Looking at that list, none were overturned as a result of a Section 74 hearing. The problem is that the law supports the RCMP/SFSS.
The solution is political/legislative.
I agree with you 100%. The solution has to be political.
I can say confidently, with great regret, that the courts will NOT do anything for firearms owners on statutory interpretation issues. Period. Full stop... and everyone from the RCMP to the antis are fully aware of this.
As someone who argues cases in court for a living, and was legal counsel in several of these firearms statutory interpretation cases... it really burns me that there isn't a judge in this country who will interpret any of the law in a way that favours lawful firearms owners. I usually tell people... where it is about the person (did he store/transport/use/transfer his firearms properly, should he get a criminal record, can he get his guns back, his licence back, etc.) I've been able to do TONS for people. But where it is about the "gun"/the "thing" itself, I haven't - and no lawyer in Canada has - been able to accomplish anything. "Is it a prohibited firearm - because it falls within the definition of automatic firearm in the
Criminal Code" (T97A, my case in Vancouver was called
R. v. Tereshchak, but there are at least two others); "Is it a cartridge magazine - as that term is defined in the regulations - despite the fact that it isn't capable of holding anything or feeding anything into the chamber of any firearm" (AR-15 magazine bodies case,
R. v. Cancade, another one of mine - probably one of the worst decisions in Canadian legal history); "Is it a "variant" of an AK-47, despite the fact that it doesn't share a single common part, feature or operating principle with the AK-47" (
R. v. Henderson from Ontario - another candidate for one of the worst decisions in Canadian legal history)... and on, and on it goes... there isn't a single case interpreting the
Firearms Act, the
Criminal Code or the Regulations in the past 20 years that is in favour of firearms owners. (The original
Henderson decision was one small bright light, which was overturned on appeal). There have been way more favourable decisions from the RCMP than there have been from the courts. The courts are completely and utterly unwilling to go against the government on the issue of the interpretation of firearms law. It's maddening.
I will get involved in further statutory interpretation firearms cases, and fight them to the hilt, but at this point it is more a matter of making it difficult, time consuming and expensive for the RCMP to achieve their objectives - in order to try and get them to stop or at least slow down. No one should have any expectation that a court in this country will side with firearms owners - because it simply doesn't happen. Ever since
Hasselwander (1993, post-École Polytechnique time) it has just been one defeat after another on these kinds of issues: Is it readily convertable to full automatic? Is it a variant of a named prohib? Is it a cartridge magazine? Is it a converted auto?
Is it even worth asking these questions in a court? WE NEED A NEW FIREARMS ACT!!! That is the only answer to this disaster of gray areas, uncertainty, interpretation and criminal consequences we find ourselves in now.