Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Toronto police attack gun owners yet again

Committee hears arguments on gun club measures

Updated: Tue Jun. 03 2008 6:52:45 PM

ctvtoronto.ca

Gun enthusiasts voiced their displeasure on Tuesday over Toronto Mayor David Miller's plan to shut down the two gun clubs on city-owned facilities, while opponents and the police board threw their support behind the proposal.

In his latest bid to tackle the problem of illegal guns, Miller has proposed closing the clubs, including the 40-year-old Scarborough Rifle Club.

Some gun owners fired off at an executive meeting at city hall, saying closing the clubs won't reduce the number of gun crimes. They noted many Olympians and athletes train at the facilities.

"Closing us down would do absolutely nothing to solve the crime problem," said Peter Krause, vice-president of the Scarborough Rifle Club.

"We shoot target rifles, single-shot target rifles. There's no handguns in that club whatsoever."

However, the Toronto Police Services Board supports the mayor's push for better gun control measures.

"We need to take every possible action to clamp down on opportunities for the illegal circulation of firearms," said Alok Mukherjee.

Audette Sheppard's son Justin was 19 years old when he was shot to death in 2001. She formed UMOVE (United Mothers Opposing Violence Everywhere), and supports any move to get guns off the streets.

"The only people who need to have guns are the police and the army," she said. "I think they should get rid of guns. Let them find another sport."

Miller, who has been long been fighting for a national handgun ban, says closing the clubs will make communities safer.

The mayor reiterated his call for a national handgun ban after the fatal shooting of bystander John O'Keefe, who was killed while walking on Yonge Street in January by a legally registered weapon.

Closing the gun clubs is one part of a strategy to address gun violence. Other ideas include more support programs for youth and developing a system to track handgun use in the city.

Late Tuesday, a spokesperson for the mayor told CTV News the executive committee will likely vote to support the recommendations, but with an amendment that the gun clubs will be able to exist if they are relocated to private property.

Final approval must be made before city council as a whole."



Well isn't that cute. Actually, maybe it's not cute. It' s borderline criminal. If anyone should know who is really responsible for the killings in Toronto, it's the police. I am sure the rank and file officers who actually walk beats on the street have a different take though.

I would pay good to see Mayor McCheese and his cop buddies spend one night walking around Jane and Finch, and see what was left of them when the sun rises the next day. And then we'll hear what they think about me and my guns.

This whole thing is becoming more and more idiotic by the day and I hadn't thought that would even be possible. If this kind of time, effort and media attention were put into things like prevention programs, anti gang workers, youth counselling and helping people in these hard hit areas develop job skills, that would save a whole lot more lives than taking away registered handguns.

I mean, the ban on cocaine works so well, doesn't it? So does the ban on heroin. Small wonder the people who sell banned narcotics which aren't even made in this country have guns that were neither made nor sold in this country too!

There's no such thing as "gun crime" or "gun violence". There is only CRIME. Pure and simple. And crime, more often than not, comes with poverty.

So if Mayor Moron could wave a magic wand tomorrow and strip legal owners of all their guns, what is that going to improve when large sections of the city are still poor, still plagued by gangs and the criminals don't turn over their guns?

Sunday, June 1, 2008

The not so law abiding gun owners of Toronto.

Miller calles us the "so-called law abiding gun owners" eh?

You know, I've been to quite a few clubs and shot with plenty of Ontario boys...classy folk and skilled shooters.

But these weren't the people I was meeting. You would think these areas be the focus of a clean up, that the people who have to live in these low income, high crime neighbourhoods deserve to be safe, and not have their children preyed upon by gangs and violence, but you would think wrong.

They're not the target of any war right now. Only legal gun ownership. Miller and his cronies and bosses don't care WHAT goes on in these places.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBOJThRZpZs&feature=related

And there are productive ways of dealing with them too, ways to make life cleaner and safer for those stuck living in at risk neighbourhoods. Prevention programs. Anti gang measures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pC3D_ZtYP4

Imagine that this is where the money and effort was going...The kind of dividends it could pay.

Mayor Miller's goon squads at work.

http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/05/29/5704911.html

"

A licensed Toronto gun owner got an early wake-up call today after police stormed through his Beach apartment, arrested him and seized about 125 guns.

Police were tipped off about "a quantity of firearms" in the Queen St. E. and Kingswood Ave. apartment, before Emergency Task Force and 55 Division officers arrived at the home around 1 a.m., Toronto Police Const. Wendy Drummond said.

Inside, officers found about 125 firearms, a "good portion" of which were registered, Drummond said. Peter Sedge, 56, faces one count of unsafe storage of a firearm.

A neighbour described Sedge, who has lived in the apartment for several years, as a harmless guy who simply liked to collect guns.

"He was a legitimate gun owner and he did have a licence and registration for the firearms, but safe storage is key in being a legitimate gun owner," Drummond said. "There are laws and regulations that you must abide by aside from having the right paperwork."


Here's the ugly front line of Toronto Mayor Miller's war on crime. As usual, he is striking lawful firearms owners.

When you look past the headlines, past the sensationalism and spin of it all, Mr. Sedge is being charged with one and only one count of a firearm being stored in an unlawful manner. As always, he is innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

We know Mr. Sedge is a clean guy, for he is permitted to own handguns. Obviously he has no past history of violence if this is the case.

Just as obviously, he owned more than ten firearms, and he was a collector whose inventory included handguns. Because of either of these facts, the police have the authority to visit him at their convenience to inspect his home and firearms.

But instead, they door kick him at 1 AM. What must that feel like, having a heavily armed SWAT team bust through your house, treating you like some drug dealing scumbag, and take all of your legally owned property with them?

How bad could Mr. Sedge have truly been, if the best they could do with him was one charge on one gun?

I have to assume Mr. Sedge fired his guns. If that is the case, I assume he had ammo. And probably enough of it. But no charges of unsafe storage of ammo. And no charges on 124 of the firearms!

The reason he was not simply visited courteously? Soemone confidentially dropped a dime on him. What was the tip off? A "quantity of firearms"...Not that he was selling guns on the black market. Not that he was dealing drugs. Not that he was dangerous to those around him or mentally unstable. Simply that he had more firearms than is considered politically correct to have. And that less than one percent of his inventory may or may not have been secured, which is very debatable since Mr. Sedge was actually home at the time of the raid! It's very difficult to make an unsafe storage charge stick if the man was actually present! Was he not supposed to have access to his own guns when he is physically there?

We may never even know who this person was, who called in to report this gross hazard to public safety. Take a second and think about that. Anyone can anonymously phone something in on you, and no matter how clean and upstanding a citizen you may be, they can kick your door in and bust you at 1 AM in the morning, and you may never even know who placed the call.

The real killers, the drug dealing scumbags, the ones who sell poision and illegal guns and prove themselves time and again to be the killers out there, they slept soundly that night. No one was kicking in their doors, taking away their murder weapons, or taking these jackals off the street.

They're still out there. They are doing their thing.

An innocent man with no criminal past was the target of the raid. Just as they have been more and more often as of late.

Further, if the city of Toronto is worried about the legally owned guns of citizens being stolen and used in crimes, they are doing a great job of advertising where those guns are and who owns them.

The timing of this raid is suspect at best. The average person cannot read through the spin doctoring and see what really took place. To know that this man was no danger or risk to anyone. And to realize that those who do wrong and choose to violate the rights of others were safe that night.

Mayor Miller's war is not against crime. It's not against gangsters, or murderers, or anyone who makes places like Jane and Finch, T.O. less safe for everyone.

It's against the gun owning citizens of Canada. Not just Toronto, but Canada.