ATTN: Canadian Firearms Owners

[ch312]

All Canadian firearms owners need to make a stand and fight this abuse of power by the RCMP. With the simple stroke of a pen they've put 12,000 law abiding citizens in possession of prohibited firearms, the same firearms that the RCMP deemed legal to own 12 years ago. This means Canadians will be forced to turn over their legally obtained firearms with zero monetary compensation for the $15,000,000 these people have spent buying these firearms.

 

In the grand scheme of thing's this effects ALL Canadians who own firearms. Imagine the feeling of spending thousands of dollars on something the RCMP says you're allowed to own then waking up one day to find out they've changed their minds and you're now out thousands of dollars. These firearms share the same action (semi auto) that many Canadians have used to hunt with for many years.

 

PLEASE write letters to show the government that the RCMP abusing it's power will not be tolerated!

 

 

 

I hope this brief can serve as a primer for those who try to understand and begin to follow the reclassification and prohibition issue of Swiss Arms and CZ858 rifles. This is not a complete article. It is more of the bare basics on the subject to help people to dive deeper into the different aspects of the issue.

Q: What firearms are affected?
A: Swiss Arms Rifles ( classic green rifle and carbines, and versions of different colours)
CZ 858 tactical 2P, 2V and 4P proofed after 2007 ( similar rifles made by CSA, CZ2003, VZ58 and FSN models are not prohibited as of now)


Q: How many of these firearms are in the hands of Canadians, and for how long?
A: There are approximately 12,000 of these firearms legally obtained by Canadians in the last 12 years.


Q: How are these firearms become “banned” or “prohibited”
A: The RCMP has access to something called “FRT”: firearms reference table. It is a database of all firearm models in Canada. The table includes the classification of each firearm model, whether it is “non-restricted”, “restricted” or outright illegal as “prohibited. The RCMP effectively banned the said firearms by changing the status of these firearms from either “non-restricted” or “restricted” to “prohibited. This is what we mean by “reclassification”.


Q: Has the government or the RCMP officially announced they are “reclassifying” said firearms to “prohibited”?
A: The “reclassification” was un-announced and completed without informing the public ahead. It was only confirmed when firearm activists were able to obtain screen shots of the FRT table on the computer.


Q: What is current situation?
A: The government has just been made aware of the situation. A 5 year amnesty is being tabled by the Minister of Public Safety. Details are not known yet.


Q: So what does it mean in “real life”, if I have one of these firearms?
A: Until the Amnesty becomes effective, if you and your firearm are being queried by a law enforcement officer together right now, it is reasonable to assume that when the law enforcement officer looks up the FRT, he will see that the firearm in your possession is a “prohibited” firearm.


Q: Is the Amnesty the final solution?
A: The Amnesty should be a temporary measure to prevent the owners from being prosecuted while a permanent solution is being sought.


Q: Are more firearms going to be “reclassified”?
A: We do not know yet.


Q: This is such an outrage! What can I do as a citizen, even though I am not interested in firearms.
A: Write and call your MP, as well as the PMO ( the Prime Minister Office) Tell them:

1) It is completely unacceptable for the RCMP to make ordinary Canadians criminals by quietly making reclassification and prohibiting legally obtained properties, without any input from the stakeholders and oversight by independent 3rd parties;

2) The way firearms are classified and “prohibited” is deeply flawed. The amnesty is a temporary measure. A permanent solution must be sought.

3) The current Firearms Act is the root of the problem. It is highly discriminating against sportsmen and semi automatic modern sporting rifles. The government needs to recognize semi automatic modern sporting rifles are the popular choice of Canadian sportsmen through changes to the Firearms Act.

 

 

 

[bare foot wader]

I personally feel that anglers and hunters are cut from the same cloth (although some don't share that viewpoint I'm sure), with gun ownership rights being an important issue to outdoorsmen/women.

 

The registry was scrapped, or was it? We all know they didn't just delete that data, and video of the RCMP search and seizure of property belonging to the citizens of High River, AB is pretty strong evidence to support that. They knew which houses had firearms and used force to break in and seize, these were not weapons lying in plain sight doing a safety check, or whatever their lame excuse was.

 

Firefighters don't worry about firearms/ammo, so why would the RCMP in a flood situation? They are abusing legal gun owners under the disguise of "public safety." Their mandate is to enforce legislated law, not create it.

 

In response to the reclassification, I would hope all gun owners would put their signature on this petition:

 

http://www.nominaterobanders.com/firearms_petition

 

Firearms Petition

Effective Thursday, February 27th at 10:00PM the Chief Firearms Officers reclassified the Swiss Arms Classic Green carbine from non-restricted to prohibited status. There are approximately 1,000-1,800 of these firearms owned in the public.

The unjust confiscation of firearms is an atrocious crime against the rights of law-abiding gun owners and Canadian citizens.

The decision was made by these bureaucrats, not the Conservative government. The Minister has already ordered a moratorium on the seizure of guns, but he needs to do more.

To the House of Commons, in Parliament assembled: we ask that the following actions be taken:

1. Rescind the decision to reclassify the Swiss Arms Classic Green carbine from non-restricted to prohibited status
2. Decriminalize firearms possession by eliminating S. 91, and 92 of the Criminal Code.
3. Extensively modify and eliminate prohibited and restricted classes, including rescinding of arbitrary clauses on barrel length and caliber that classify firearms, and regulations affecting magazines.
4. Eliminate punitive safe storage and transport requirements.
5. Eliminate Chief Firearms Officers and rescind F.A. Section 58.1

 

 

 

I also went through the nightmare of transferring a used restricted firearm (pistol) and will NEVER do that again, will only buy new from a retail outlet...it was insane trying to buy a used pistol from a friend...it's funny how the registry was scrapped, and then all of a sudden processing time increases, passive retaliation???

 

So I also support this petition to remove the CFO and privatize the admin processes, I don't agree 100%, believe to be a flawed process and the entire firearms act needs to be redrafted, but I do believe this petition will help raise awareness that the current system is intrusive on the rights of legally abiding gun owners.

 

http://responsiblefirearmsreform.ca/the-provincial-chief-firearms-officers-have-to-go/

 

Dear Responsible Firearms Owners,

Now that our Federal Conservative Government has fulfilled its promise to scrap the Liberal’s wasteful billion dollar long-gun registry, we need to look at other ways to save taxpayers dollars.

I have introduced Motion 439 to privatize the functions of the Canadian Firearms Registration System. In addition to saving tax dollars, privatizing the functions of the Canadian Firearms Registration System has a number of other advantages.

 

• It would eliminate the costly duplication of having each province managing a separate bureaucracy to administer the firearms registration system.
• Law-abiding sportsmen, hunters and farmers would benefit by having one set of rules rather than the provincial patchwork that currently exists.
• By privatizing the functions, as a civilian agency the office would become administrative and service oriented, to the benefit of all Canadians.
• Law enforcement professionals’ valuable time can be re-directed away from paperwork to more useful tasks such as front-line policing.

 

The good thing about this change is that since it is administrative, legislation may not be required, but your support is!

 

You can help by casting your e-VOTE to demonstrate support for this responsible firearms reform.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Gallant, M.P.
Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke

Motion 439 - April 11, 2013 - That, in the opinion of the House, the Minister of Public Safety should, with the approval of the Governor-in-Council, rescind the existing agreements with the governments of the provinces and amend Section 95 of the Firearms Act to privatize the functions and operation of the Canadian Firearms Registration System, in recognition that the Parliamentary Budget Office has identified:
(a) provincial criminal justice expenditures as the largest contributor to rising public expenditures on criminal justice;
( policing expenditures categorized as fully dedicated to crime includes firearms programs when in fact they are non-criminal and should be administered as such; and
© law enforcement professionals spend too much time on administrative tasks at the expense of front-line policing.

She also has a petition to stop reclassification for confiscation:

http://responsiblefirearmsreform.ca/stop-reclassification-confiscation/

TO: The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety

Please support MP Cheryl Gallant’s Motion M-452 the establishment of a permanent “Firearms Experts Technical Committee” to oversee such things as firearms reclassifications, and impose a moratorium on firearms reclassification until the permanent committee is in place.

 

(follow the link to read everything)

[pics]

With a stroke of a pen even a semi-auto shotgun could suffer the same fate...The rcmp was given the power to do this long ago. Imagine a city cop who doesn't have a clue how gun laws work(most don't) somehow finds out you have one...you're arrested, jailed and on your own when it comes to the courts... in all likelihood you will be found innocent but only after tens of thousands in court costs and probably a lost job and home....

[bare foot wader]

Make your voice heard, You can send a letter to every editor in Canada using Demented's Democracy Machine: http://www.democracy-machine.com/

 

you can use these links to address the minister, if sending letters ain't your thing

 

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/bt/cntct-frm-eng.aspx?type=m

 

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/contactpm

 

 

 

here is a generic template that is floating around:

 

 

Dear Right Honourable Prime Minister Stephen Harper;

Thank you for announcing a five year amnesty on March 3 2014 for the effected owners of the Swiss Arms and CZ858 rifles.

I do hope that this is however the first step in a multiple part plan. The amnesty alone will not fix the issue and only grants the owners 5 years until they have criminal charges brought against them. Without being meant for a bigger purpose while you delay charges against these owners this amnesty is at best a stop gap measure.

If this amnesty is not combined with a dismantling of the firearms act and sensible redraft it's nothing more than lip service. This has gone past the point of return and the only way to fix the Swiss Arms, CZ858, and the antiques issue is a full out dismantling of the current firearms act. Simply returning the classifications will not fix the issue as it will happen again when your government is no longer in power. The issue was caused by the deliberate poor wording and onerous laws written within the firearms act.

I request that you dismantle and redraft the Firearms Act as promised prior to your being elected to government. This is the only solution that will legally fix the current issue, as the reasons for reclassification are embedded in, or up for interpretation by poor wording in the firearms act, and if the Firearms Lab is correct these decisions are by law irreversible.

Nothing short of a dismantling and redraft of the firearms act before the next federal election will be acceptable at this point, and it is the only way to fix these issues legally. Until you completely dismantle and redraft the firearms act the time, effort, and finances that I would have put into your Party I am now directing to support the lawsuits of law abiding firearms owners and the Canadian firearms organizations.

Thank you for your time and consideration into this matter. I assure you that should you act on these matters responsibly you will consolidate my vote and financial support for well into the future.

Respectfully yours,




Type your name here and sign above it .

[ch312]

With a stroke of a pen even a semi-auto shotgun could suffer the same fate...The rcmp was given the power to do this long ago.

 

 

THIS is exactly why every Canadian who owns a firearm needs to voice their opinion. The firearms deemed prohibited share the same semi auto action that many hunters use in Canada. While these "scary" looking rifles look different, they're essentially no different than the semi auto rifle or shotgun that your grandfather has used for years.

Edited March 6, 2014 by ch312

[porkpie]

That's ridiculous. I will be calling my MP's office in the morning!

[bare foot wader]

anybody who owns a gun really needs to voice their opinion

 

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson admits to using a handgun for the purpose of intimidation, just a joke to him...let's see a regular civilian get away with that

 

 

“If one of her boyfriends were coming over, I’d put it on,” Paulson said in the interview with CPAC’s Beyond Politics just over a year ago. “You could tell where the eyes would go. They would always be polite. But their eyes would be fixated on the device … It was a lot of fun.”

 

"Last summer, the prime minister’s office said the RCMP should focus on more “important tasks,” after the RCMP seized hundreds of guns from homes evacuated during severe flooding in southern Alberta. The RCMP said the guns posed a safety threat."

 

http://o.canada.com/news/national/paulson-with-video/

[Hooked_On_Bass]

Thanks for bringing this up, gents!

 

We need to put an end to this Bull ASAP.