CANADIAN SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION / CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION
TEAM CSSA E-NEWS - April 1, 2011
YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE: May 2 is federal election day. The Canadian Shooting Sports Association is preparing a communications and advertising blitz that focuses on the ridings where opposition M.P.s flip-flopped on the September 22, 2010 gun registry vote. If we can win those ridings based on this single issue, we could help the Conservative government win a majority. A Harper majority would be great news for responsible gun owners because the party promises to forge legislation that no longer caters to the anti-gun lobby. You can help by donating to the (add hotlink here) CSSA Election 2011 Fund. Our communications blitz will be enabled by how much we can spend, so now is the time to help us help you! Check our web site at
www.cdnshootingsports.org for details and please give generously.
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CRIME STATS ARE A MOVING TARGET: In February, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute published a report by Scott Newark, Why Canadian Crime Statistics Do Not Add Up: Not the Whole Truth. The report triggered a public backlash from criminologists obsessed with "social justice," who accused Newark of ideological bias and professional incompetence. The vitriolic reaction to a contrary viewpoint revealed a depressing lack of diverse opinion amongst Canada's crime scholars. Critics repeatedly infer that "tough-on-crime policies" are based on spurious statistics, resulting in over-incarceration and rapidly escalating costs to the taxpayer... The last 10 years of StatsCan data do reflect a national decline in violent crime. But the recent record ignores enormous increases in crime over the last half-century. In 1962, Canadians reported 221 violent crimes per 100,000 people. This figure doubled by 1970 to 480, increased to 636 in 1980 and finally peaked at 1,084 in 1992 - a 500% increase in 30 years. (National Post – March 21, 2011)
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NEW YORK GUN BANK A BIG FAIL: This month marks the 10th anniversary of New York's Combined Ballistic Identification System (CoBIS) program. Under this program, all new handguns sold in the state must be test fired and the shell casing imaged and entered into an electronic databank for possible crime scene identification. Since its inception in March 2001, a total 311,859 shell casings have been catalogued. At an estimated cost of $4 million dollars per year, $40 million dollars has been spent on CoBIS over the past decade. What have taxpayers received for this? Absolutely nothing. Not a single crime has been solved because of it. By any measure, CoBIS has been a total failure and a public policy disaster. (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. -- March 28, 2011)
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FORMER POLICE CHIEF SAYS REGISTRY CREATES CRIMINALS: The former president of Quebec’s largest police union has reversed his position on the gun registry now that he is the Conservative candidate in the federal election. Jean-Guy Dagenais, who on Tuesday evening announced his candidacy in the Bloc Québécois-held riding of Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, is no longer a strong public advocate for the survival of the registry, which the Tories have long pledged to kill. As head of the provincial police association, Mr. Dagenais told Le Journal last year that the gun registry is “a must,” and three years earlier presented a special award to the Coalition on Gun Control at the annual Quebec Police Awards gala. At Tuesday night’s campaign launch, though, Mr. Dagenais flip-flopped and said he is now opposed to the gun registry. “It makes criminals out of farmers and hunters,” Mr. Dagenais is quoted by the CBC as saying. He said he was toeing the position of the police association — and that he actually subscribes to the Tory party line. Beyond that, he said he knows of other police officers who agree with him. (The Toronto Star – March 30, 2011)
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THE SOUND OF SILENCE: The Kansas Legislature has approved a bill that would allow the use of silencers for hunting, fishing and fur harvesting. The bill, supported by the National Rifle Association, is awaiting Gov. Sam Brownback's signature. The Hays Daily News reports that the bill received only one no vote in the Senate and was unanimously approved by the House last week. Chris Tymeson, chief counsel for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, says he doesn't know how if many people own silencers, in part because they are expensive and must be licensed by federal authorities. Owners also must undergo an FBI background check. He says a few people have filed requests with the state's wildlife agency to be able to use silencers, mainly for shooting prairie dogs. (Associated Press – March 28, 2011)
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WOULD YOU LIKE A SIDE OF AMMO WITH THAT? There is legislation making its way through the South Carolina Statehouse that would allow registered gun owners to carry their weapons in day cares, churches, and restaurants. The bill would eliminate the need for a concealed weapons permit, and allow out-of state visitors who legally own guns to carry them in South Carolina. The bill seems to have some momentum in the Statehouse, but there are opponents. Mary Stephens, Aiken, SC: "They just shouldn't do it because it's not safe, 'cause if you have too many people in places like that and they all have guns, and someone does come in, more innocent people could get hurt." (WJBF News – March 30, 2011)
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HUNTING BANS WILL ENDANGER SPECIES: “Sustainable hunting will continue to be a major conservation tool in the 21st century. It conserves wildlife populations and biodiversity in general, whereas hunting bans can speed up extinction," said the President of the CIC Tropical Game Commission, Dr. Rolf D. Baldus, at a WFSA conference during the international IWA-Outdoors Classic trade fair in Nürnberg. The conference on "Hunting and Sportshooting in the 21st Century" was organized by the "World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities" (WFSA). The WFSA represents over one hundred million sport shooters from all around the world. There is no reason for hunters to be defensive or to hide their passion. The high expenditures of hunters all over the world and their investments into the conservation of natural habitats are major and often critical contributions to maintain biodiversity. At the same time this saves the taxpayers millions of dollars or €uros, which they otherwise would have to spend for the same purposes. The income hunters provide for landowners serves as a powerful economic incentive for the conservation of nature. “Total protection of wildlife and hunting bans often achieve the opposite,” Dr. Baldus said, “as they remove the economic value of wildlife, and something without value is defencelessly doomed to decline and in final consequence to extinction.”
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ELECTION READINESS: With the federal election set for May 2, responsible firearms owners are encouraged to find out which candidate supports shooting and hunting. The shooting sports could be a pivotal issue in the coming election and the CSSA hopes you will help provide funding and volunteer assistance to elect M.P.s who support our activities. We need to help M.P.s who help us!
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CABELA'S IS HIRING IN EDMONTON: Cabela's is seeking passionate people who enjoy the outdoor lifestyle by delivering innovation, quality and value in our products and services. If you are customer focused, innovative, love the outdoors, and are ready for a new challenge, come join the team. Interested candidates should apply online at
www.cabelas.ca/careers on or before April 13, 2011.
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