WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — Two Canadian Shooting Sports Association members, together with a strong believer in the right of self defense, were the guest speakers at Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant’s Town Hall Meeting at the Agricultural Hall in Cobden, Wednesday, April 11.
The meeting opened with Whitewater Mayor Hal Johnson thanking MP Gallant for holding this information meeting, then the guest speakers and all those who turned up for the occasion. The three guest speakers, Tony Bernardo, Christopher Di Armani and Steve Torino were introduced by MP Gallant.
MP Gallant described the meeting as an opportunity to provide answers and discuss concerns regarding Bill C-71, especially for firearms owners. As Bill C-71 would amend some Acts and Regulations in respect to firearms, the object was to urge as many people as possible to voice their displeasure to the House of Commons in an effort to defeat the amendments.
Bill C-71 is Liberal Party legislation which, in addition to restricting the rights of individuals, introduces a new layer of red tape and regulatory burden to eventually eliminate the rights of citizens to own, use and possess firearms, MP Gallant explained.
The meeting was simultaneously broadcast on Facebook. Questions and answers followed the speakers.
MP Gallant described how a Member in Parliament had only 35 seconds to raise a question. She also said an MP could raise an issue with a minimum of 25 signatures on a petition.
The audience of about 200 people, buzzing with anticipation minutes before the meeting began, settled in and listened to what they hoped to hear. Bill C-71 amendments were being proposed by government and had already passed its second reading. It is believed the amendments were not in the best interests of gunowners. The majority of those in attendance were concerned about possible changes to laws and registration regarding guns.
The candid apprehension of the panel and MP Gallant was that Bill C-71 is founded on faulty assumptions such as the real problem of not focusing on violent gang crime but rather on law-abiding gun owners. This is maybe a red herring intended to distract the public from failure to deal with gang violence. Collectively, they discussed potential problems with background checks, licence verification and prohibited firearms in particular.
Tony Bernado, Executive Director of the CSSA (Canadian Shooting Sports Association) was the first speaker to the podium. He spoke of how current background checks of a firearm application or renewal of a firearm permit can go back five years, but if the Bill is amended, background checks could possibly be extended to over the lifetime for an applicant. This might result in a person with a period of depression years ago or someone who served his country (maybe a hero) with PSTD, being denied a permit for a rifle for example. There would be no appeal allowed in such a case.
He then discussed that a license verification from a local store or a firearm seller, could have the information collected and in turn could be called a registry using the personal data collected. Next, the bureaucracy: not knowing the criterion to approve or deny a license application or who would be responsible for it. Mr. Bernado also covered off the issue of authorization for transport and suggested that the system is drowning in paper permits and are only in place for harassment reasons.
Next to the podium was Steve Torino, President of CSSA, who discussed at length some effective methods for protesting to elected officials, including Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, who it was suggested was misleading everyone. Mr. Torino also cited that the Firearms Advisory committee was comprised of people not fully understanding of firearms. Also, the confusion over the current status of some rifles as to whether restricted or not but whatever it was, the list of restricted weapons could be significantly increased. The phrase for these issues, “Going downhill not uphill”, was used. There would be some high-power rifles put on the prohibited list, such as CZ-858s. Special permits may be required for Gun Club members adding more aggravation for them.
Christopher Di Armani, a freelance writer who resides in British Columbia, is a strong believer in the right of free speech and the right of self defense. He felt the government had no understanding of the amendments of Bill C-71 and the ramifications they might set in motion. This was not good. It might even cost Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seats, he speculated.
He maintained that data in any records belong to the individual and said, “This issue is not going away so our job is to make it go away.
“The real purpose of tonight is to get everyone to take action by setting aside 15 minutes every week to compose and send a letter to the government with your concerns,” Mr. Di Armani stated.
He claimed that currently 1,600 protest letters per day are being received by the government.
In the question and answer period, about three dozen people came forward but instead of directing a question to the panel, most tended to relate their personal experiences involving guns, their own views of the proposed amendments and related the consequences to gun owners.
MP Gallant stated that if a father passing a gun to a daughter, both licenses would be verified, “The devil is in the details and the details are still coming.”
One person asked MP Gallant where it stated in Bill C-71 that there was to be a reinstatement of the long gun registry.
She admitted it did not state that per se, but did say that the government did have lots of little pieces of information about a gun owner anyway, which could be pieced together.
Mr. Bernado told of a situation of keeping bullet casings for 10 years in New Jersey and it solved not a single crime. Also, that the RCMP could not change the constitution but there is a suspicion that government may grant them some latitude.
Another person from the audience said, “Bureaucracy was out of control.”
Another person who had three sons felt it was very important to teach younger ones how to get on board, saying to the audience, “Be that person for the young people.”
The meeting was definitely a consensus for gun owners to be alarmed about amendments to Bill C-71 and the urgency to resist against it.
MP Gallant said she learned much from those who attended the meeting.
Law-abiding firearm owners expressed serious concerns with many sections of the bill, she said. Veterans expressed concern over the impact of extending lifetime background checks could discourage serving soldiers from seeking treatment for depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Vendors expressed concerns over onerous paperwork requiring they get a literal piece of paper authorizing the transport of each individual firearm, and for each day, they attend a gun show. Older firearms owners expressed concern that this bill’s main goal was to discourage younger Canadians from taking up sports shooting and hunting by imposing pointless rules and regulations while harassing existing owners.
