MountedMadness
Regular
- Location
- Currently BC
Subject: Private Members Senate Bill S-223
Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette
I have forwarded this facsimile message for the singular purpose of voicing my concerns and discontent with the purpose and no doubt, hidden intent of the captioned bill.
To give credibility to my concerns, I have been involved in the shooting sports since the late 1960s. Prior to joining the police in 1972, I worked at a gun shop, took part in trap and skeet competitions and enjoyed the camaraderie of like-minded individuals at public shooting ranges.
After joining the police, I became a range officer, a firearms instructor, tactical instructor, DND range officer and a CFS instructor. I was also a member of the DOJ’s framing workshop in Ottawa in March 1993 to help define Bill C-17.
I’ve been an instructor, sport shooter and competitor for almost half a century I’ve supported the positive changes in lawful firearms ownership and instruction; and I’ve voted for those that support my interests. That does not ignore those who partake in hunting all across Canada, both as a sport, for sustenance and as a traditional way of life.
The framing workshop I attended in 1993 was composed of Chief Provincial and Territorial Firearms Officers and police department registrars from across Canada. They represented the knowledge base the DOJ relied upon to provide a balanced and pragmatic approach to improve the safety of Canadians. Secure storage, magazine capacities, education, licensing with background checks were the primary focus of this workshop, and the governments direction.
With the change of government in 1993 and the subsequent introduction of the infamous long gun registry, the Chretien government introduced amendments to the Firearms Act that basically forced too many Canadians to take an ill-advised stand and not register their long guns. The government, without any factual or statistical support, tabled amendments turning unknown numbers of Canadians into paper criminals.
As the various amendments to the law came into force, many previously restricted weapons became prohibited (literally by 5 millimetres) and many newly prohibited weapons became worthless. Grandfathering of those with firearms that would become prohibited under the legislation was allowed.
Those amendments cost individual Canadian taxpayers. This doesn’t even consider the cost to taxpayers of setting up the registry itself - a boondoggle that the RCMP tried to warn the government about. Finally, after almost 12 years, reason and common sense prevailed with the departure of the long gun registry.
We now have Bill S-223 presented to the Senate by Senator Hervieux-Payette, a bill awaiting second reading. This same Senator has railed against the United States, Canadian seal hunters and made too many statements that are far more fictional then factual.
It is doubtful that Senator Hervieux-Payette has read factual documentation on firearms usage in Canada, including Doctor Caillin Langmann’s (McMaster University) paper of November 2011, that suggests ever more restrictive firearms legislation in Canada was purely political. Doctor Langmann concluded that changes in legislation between 1974 and 2008 had minimal or no impact on homicides, whereas the aging (maturing?) of the population certainly did.
Senator Hervieux-Payette has obviously expended considerable government resources in producing and tabling Bill S-223, a draconian document aimed at the heart of law abiding Canadian taxpayers.
Bill S-223 is another boondoggle waiting to happen.
Bill S-223 re-words common terms (restricted/prohibited) that have been effectively used for almost 50 years. These words have been accepted by the Courts and by Canadians to clearly define the categories of firearms in Canada.
Bill S-223 uses the term “circumscribe” which according to Merriam-Webster is first and foremost “to constrict the range or activity of … definitely and clearly”. It is clear that this legislation is intended to disarm law abiding Canadians.
Bill S-223 will be a repeat of the ill-advised long gun registry Allan Rock presented to the Canadian taxpayer.
Bill S-223 will restrict or prohibit the ownership and transport of semi-automatic firearms. A type of firearm that many individuals like myself prefer due to my being left handed, a cohort often ignored by much of the firearms industry over the years.
Bill S-223 is the slippery slope whereby regulations can further restrict the possession of any firearm in Canada without the democratic control of our legislators by passing authority of shaping and defining laws to the police, legally removing such control from our legislators.
Peace, Order and Good Government has been at the very root of Canada’s structure, both in the 1840 Act of Union and the Constitution Act of 1867. Canadians are a peaceful people, a people who have shared in the development of a nation that respects the rule of law and fully supports good government has been in place for most of our history as a nation.
Canadians have the right and obligation to speak out against unfair policies and laws, particularly when it will criminalize law abiding citizens based on the outrageous and misguided interests of the uninformed.
Signed by me
Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette
I have forwarded this facsimile message for the singular purpose of voicing my concerns and discontent with the purpose and no doubt, hidden intent of the captioned bill.
To give credibility to my concerns, I have been involved in the shooting sports since the late 1960s. Prior to joining the police in 1972, I worked at a gun shop, took part in trap and skeet competitions and enjoyed the camaraderie of like-minded individuals at public shooting ranges.
After joining the police, I became a range officer, a firearms instructor, tactical instructor, DND range officer and a CFS instructor. I was also a member of the DOJ’s framing workshop in Ottawa in March 1993 to help define Bill C-17.
I’ve been an instructor, sport shooter and competitor for almost half a century I’ve supported the positive changes in lawful firearms ownership and instruction; and I’ve voted for those that support my interests. That does not ignore those who partake in hunting all across Canada, both as a sport, for sustenance and as a traditional way of life.
The framing workshop I attended in 1993 was composed of Chief Provincial and Territorial Firearms Officers and police department registrars from across Canada. They represented the knowledge base the DOJ relied upon to provide a balanced and pragmatic approach to improve the safety of Canadians. Secure storage, magazine capacities, education, licensing with background checks were the primary focus of this workshop, and the governments direction.
With the change of government in 1993 and the subsequent introduction of the infamous long gun registry, the Chretien government introduced amendments to the Firearms Act that basically forced too many Canadians to take an ill-advised stand and not register their long guns. The government, without any factual or statistical support, tabled amendments turning unknown numbers of Canadians into paper criminals.
As the various amendments to the law came into force, many previously restricted weapons became prohibited (literally by 5 millimetres) and many newly prohibited weapons became worthless. Grandfathering of those with firearms that would become prohibited under the legislation was allowed.
Those amendments cost individual Canadian taxpayers. This doesn’t even consider the cost to taxpayers of setting up the registry itself - a boondoggle that the RCMP tried to warn the government about. Finally, after almost 12 years, reason and common sense prevailed with the departure of the long gun registry.
We now have Bill S-223 presented to the Senate by Senator Hervieux-Payette, a bill awaiting second reading. This same Senator has railed against the United States, Canadian seal hunters and made too many statements that are far more fictional then factual.
It is doubtful that Senator Hervieux-Payette has read factual documentation on firearms usage in Canada, including Doctor Caillin Langmann’s (McMaster University) paper of November 2011, that suggests ever more restrictive firearms legislation in Canada was purely political. Doctor Langmann concluded that changes in legislation between 1974 and 2008 had minimal or no impact on homicides, whereas the aging (maturing?) of the population certainly did.
Senator Hervieux-Payette has obviously expended considerable government resources in producing and tabling Bill S-223, a draconian document aimed at the heart of law abiding Canadian taxpayers.
Bill S-223 is another boondoggle waiting to happen.
Bill S-223 re-words common terms (restricted/prohibited) that have been effectively used for almost 50 years. These words have been accepted by the Courts and by Canadians to clearly define the categories of firearms in Canada.
Bill S-223 uses the term “circumscribe” which according to Merriam-Webster is first and foremost “to constrict the range or activity of … definitely and clearly”. It is clear that this legislation is intended to disarm law abiding Canadians.
Bill S-223 will be a repeat of the ill-advised long gun registry Allan Rock presented to the Canadian taxpayer.
Bill S-223 will restrict or prohibit the ownership and transport of semi-automatic firearms. A type of firearm that many individuals like myself prefer due to my being left handed, a cohort often ignored by much of the firearms industry over the years.
Bill S-223 is the slippery slope whereby regulations can further restrict the possession of any firearm in Canada without the democratic control of our legislators by passing authority of shaping and defining laws to the police, legally removing such control from our legislators.
Peace, Order and Good Government has been at the very root of Canada’s structure, both in the 1840 Act of Union and the Constitution Act of 1867. Canadians are a peaceful people, a people who have shared in the development of a nation that respects the rule of law and fully supports good government has been in place for most of our history as a nation.
Canadians have the right and obligation to speak out against unfair policies and laws, particularly when it will criminalize law abiding citizens based on the outrageous and misguided interests of the uninformed.
Signed by me
