some stability to German society and politics.   Violent extremist movements of both the Left and Right, were actively attacking the young, and very fragile, democratic state. A government that cannot maintain some degree of public order cannot sustain its legitimacy ... Gun control was not initiated at the behest or on behalf of the Nazis - it was in fact designed to keep them, or others of the same ilk, from executing a revolution against the lawful government. In the strictest sense, the law succeeded - the Nazis did not stage an armed coup. (2)

In 1938, the Nazis extended the gun control act, but by then they were firmly in control of Germany.

Levant's claim that attempts to silence Hitler had created the volatile anti-Jewish movement, are just as inaccurate.  I've written of this before.  It was actually the fact that the courts continued to rule in his favour, that accelerated the hatred and emboldened the Brown Shirts.

Sun media may be in dire need of a fact checker, but they also need a little reality check.  Levant's verbal attack on Irwin Cotler is not only unfair but untrue.

Mr. Cotler is a well respected human rights lawyer, who can count amoung his clients, Nelson Mandela,  Jacobo Timmerman and Muchtar Pakpahan.  Cotler also represented Natan Sharansky, who was imprisoned in the Soviet gulag for Jewish activism. After his release, Sharansky went on to become the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister. (3)

Ezra Levant sings to the choir of the deaf on his television program, and now attempts to write for the wilfully blind. 

As for Miller, he's obviously auditioning for a spot on the Friends of the NRA television program.  Maybe Winchester will throw a few bucks his way too.

1. CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON GUN REGISTRATION, THE NRA, ADOLF HITLER, AND NAZI GUN LAWS: EXPLODING THE GUN CULTURE WARS (A CALL TO HISTORIANS), by Bernard E. Harcourt, Fordham Law Review, Volume 73, Issue 2, Article 11, January 1, 2004

2. The Myth of Nazi Gun Control, by N. A. Brown, GunCite, July 21, 2001

3. Wikipedia

Not So Much Reform as Special Interest Groups

Jeffrey Simpson has an interesting column this week: Remember the Reformers? They’re still here  In it he suggests that the Conservatives are now putting policies in place written for the Reform Party, two decades ago.

However, while the cowboy law and order agenda was early Reform Party, most initiatives are in response to the special interest groups who helped Stephen Harper's rise to power.  He now has to repay many, many favours.

The gun laws are to compensate gun lobbies, like the National Firearms Association, most connected with the American NRA.  In fact two gun groups handled Conservative MP Chris Alexander's campaign.

The Canadian Wheat Board was never really a target of Reform, but the National Citizens Coalition.  They launched a campaign against the board, reportedly on behalf of Karlheinz Schreiber.

In fact, in the early days, the Party almost had a mutiny on their hands when they suggested cutting farm subsidies.  Their rural members threatened to leave, until they tweaked it.

The tough immigration laws, that enticed  neo-Nazis to infiltrate the Reform Party, came from groups like C-Far, run by Paul Fromm.  Fromm was allowed to sell memberships at at least one Reform Assembly, until his ties to neo-Nazi groups was revealed.  Peter Brimelow, creator of V-Dare, another anti-immigration group, was also an early influence.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation not only fought against immigration policies, but multiculturalism, which might seem odd given that their former president is now the head of Immigration and Multiculturalism.

But it's a ruse.  He exploits immigrant communities but his immigration policies are very selective.  Those not of the right sort can work here temporarily, providing cheap labour for corporations, but if they step out of line, they are immediately shipped back.

When our unemployment rate was at its highest, so was the influx of temporary workers.  You do the math.

Jason Kenney was recently caught in a lie, suggesting that he had only made two patronage appointments to his refugee board.  Turns out it was 16.  Not so much a math error as a question of his integrity.

Even the latest attacks on Native communities by the Conservatives come from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.  Harper has distorted the numbers to make it appear that he has given Attawapiskat $90 million that they squandered, using it as an excuse to take over, but it's just that.  An excuse.

And suggesting that he wasn't aware of the horrendous conditions on the Reserve, again not true, given that they have apparently visited several times, and reported nothing.

They just want control, in much the same way that they took over Barriere Lake, making it easier for big lumber.

We are now being governed by special interest and right-wing fringe groups.  All the devils who now own Stephen Harper's soul.

Proof That Abolishing the Gun Registry Was Always For the NRA

Unless hunters and farmers are snipers, the Conservative abolishment of the gun registry was always, as suspected, for the NRA.  ALWAYS!  ALWAYS! ALWAYS! 

Not one single farmer or hunter ever crossed their mind, except to solicit funds or votes.  NRA! NRA! NRA!

The neocons turned down an NDP amendment to at least force registration of sniper rifles, but the heartless SOBs said NO!  It didn't help that the NDP put the wrong gun on their advertising leading up to the motion.

I think this will hurt them in Quebec, especially since one of those presenting the amendment, NDP MP Nathan Cullen, had voted in the past to end the registry.  The Bloc are already regaining ground (NDP 37, Bloc 27) and Quebecers are very passionate about this issue.

In other news, it would appear that Harper lied about directing public servants to remove 'Canada' from government parlance and replace it with 'Harper'.

And the Liberals are rising in the polls. 

Several recent polls have suggested the Liberals have rebounded as much as 10 points since their election drubbing, pulling even or even slightly ahead of the NDP, which supplanted the Liberals as official Opposition.

That last election was a fluke, but a fluke that we're all paying for.

Our only hope for the next four years is the "Occupy" movement and we need to get behind it.

Shoot 'em if You're Got Your Ruger Mini-14 Semi-automatic Rifle With You

The Reformers' scrapping of the gun registry was never about farmers.  Never.  When Stephen Harper drafted their policy back in the day, it was about creating what they called a "Canadian gun culture".  Tom Flanagan stated that Harper only stopped short of calling it the right to bear arms.

The above gun is one that you will no longer have to register.  It can pierce light armour from a distance of up to 1.5 kilometres, and is the same gun used in the 1989 Montreal Massacre, and by Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik.

How many "farmers" do you know who need that kind of fire power?  Or hunters?  How many ducks wear armour?

If you visit the websites of the many groups propping up the Harper government, they see the scrapping of the long-gun registry as only the first step.  According to the Canadian Taxpayers federation, inspired by American neocon Grover Norquist, and once headed up by Jason Kenney:

“The bill introduced today (Ending the Long-gun Registry Act) is long overdue,” said CTF Federal and Ontario Director Gregory Thomas. “Our supporters would have preferred that the government go further, and also eliminate licensing for non-restricted long-guns, but today’s legislation addresses the most wasteful and unnecessary parts of the program.”

Not only registration but licensing.

On the Canadian Gun Nutz message board, one client is asking  "Hey, are you folks thinking of having an end of registry sale? I am looking to get a mossberg 500 3 barrel combo, and a few other items, hopefully the registry death blow will happen this week,,, maybe a tax free sale or 10% off to celebrate?"

I'm sure they will.  Just what we need.  More guns in the hands of self-proclaimed "Gun Nutz".

Gun Nutz was one of two gun enthusiast groups who went after former Liberal MP Mark Holland, because he had been such a strong advocate for gun control.  Chris Alexander, the beneficiary of funds and free advertising, sent them a thank you note:

‘As this election kicks off, I want all of the supporters of our campaign against [Liberal Public Safety Critic] Mark Holland−and in favour of Bill C-391−to know how much their contributions have been appreciated. We have put them to good use−canvassing this riding from top to bottom over the past year. The support in the electorate here has been amazing.

Now we need to organize ourselves to bring this vote out (…)’"  from Ajax-Pickering Conservative Party candidate Chris Alexander on the “Canadian Gun Nutz” message board, March 26, 2011.

Alexander won and Canadians in favour of gun control lost an important voice in the House.  We'll just have to accept that the NRA is now writing our gun laws.

The Harperites won't be happy until they've destroyed every trace of our Canadian values.

The End of an Era and a New Beginning

In November of 2009, Bloc Quebecois MP Claude Guimond, was suffering from H1N1, the virus that was making people incredibly sick and costing lives.

However, there was an important vote in the House of Commons that he didn't want to miss, so the Bloc asked the  Conservatives if Guimond could be paired.  This is a procedure where a government MP and an opposition MP agree not to vote for a specific period of time, allowing an MP to be absent.

The Conservatives refused.  They all wanted to make sure that their name appeared on the "yes" side.

The vote was on scrapping the gun registry, and there was a great deal of tension in Canada, because several NDP MPs were going to vote with the government.

Mr. Guimond made the trip, showing up in Parliament wearing a surgical mask.  We won, but it turned out to be bittersweet.  A Harper majority in the House and the Senate, assures that Canada has taken a crucial step toward creating the "gun culture" that the Reform Party always wanted. 

Stephen Harper wrote their gun policy, which will now be written by Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson of the NRA.  Canadian culture has been shot in the head.

I love how our compliant media is using headlines like "Conservative keep promise to scrap registry", suggesting that this is a positive thing.  They should read "Conservatives follow through on their threat .... "  They have clearly lost their credibility.

Some provinces want to create their own registry, since it is vital to police, but the government is vowing to destroy all records at a weenie roast and branding hoedown.

The image of the Conservative posse making their announcement with white men holding shotguns, made me think of  the movie Deliverance.    The only thing missing yesterday, were banjos and Ned Beatty's underpants.

The Canadian Manifesto 11: God, Guns and Gays

Throughout the 1990s, especially the early years, the Canadian Reform Party and the American Republican Party were forging ties, that have proven to be lasting.

They share policies, initiatives, staff, and even financing.

One name that comes up often is Morton Blackwell, founder of the Washington based Leadership Institute, where young conservatives are trained in the art of political guerrilla warfare.  Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed are all graduates of his program.

Blackwell was co-founder of the Moral Majority, and was Ronald Reagan's liaison with the Religious Right.  He once claimed that the Evangelical community was "the greatest tract of virgin timber on the political landscape."

It was Blackwell who invited Stephen Harper to speak at the Montreal conference of the Council for National Policy, an organization where foreign affairs and religion are mixed, and made to fit the Old Testament.  In other words, they promote perpetual war.

Blackwell was also called upon by Preston Manning to help him establish a Canadian branch of the Leadership Institute, giving birth to the Manning Centre For Building Democracy.  A dubious title for a training centre that teaches the art of undermining democracy.

His U.S. counterpart was more than happy to help out, saying that he offers his services for free, to any groups "trying to be conservative in the U.S. sense of the word". (1)

About God's Love of Guns

One of the advisers at the Leadership Institute is James Inhofe, the Republican senator from Oklahoma.  In 1994, the Republicans were determined to sweep the mid-term election, so pulled out all the stops.  Frank Luntz left the Reform Party and helped to draft the Contract With America, while Republican leader Newt Gingrich, studied Preston Manning's anti-government campaigning

The Evangelical army that had put Ronald Reagan on the throne, were once again mobilized for action and every right-wing group in the country was on speed dial.

But perhaps the most important factor in the success of the Republicans then, was when they put a gun in God's hands and changed the profile of a religious activist, from one wanting to do what was right, to one so filled with hatred that it now consumes them.

Because 1994 was the year when the National Rifle Association found a loophole in the election financing laws, and began to interfere in the democratic process.  They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to target Democrats who supported gun control, in particular, the Brady Act.

One campaign that was fought with NRA ammo was that of Inhofe, who was running against the incumbent Dave McCurdy.  With graduates from the Leadership Institute, including our own Rob Anders, McCurdy was shell shocked.

The NRA’s PAC spent more than $150,000 in independent expenditures to run television and newspaper advertisements and put up billboards denouncing McCurdy in addition to the $9,900 it gave directly to Inhofe, just under the maximum $10,000 allowable under FEC regulations. The NRA also spent thousands of dollars more urging its Oklahoma members to turn out for Inhofe. It was an all-out attack that turned the tide against McCurdy. (2)

Inhofe ran on a campaign of 'God, Guns and Gays', a slogan later borrowed by the Republican National Committee.  However, most NRA sponsored ads did not mention guns at all.  In one TV spot, they showed McCurdy at a distance and then zoomed in to reveal that he was wearing an Aids ribbon.

The same kind of gunfight took place across the country, as the NRA took up the cause for Republican hopefuls.  Christine Todd Whitman, the woman who loaned out her Common Sense Revolution to Mike Harris in Ontario,  garnered $ 200,000 in free ads.

Recognizing a good thing when they saw it, Harris's team then sent a letter to the Canadian branch of the NRA, the National Firearms Association, promising to do what he could to kill Bill C-68, and the Gun Registry.  The NFA published the letter as an encouragement for their members to get out and vote.

This was not the organization's only foray into conservative politics.  They had been active supporters of the Reform Party, and made a huge impact in 1997, when Reform became the official opposition.  According to the book Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics:

During the campaign, the NFA's political clout was put at the disposal of the Reform Party. In a memo to supporters, NFA president David Tomlinson noted that the only party offering a "trustworthy promise of an immediate turn toward dumping the Liberal game plan, revoking Bill C-68 and bringing in a completely tweeked firearms control system that will ... favor our firearms community is the Reform Party." Using images of war and battle, Tomlinson exhorted any member who was not a political activist to "get off your butt and become one".

During the 1997 election, signs bearing the somewhat ambiguous message "Remember Bill C-68 When You Vote" were a common sight in rural areas where gun ownership is concentrated. Part of the National Firearms Association's (NFA) extensive and ambitious campaign to defeat the Liberal government and the gun-control legislation it had supported. These signs signalled widespread discontent over firearms legislation in parts of the country.

He [Tomlinson]called on NFA supporters to work for, donate money, goods and services to, and promote the Reform Party". Tomlinson himself was president of a Reform Party constituency association in Edmonton. NFA activists apparently heeded Tomlinsons call. Messages posted on the organization's website throughout the election reflected considerable involvement in Reform campaigns,. Activists compared notes about the travails of keeping Reform signs in place, boasted about their campaign activity and contributions, and called for volunteers to help at local Reform offices.(3)

The New Right movement has many "signals" and according to David Kuo, the term "believers' is assigned to anyone believing in three things: the end of abortion, the end of gay rights, and the right to carry a gun. In an oped piece Harper wrote in 1995, he claimed that Reform was about "Gays, Guns and Government Grants".

He was a "believer".

Gun Control is Not a Liberal Issue

In their effort to make everything liberal evil, the New Right has called gun control, besides a feminist plot to destroy their masculinity (honest), a 'liberal folly'.  However, the idea of gun control, was actually a conservative priority.

Richard Nixon once said that "guns are an abomination," and went on to confess that  "Free from fear of gun owners' retaliation at the polls, he favored making handguns illegal and requiring licenses for hunting rifles."

George Bush, Sr. banned the import of "assault weapons" in 1989, and promoted the view that Americans should only be allowed to own weapons suitable for "sporting purposes."

When Ronald Reagan was Governor of California, he signed the Mulford Act in 1967, "prohibiting the carrying of firearms on one's person or in a vehicle, in any public place or on any public street." 

Twenty-four years later, Reagan was still pushing gun control. "I support the Brady Bill," he said in a March 28, 1991 speech, "and I urge the Congress to enact it without further delay." 

After all, the act was put in place because he was shot, and named after the man who died protecting him.

Republican Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, actually sued 26 gun manufacturers in June 2000, and his police commissioner, Howard Safir, proposed a nationwide plan for gun licensing, complete with yearly "safety" inspections.

Another Republican, New York State Governor George Pataki, on August 10, 2000, signed into law what The New York Times called "the nation’s strictest gun controls," a radical program mandating trigger locks, background checks at gun shows and "ballistic fingerprinting" of guns sold in the state. It also raised the legal age to buy a handgun to 21 and banned "assault weapons," the sale or possession of which would now be punishable by seven years in prison. (4)

In Canada, the first aggressive gun control, was at the request of then Ontario Conservative Premier William Davis.   After a student opened fire at the school his daughters attended, killing one teacher and injuring 13 students, he sent his attorney general, John Clement, to Ottawa to meet with the Liberal government.

Armed with a petition bearing thousands of names of Brampton residents, demanding better gun control, Clement met with federal Justice Minister Otto Lang and Solicitor General Warren Allmand to review possible amendments to the Criminal code. (5)

Though Clement failed to get re-elected, he is credited with the passing of  Bill C-51 in 1977, that came into affect on January 1, 1978:

The two biggest changes included requirements for Firearms Acquisition Certificates (FACs) and requirements for Firearms and Ammunition Business Permits. Other changes included provisions dealing with new offences, search and seizure powers, increased penalties, and new definitions for prohibited and restricted weapons. Fully automatic weapons became classified as prohibited firearms unless they had been registered as restricted weapons before January 1, 1978. Individuals could no longer carry a restricted weapon to protect property. Mandatory minimum sentences were re-introduced. This time, they were in the form of a 1-14 year consecutive sentence for the actual use (not mere possession) of a firearm to commit an indictable offence. (Wikipedia)

And for the record, John Clement is Tony Clement's stepfather.

Gun control is not a partisan issue.  It is a Canadian issue.

This past election, gun lobbyists were again out in full force.  Mark Holland, former Liberal MP for Ajax-Pickering, was targeted by several groups, including Gun Nutz.  The Conservatives wanted him gone because he had been a vocal supporter of both the Prison Farms and the Gun Registry.

What does it say for the future of our democracy, when those wanting to create a Canadian "Gun Culture", can affect the outcome of an election?  And what does it say for Christianity, when the devout are behind them?

Using Romans 13 that establishes the "boundaries of governments", they are now advocating that we all should be armed.  And they wonder why people are leaving churches in droves.  How is this inspiring to anyone?

The truth of the matter is, that the New Right saw an opportunity for support from gun lobbyists, who are financed by gun manufacturers.  The potential outcome of the end of gun control, is not important.  Only the money and the power.

Conservative insider, Tom Flanagan, said that Stephen Harper wrote the Reform Party gun policy, only stopping short at calling it a right to bear arms.  This has nothing to do with long guns, or farmers, but is to appease those who want bigger and more lethal handguns, and want the right to carry them anywhere.

They claim that the streets will be safer.

If that were the case than the United States would be the safest country in the world.

It's not.

Sources:

1. The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, By: Marci McDonald, Random House Canada, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-307-35646-8 3, p. 104-105

2. Political Snipers, By Robert Dreyfuss, American Prospect, September 21, 1995

3. Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics, By R. Kenneth Carty, William Paul Cross, Lisa Young, UBC Press, 2000, ISBN: 978 0774 807784, p. 99-100

4. Don't Blame the Liberals for Gun Control, by Richard Poe, Studies in Reformed Theology, Volume 11, 2001

5.  Another School Shooting, Thoughts From up Here, March 22, 2005

NRA One Step Closer to Giving Canadians the Right to Bear Arms

A piece in the National Post by Kathryn Blaze Carlson: Tory candidate flip-flops on gun registry should put up a few red flags.

The former president of Quebec’s largest police union has reversed his position on the gun registry now that he is the Conservative candidate in the federal election. Jean-Guy Dagenais, who on Tuesday evening announced his candidacy in the Bloc Québécois-held riding of Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, is no longer a strong public advocate for the survival of the registry, which the Tories have long pledged to kill.

The Conservative position on the gun registry is nothing new, and a candidate towing the party line, not news.

But what's with all the police officers joining the Reform movement? If they win this election, they will have just as many cops as religious fanatics. An odd and somewhat dangerous combination.

I've written often on Canada's history of gun control and the American NRA's involvement to halt it. And Liberal Mark Holland's Conservative opponent was given $10,000 from the gun lobby to help with his campaign.

Gun owners across the country are pouring thousands of dollars — nearly $10,000 so far, acknowledged Alexander — into his effort to defeat Holland, at $39.10 a pop.

Alexander says it is a relatively small amount that pales in comparison to the $130,000 to $150,000 he has raised since 2009 in his effort to canvass the riding and reach out to voters.

Although Alexander says websites like canadiangunnutz.com and turfmholland.ca are not affiliated with his campaign, he welcomes the contribution of “all Canadians” because he, too, believes the long-gun registry is bad policy.

It's interesting that they promote Jason Kenney's Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who have also provided candidates for Harper, like John Williamson. Another was parachuted into Tim Hudak's Ontario ranks.

Despite knowing that most Canadians support gun control, Stephen Harper has never gone off message. He will shut down the gun registry if elected. And he's sticking to that message because he needs the support of groups like Gunnutz, who are gun nuts.

I didn't sleep much last night. For the first time during this campaign I was genuinely frightened, and it takes an awful lot to frighten me.

Harper's strange interview with Peter Mansbridge, that looked more like a Conservative infomercial. The Conservatives promoting the NDP and the polls that suddenly took a strange turn.

But it has also invigorated me. And keeping my friends close and my enemies closer, I went back to Harper's past for answers, and found them with the National Citizens Coalition.

We are being played.

But what's important is that we don't lose focus. The NDP still has the best chance in the West, so in many ridings, we throw our support behind those candidates. We do the same with the Green and Liberals. Whatever we can do to get rid of Harper.

I mean do you really want a group of gun nuts determining how we vote?

May 2 vote and vote wisely. And listen to groups like Catch 22 Harper Conservatives, Leadnow.ca and Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper.

And above all. IGNORE THE POLLS!!!!

The American Gunfight Travels North

I watched the HBO documentary Gun Fight last night, and while the American movement is far more radical, the rhetoric and passion was the same as that of the Canadian gun movement.

And yes we do have a movement here. It's not as visible and is being softened as a debate over our long gun registry.

But if you visit right-wing sites where this is discussed, you get a different view. What they are striving for is a "gun culture" in Canada. They believe that guns should not be limited to police officers and that if citizens carried guns there would be less crime.

Not an Old West pistols at dawn, but citizen vigilantes and armed patrols, not ruling out the option of "packing" to be prepared for anything.

A New Direction

NOW Magazine has an excellent story this month: Harper’s dangerous gang

In it they discuss the new direction this government has taken over the issue of gun control. (You can read a brief history of Canada's gun control here)

Once upon a time, the Firearms Advisory Committee included experts from all sides of the gun debate. Former member Marilou McPhedran, principal of Global College at the University of Winnipeg and a lawyer specializing in women’s, children’s and disabled rights, says it was “evident that some members had ties to the U.S. National Rifle Association,” but meetings were substantive.

... Now the committee has [gun enthusiast Gary] Mauser, Greg Farrant of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) prez Tony Bernardo, three firearms experts and/or dealers, a doctor from Nova Scotia whose pro-gun letter rants can be found in various newspapers, a champion shooter, a cop who appeared in NRA ads, a couple of past presidents of the Sporting Club of Niagara (a gun club) and an ex-RCMP assistant commissioner who denounces the gun registry.

Hardly a fair and balanced crew.

And there are many others working behind the scenes to promote this gun culture. And they are doing it with the full backing of the American NRA.

Counting over 2.8 million members, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been called “perhaps America’s most powerful political lobby,” and “serves as spiritual godfather to gun groups around the world.” The Chief Executive Officer of the NRA, Wayne La Pierre, is a member of the Council for National Policy [Where Harper delivered his anti-Canadian speech]. Under his direction, the NRA has been extremely active in pursuing its anti-gun control agenda abroad, especially in Canada. According to Tony Bernardo, Executive Director of the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action (CILA), a gun lobby group, the NRA was “instrumental to the formation of the CILA” and provides “tremendous amounts of logistic support.” On July 4, 2001, La Pierre stated “the National Rifle Association of America supports and endorses the work done by the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action,” which works with the National Firearms Association to advocate for the “rights” of gun owners.(3)

This is a question of sovereignty. The American right wants to dictate our morality and write our gun laws.

Stephen Harper's own Pro-Gun Stance

Though Stephen Harper tries to project the image of a moderate, it was he who rewrote the Reform Party's pro-gun policy.

In his book Waiting for the Wave, former Harper insider Tom Flanagan, mentions that not everyone was happy with the position the party was taking, (cost of licensing to be born by gun owners and "higher priority on the right of Canadians to public safety than on the right to own and use firearms" (Reform Party Caucus Issue Statement, February 22, 1992,)) so Stephen Harper himself "intervened to table" several amendments.

... the right or law-aiding citizens to own and use firearms will be protected.

... the Reform Party support the right of citizens to protect themselves and their property, against criminal acts using all reasonable means, and that their right to do so has priority over the offender's rights.

Says Flanagan, "This, together with the first resolution, came close to endorsing a right to bear arms ..." (1)

And during the 2005/2006 election campaign, the NRA threw their support behind Harper:

Buoyed by recent successes in the US Congress and Brazil, America's powerful gun lobby - the National Rifle Association - is turning its sights to Canada. At a session in Toronto, organized by the Canadian Shooting Sports Federation, the NRA will conduct training sessions for the Canadian Gun lobby. The website notes: "We have a Federal election looming on the horizon and we must be prepared.... How do we protect our rights? By being more politically active and effective at the grass roots. And who better to show us how than the most powerful lobby group in the world, the National Rifle Association."(2)

The Use of fear

They are also resorting to the same fear tactics used by the NRA, that the police and the government are coming for your guns.

In fact U.S. organizations have had their "sights" on Canada for some time:

Many Canadians think themselves immune from the anti-politics of right-wing extremists. But consider how the National Firearms Association (FA) moved into the spotlight during the 1997 controversy over the Liberals gun control legislation. The NFA's director, John Bauer, alleged that federal gun control was some kind of world disarmament conspiracy, led by the pacifist Canadian government and their girlymen army of peacekeepers. "A [Liberal] majority means the end of a culturally distinct Recreational Firearms Community [RFC] in Canada and maybe even [in] the world as we are being used to pave the way for Total Global Disarmament by 2003" said Bauer. "The RFC has been pushed ever closer to extinction every year. Why? Why? Why? What have we done to deserve this oppression?" (3)

And more recently one of the men on the Conservative gun advisory committee, M.J. Ackermann, wrote:

As I predicted a few years ago, the escalation of police response from a polite knock on the door and discussion to SS type raid is the direct result of gun licensing and registration coupled with the pogrom of cultural genocide that has been going on for the last decade and more. Sooner or later they are gonna start shooting us first and asking questions later. (4)

In the HBO documentary I found it interesting that one of the signs being carried had the words 'Fed Up', the same name given to a pro-gun rally organized by Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, who used his Parliamentary office to attack the RCMP.

Here Are the Facts

Homicide rates across Canada are stagnant and the number of them committed using firearms has dropped considerably, according to new figures that are raising questions about the Conservative government's tough-on-crime agenda.

The latest homicide study released Tuesday by Statistics Canada shows there were 179 firearm-related killings in 2009, 21 fewer than the previous year. Most of them involved handguns which are tightly controlled in Canada. (5)

The Harper government has given a five year amnesty to gun owners, telling them to ignore the law and forget about registering their firearms. Five years of information lost. And in their platform, according to Cheryl Gallant, they are going to wave license fees for handguns, costing taxpayers $26 million.

He has sent out taxpayer funded ten per centers suggesting that his party is the only party that has their interests at heart, ensuring that gun enthusiasts not only vote, but vote for him. This despite the fact that 2/3 of Canadians support gun control.



He doesn't respect Canadian culture, so instead is determined to change it, taking his marching orders on the gun issue from the NRA.

Asked in a 1997 CBC interview, "Is there a Canadian culture?" Harper replied: "Yes, in a very loose sense. It consists of regional cultures within Canada, regional cultures that cross borders with the US. We're part of a worldwide Anglo-American culture. And there is a continental culture." He just doesn't get us and is not "Here for Canada".

On May 2 vote and vote wisely. Because this is not OUR Canada.

Sources:

1. Waiting for the Wave: The Reform Party and Preston Manning, By Tom Flanagan, Stoddart Publishing, 1995, ISBN: 0-7737-2862-7, Pg. 196-7

2. NRA Assisting Canadian Gun Lobby with Election, Montreal, CNW, December 2, 2005

3. Slumming it at the Rodeo: The Cultural Roots of Canada's Right-Wing Revolution, Gordon Laird, 1998, Douglas & McIntyre, ISBN: 1-55054 627-9, Pg. 159-160

4. Firearms owner accused of assault, By M.J. Ackermann, Cdn-Firearms Digest Volume 14 : Number 381, April 13 2011

5. Gun Murders Down in Canada: As Usual, Most Victims Knew Their Killer, The Canadian Press, October 26, 2010

Harper's Gun Registry Adviser Compares Canada's Police Force to Hitler's SS

On September 22, 1998, a large group of what I will call "gun enthusiasts" marched on Parliament Hill. They billed it as Fed Up II, so I can only assume there must have been a Fed Up I.

During this, from what I understand, rather large rally; some of the people who were "fed up", noticed RCMP snipers on the roof of the Parliament Buildings. When reporters asked about the snipers, they were told by the RCMP boss that there were no snipers, only officers with binoculars.

This upset the people who were already "fed up" and with great will and determination, they set out to prove that the RCMP were lying. They filed an Access to Information Request to determine what weapons had been signed out that day, to RCMP officers on the Hill. I think they were big ones ... lots of letters and numbers. Very impressive.

Now I can't speak for everyone, but when there is a large group of angry gun owners marching on Parliament Hill, I for one do not want to see snipers on the roof. I want tanks. Lots of them. They are gun owners and they are "fed up" .. for the second time!

Leading the charge was Reform-Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, who has done little else during his time on Parliament Hill, but promote the idea that Canadians should have the right to bear arms.

I have written of this often, because while Stephen Harper will suggest that he is only worried about farmers having to register their guns, the fact is, that what he is actually promoting is a gun culture. One endorsed by the American NRA.

They stacked the Firearms Advisory Committee, with gun enthusiasts, including the man in the photo that I posted with this piece.

Cowboys for Social Responsibility have recently discovered an article written by another of those firearms enthusiasts: M.J. Ackermann, published in the Cdn-Firearms Digest, in which he says:

So all it takes now to have the Black Shirts bomb your house and take you down is an unsubstantiated call by a disgruntled whoever. Thank god this guy didn't have a comb in his hand when the Black Shirts got to him.

As I predicted a few years ago, the escalation of police response from a polite knock on the door and discussion to SS type raid is the direct result of gun licensing and registration coupled with the pogrom of cultural genocide that has been going on for the last decade and more. Sooner or later they are gonna start shooting us first and asking questions later.

Black Shirts and SS all because of the gun registry.

Nothing to do with farmers.

The Gun Registry is Working as Firearm Murders are Down

Homicide rates in the United States are two to four times higher than they are in countries that are economically and politically similar to it. During the 1980s and early 1990s, homicide rates surged in cities across the United States with firearm murders accounting for nearly all of the overall increase. (Wikipedia)

All Americans have the right to bear arms.

By contrast:

Homicide rates across Canada are stagnant and the number of them committed using firearms has dropped considerably, according to new figures that are raising questions about the Conservative government's tough-on-crime agenda.

The latest homicide study released Tuesday by Statistics Canada shows there were 179 firearm-related killings in 2009, 21 fewer than the previous year. Most of them involved handguns which are tightly controlled in Canada.

So why is Stephen Harper taking direction from the American NRA and promising not to "stop until he scraps the registry"? It boggles the mind.

The Gun Registry is an Issue of Sovereignty

As we learned prior to the vote on the gun registry, the American NRA had a louder voice in our government, than the Canadian people.

But we drowned out their voices. Good for us.

However, it would appear that Stephen Harper is not done, and just as the NRA helped to get him elected in 2006, by having a representative work with their Canadian counterparts, we can expect more interference next election.

Harper is making this about rural and urban Canada. Hunters and farmers under attack.

Bull.

This has zip, zilch, nada to do with farmers or hunters or rural Canada, and everything to do with the crazy Republicans wanting to force "American values" on the Canadian people.

Loonies, Guns and a Polite Society

Many Canadians think themselves immune from the anti-politics of right-wing extremists. But consider how the National Firearms Association (FA) moved into the spotlight during the 1997 controversy over the Liberal's gun control legislation. The NFA's director, John Bauer, alleged that federal gun control was some kind of world disarmament conspiracy, led by the pacifist Canadian government and their girlymen army of peacekeepers. "A [Liberal] majority means the end of a culturally distinct Recreational Firearms Community [RFC] in Canada and maybe even [in] the world as we are being used to pave the way for Total Global Disarmament by 2003" said Bauer. "The RFC has been pushed ever closer to extinction every year. Why? Why? Why? What have we done to deserve this oppression?" (1)

Recreational Firearms Community? Not guns to shoot rascally varmints? And where does this notion of Total Global Disarmament come from? In large part through men like Wayne La Pierre (shown above), who wrote a book: The Global War on Your Guns

The Global War on Your Guns takes you inside the U.N. plan to destroy the Bill of Rights by attacking the one right that makes any right possible, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. LaPierre's well-researched chapters outline the threat itself, how the U.N. works, and the phalanx of international forces determined to eliminate the basic human right of self-preservation through elimination of all private firearm ownership.

He sounds a little nuts, right? But in 1997 he was one of a group that Stephen Harper referred to when he said "your country, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world." LaPierre is a member of the Council for National Policy, where Harper delivered his speech that showed contempt for the Canadian people. He is also the chief executive officer of the NRA.

Counting over 2.8 million members, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been called “perhaps America’s most powerful political lobby,” and “serves as spiritual godfather to gun groups around the world.” The Chief Executive Officer of the NRA, Wayne La Pierre, is a member of the Council for National Policy. Under his direction, the NRA has been extremely active in pursuing its anti-gun control agenda abroad, especially in Canada. According to Tony Bernardo, Executive Director of the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action (CILA), a gun lobby group, the NRA was “instrumental to the formation of the CILA” and provides “tremendous amounts of logistic support.” On July 4, 2001, La Pierre stated “the National Rifle Association of America supports and endorses the work done by the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action,” which works with the National Firearms Association to advocate for the “rights” of gun owners.

But I thought this was about farmers ... hunters? ... gatherers? ... and puppies?

The NRA has provided most of the talking points for Stephen Harper. And they are also involved with the National Firearms Association, another group that has helped tremendously with the success of Harper's party since their Reform days.

In 1994, even before the gun control showdown, Reform's Vancouver South riding association argued for the legal right of "law-abiding citizens to own and use" firearms because "disarming law-abiding citizens not only opens the road to dictatorship, but also grants criminals an open season on the rest of us." Their assumption is that social harmony is improved by an armed citizenry, especially by folks packing concealed weapons—an outlaw-gunslinger fantasy defined by the Far Right credo, "An armed society is a polite society."

Leading up to the 1997 federal election, the NFA pledged support to the Reform Party and its efforts to protect the "culturally distinct" status of gun owners. They organized a fundraising drive, "Giving a Loonie to Save a Gun," in which Canadian gun owners were encouraged to donate a dollar to Reform for every firearm they owned; Bauer estimated that $21 million would be raised if every gun owner responded to the call. The NFA'S president, David Tomlinson, assured his membership that gun owners were playing a central role in nominating Reform candidates so that no more "enemies" could be sent to Ottawa. "The firearms community, in this area, is not outside the [Reform] Party looking in and begging for handouts," said Tomlinson. "It is an active and aware segment of the party." (1)

"An armed society is a polite society"? I guess that's why Canadians are so darn nasty. If we were packin' heat, we'd learn some manners.

"I'm sorry. Did I just shoot you in the foot? It's these tight jeans. They make me a little trigger happy."

The NFA even launched a boycott against businesses who supported the Liberal party. Now that's commitment.

This entire thing is about the "right to bear arms". They want to turn us into Americans and are using the Americans to do it. We have to remove the notion of this being a battle between rural and urban Canada. This is a battle for Canadian sovereignty.

The willingness of neo-conservatism's fringe to champion unlimited firearm freedoms over public safety evokes the ultra-violent Western: minimal dialogue, unfettered freedoms and cartoon plots. Part child, part tyrant and part sociopath, the victim-warrior of the Far Right has become a political force in the 1980s and 1990s simply because nobody knows how to defuse this hysterical cowboy; after all, he's always threatening to explode or claiming himself the victim of a major conspiracy. For people with this Rambo mindset, politics is post-literate: all action, no talk. Which means you aren't going to win too many arguments—especially with people who read the Revelation of St. John as nonfiction: "Which of us can stand his ground, now that the great day, the day of their vengeance, has come?" The Reform Party is known for these extremist tendencies. (1)

"Extremist tendencies". So not Canadian.

Sources:

1. Slumming it at the Rodeo: The Cultural Roots of Canada's Right-Wing Revolution, Gordon Laird, 1998, Douglas & McIntyre, ISBN: 1-55054 627-9, Pg. 159-160

Canadians Win. NRA Loses. Gun Registry Survives. Yeah!!!!

The gun registry survives. I couldn't be happier.

The federal gun registry has survived a critical vote in the House of Commons by a very narrow margin.

The result was 153-151 in favour of keeping the registry. All MPs showed up and voted as expected.

All parties had been keeping close tabs on the voting intentions of their MPs and the result was widely expected to be 153-151 in favour of keeping the registry, with all Tories voting to scrap it.

Chalk one up for Canada. We win.

Stephen Harper, Garry Breitkreuz and the American NRA

Garry Breitkreuz has always had strong ties to the NRA, contributing regularly to their website. And as the NRA video confirms, they have been involved for at least thirteen years. THE CBC today confirms this.

The National Rifle Association, a powerful lobbying group in the United States that advocates fewer gun controls, has been actively involved in trying to abolish Canada's long-gun registry for more than a decade, CBC News has learned. Documents and correspondence obtained by the CBC show the NRA has provided logistical and tactical support to organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action (CILA), established in 1998 to lobby Ottawa to shut down the registry.

The NRA provides the Canadian gun lobby group with "tremendous amounts of logistical support," and while the NRA's constitution prevents them from providing money, "they freely give us anything else," Tony Bernardo, an Ontario gun advocate and CILA's executive director, said in Canadian Firearms Digest in July 2001.

In 2001 Garry Breitkreuz got into a bit of trouble when he posted on the NRA website that Canada harboured terrorists, while going after gun owners. (Did I mention that the man was nuts?)

A Canadian Alliance MP has defended his appearance on the U.S.-based National Rifle Association Web site and his assertion that Canada has harboured terrorists while persecuting gun owners. But in an interview Thursday, Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkreuz said he has no evidence to support his claims that Canada is a terrorist haven and its negligence contributed to attacks in the United States. "We should not be targetting duck hunters and trying to put them in jail. (Alliance MP Defends Remarks, Leader-Post (Regina) / CP, October 5, 2001)

Save Lives, save the gun registry has posted a timeline:

In 2009, former Chief of Staff to Maxime Bernier, Bob Valcov was named as executive director of the Canadian branch of the international gun lobby group,Safari Club International, a group with strong ties to the NRA. Another former Conservative staffer, Brant Scott, who was Executive Assistant to Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, became Director of Communications to the Canadian Sports Shooting Association which also has strong links to the NRA. Media reports earlier this year reported that the NRA is helping Canadian groups like the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, Canadian Firearms Institute and the
Canadian Unlicensed Firearms Owners Association to fight the registry by raising money and coaching them on how to lobby politicians.

In 2006, Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz co-hosted with the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, a forum featuring then-NRA president Sandra Froman, as keynote speaker at the CSSA annual meeting in Toronto.

In 2006, then-Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day appointed the Minister's Firearms Advisory Committee which was composed exclusively of opponents of the gun registry, including many with direct ties to the National Rifle Association, including Professor Gary Mauser whose research had been directly funded by the NRA. Former Canadian Alliance MP Jim Pankiw appeared in an NRA video in 2001 claiming that the gun registry turned law-abiding Canadian citizens into “instant criminals.”

Former Conservative MP Art Hanger appeared in an NRA infomercial in 2000 claiming that the Canadian government “wants every firearm seized in this country.” Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Jerry Ouellette also appeared in the video claiming that the government was intent on confiscating guns saying, “It's coming. We've got the test waters here in Canada to prove it and you're next on the list.” He claimed his comments had been pre-vetted by then-Premier Mike Harris’ office.

In 1995, then-NRA executive director, Tanya Metaksa, wrote to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien threatening a tourism boycott of Canada if the long gun registry Bill passed: “An overwhelming negative reaction can be anticipated and it could seriously erode revenue into Canada generated by visiting U.S. sportsmen and women.”

Naturally, the Reformers are denying their involvement:

The Conservative government is dismissing allegations by the Opposition Liberals that its intent to scrap the federal long-gun registry is linked to or influenced by the National Rifle Association. The comments come a day after CBC News reported that the NRA, a powerful U.S. lobbying group that advocates fewer gun controls, has been involved for more than a decade in efforts to get Canada's long-gun registry abolished. Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said the Liberal "conspiracy theory" attempts to "demonize" rural Canadians who have been already unfairly criminalized by the registry.

Give it up Pierre. The whole "Liberal conspiracy theory" is nonsense. I just heard Charlie Angus (NDP) on TV saying the same thing that the Liberals did. This is not a rural/urban issue. It's about the NRA and Canada's gun nuts.

There is a very good open letter from Thunder Bay Chief of Police Robert P. Herman that's well worth a read.

Police Chiefs Blast the Harper Government Over Gun Registry

I came across this old video which apparently was made as a warning to Americans that they could be next if they didn't join the NRA. What a load of crap. Some of them were practically in tears because 'heavy handed' government agents were going to swoop down in the night and take away their 'freedom'.

They even complained that our government at the time, believed the only ones who should be armed were the police and the military. Duh! Of course they're the only ones in Canada who should have the right to bear arms.

Something else I noticed; one of the men crying the blues was ex-Reform Party MP Art Hanger. He may not have been the 'kookiest in the caucus' but he was out there. As justice critic he took a little 'tour' of Toronto where he asked a store keeper "Do you notice that in Toronto there has been increased crime from certain groups, like Jamaicans?" Then while Reformer Myron Thompson suggested lowering the minimum criminal age to ten, Hanger was planning a trip to Singapore, to examine corporal punishment, including caning.

Ironically, Stephen Harper voted in favour of Bill C-68 at the second reading, because that's what his constituents wanted. But then he realized it might be a 'hot button' issue he could score a few points with, so said the heck with his constituents and voted against it.

It passed because that's what Canadians wanted. We are not a nation who feels the need to arm ourselves. It's not part of our culture. But from the beginning, the Reform Party made getting rid of this registry a priority.

What's interesting though, is that despite all the doom and gloom shown on the video, Canada's crime rate did not go up because of the gun registry. In fact, it has been consistently going down.

"At a rate of 7,518 reported incidents per 100,000 people, the crime rate in 2006, the latest year for which there is statistics, was the lowest crime rate in twenty-five years. The province with the lowest crime rate in 2006 was for the third straight year Ontario with 5,689 per 100,000, followed by Quebec with 5909 per 100,000. The province with the highest crime rate for the 9th straight year was Saskatchewan with 13,711 per 100,000.

All these so-called 'tough on crime' measures are just for show. The Reformers refuse to tell us how much their new crimes bills will cost, calling it a cabinet secret. However, they are now threatening opposition MPs, saying that if they don't vote to scrap the Canadian gun registry, they will run personal attack ads against them. At one time that would have been classed as blackmail, but under the Harper government, it's just business as usual.

Well the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police had something to say about these latest tactics.

Keep gun registry: Chief
By ROB LAMBERTI, SUN MEDIA
October 29, 2009

Toronto Chief Bill Blair fired a shot across the bow of a federal government wanting to scrap the national gun registry by showing off a cache of 58 unregistered firearms seized as a result of the system yesterday.

"Public safety is not supposed to be a partisan issue," Blair said standing behind an array of firepower he said could start a street war. "Public safety is not a political issue. Public safety is every body's issue."

The firearms were discovered Tuesday by officers reviewing registry files under Project Safe City, said Supt. Greg Getty, of the organized crime unit.

The cache was found stored in a two-bedroom apartment in an undisclosed part of Toronto, which police described as an area that has seen firearm-related violence on the streets.

DIDN'T RENEW

Gun and Gang task force Const. Nadine Teeft said records showed an unnamed man had at one time legally owned 25 firearms under the now defunct Restricted Weapons Registration System.

The man didn't renew the registrations with the new long-gun registry when they came due in 2002.

When police arrived to check on the weapons, they instead found 58, including a machine gun, a sub-machine gun, 17 handguns, 35 rifles, four shotguns, 36 high-capacity magazines, more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition and 4.5 kilos of gunpowder, Teeft said.

The man surrendered the firearms to police.

How he got the firearms without proper documentation is being investigated but no charges have been filed.

Blair, who chairs the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said the government's drive to scrap the registry would be disastrous.

CHALLENGED MP

"It was the existence of a previous database that provided our investigators with information" where the guns would be, Blair said.

"They not only found the ones that had been previously registered in 1998 and not registered since," but even more police didn't know about, he said.

Blair challenged claims made by Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner, who said the CACP doesn't speak for all the chiefs of police.

She tabled a bill to scrap the registry that is now in second reading with an open vote to be held Nov. 4.

"The opposition's main argument in maintaining the long-gun registry has been that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and the Canadian Police Association (CPA) support it," said Hoeppner in a release.

"I have spoken with many chiefs of police and front-line officers who disagree with their associations and unequivocally support my bill to end the long-gun registry."

But Blair countered, "We believe the firearm registry is an important tool in helping us keep communities safe," he said.