Free Republic

OTTAWA (CP) - In what has become a familiar refrain, the Canada Firearms Centre has once again quietly put off several gun regulations that were supposed to take effect this month. Among the measures delayed until next year is a provision to have police forces across Canada register all their weapons - including seized guns - with the federal agency. New rules governing gun shows have been deferred until November 2006, while regulations that would force gun-makers to identify all firearms with internationally recognized markings won't come into force until the end of 2007. The provisions were initially supposed to...

Old Bailey jury hears dad, 21, killed by crossbow was involved in lengthy row over his girlfriend A dad-of-one killed with a crossbow in New Addington was embroiled in a long-running feud over a woman, a court has heard. Danny Collard, 18, is accused of murdering 21-year-old Jimmy Hewett in a revenge attack on September 25 last year. The Old Bailey heard on Monday how Collard's brother Mark had been in a long-standing row with Mr Hewett because he slept with the victim's girlfriend. On the night he died, Mr Hewett "rammed and battered" cars with two friends outside the...

Hunters blast Ont. gun inspection plan Canadian Press Friday, September 02, 2005 KENORA, Ont. -- A plan to conduct “blitz inspections” on Toronto gun shops as Canada's largest city battles a string of shooting deaths is getting shot down by two groups representing Ontario hunters. The Ontario Federation of Anglers, which represents tens of thousands of gun owners and hunters, says the plan is a waste of police resources on an industry that is already rigorously inspected. “Gun shop owners already invest thousands of dollars in vaults and security systems, they keep log books of guns and ammunition sold and...

3 September 2005 ANGLER IN GUN RAGE OVER DOG AN angler pulled out a air pistol and threatened to kill a springer spaniel when it drank from the lake where he was fishing, a court heard yesterday Giuseppe Graffagnino, 42, brandished the gun above his head as he ranted at owner Susan Nesbitt: "My rods are worth £200 each - more than your dog. I could shoot it.". Police called by Mrs Nesbitt to Cotswold Water Park in Cirencester, Glos, found he also had a rifle, cannabis and a CS gas canister, magistrates at Cheltenham were told. Graffagnino, of Hartcliffe,...

In an effort to stem a recent rash of gun violence in Toronto, the Ontario government announced it will begin conducting sweeps of gun shops to help reduce the number of illegal guns in the city. "[We want] to ensure that we have safe standards in place," said the province's Attorney-General Michael Bryant at a press conference in Toronto Thursday. However, Mr. Bryant said the sweep will be limited to businesses and not individual homes, as that is the purview of the federal government and the gun registry. The government is also taking a number of other measures aimed at...

THREE brothers kicked a man "like a football" before turning on his girlfriend as she tried to shield him, a court heard. The victim suffered severe internal bleeding and had to undergo emergency surgery following an attack outside Pizza Hut on Howardsgate, WGC, last year. One policewoman described the subsequent arrest of the brothers as the scariest moment of her career. James, 25, Jack, 21, and Joseph Hurt, 19, of The Wade, WGC, appeared in St Albans Crown Court last week charged with causing GBH with intent and affray. The jury heard that in the early hours of Saturday, October...

When we first read the headline in last Thursday's Sun - "Feds taking aim at gun violence" - we thought that there must have been some mistake. Gun violence? What gun violence? We have a very expensive national gun registry that was put into place to ensure that every firearm in Canada can be tracked. We have cumbersome regulations in place that make it more difficult for Canadians to buy guns. We have armies of bureaucrats shuffling paper to and fro to make sure that everything related to guns in this country is all very above-board and law-abiding. So there...

Toronto Cops Ticked-off by Controversial T-shirts Aug, 26 2005 - 9:00 AM TORONTO/640TORONTO - Some T-shirts being worn by young people in Toronto are irritating Toronto cops. The shirts have a picture of a gun, with the captioon, "Rule 1: Be Armed.'' The shirts aren't illegal, just in bad taste. Sgt. Rob Hargan says kids wearing them will be "hassled.'' But 640 Toronto crime expert and host of The Beat Craig Bromell says that's about all police can do because there's nothing illegal about them. There are suggestions that two of the shirts have been seized.

Anti-gun activist shot Scarborough man killed at site of his annual Stop Violence BBQ Natalie Alcoba National Post Friday, August 26, 2005 TORONTO - A father was gunned down last night in the same Scarborough apartment building courtyard where he weeks ago staged a ''Stop-the-Violence'' barbecue, residents said. The shooting of the man -- identified by friends as Delroy, but known as ''Sploogle'' -- happened just before 7 p.m. on the basketball courts of an apartment building at 3181 Eglinton Avenue East, near Markham Road. Police said there was an altercation, and he was shot more than once by a...

Raiders storm petrol station By Sue Smith Aug 22, 2005 Pistol wielding raiders stormed into a Kidderminster petrol station and held a cashier at gunpoint. Two men in balaclavas launched a night-time swoop on the Lynwood Service Station, also known as the Rosehill Garage, Rednal. There were no customers in the Texaco garage at the time but one of the men put a pistol to the head of the cashier, a man in his 40s, and threatened to shoot him. Initially the cashier, who has not been named, refused to hand any money over to the robbers and managed to...

Man killed neighbour with axe and cleaver By Rod Hopkinson A MAN killed his next door neighbour in an attack using an axe, a cleaver and a knife. Violence exploded in the terrace house in East End Park, Leeds, while the two men were drinking and watching television, a jury heard yesterday. Other neighbours called police after hearing shouts and thuds from the home of Keith Arundell, 67, and officers arrived to find him dying on his living room floor with Jason Stuart Dobbs still bloodstained at the scene. Robin Frieze, prosecuting, told a jury at Leeds Crown Court that...

August 12, 2005 'Jack rolling' link to rape gang By Ben Hoyle Rapists who are terrorising a town may have brought their violent tactic from South Africa A STRING of rapes in Northampton may mark the arrival in Britain of a notorious South African violent crime known as jack rolling. Police have warned women not to go out alone at night after five attacks in nine days by a gang who cruise the town centre in two cars. Jack rolling became notorious in South Africa during the 1990s, when gangs of youths in cars blocked off streets and raped every...

The government has been urged to relax gun laws which make it illegal for Britain's top pistol shooters to train in England, Scotland and Wales. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has given special permission for pistol events to be staged at the London 2012 Olympics. But British team members face having to do all their 2012 preparations abroad. "It would be fantastic if they were given the ability to compete on a level playing field," said British shooting's performance chief John Leighton-Dyson. "I would like to think reasonable people will be able to have reasonable discussions and come to reasonable...

Canada Blames Us Gun-control folly here, up north, across the pond... By John R. Lott Jr. If you have a problem, it's often easier to blame someone else rather than deal with it. And with Canada's murder rate rising 12 percent last year and a recent rash of murders by gangs in Toronto and other cities, it's understandable that Canadian politicians want a scapegoat. That at least was the strategy Canada's premiers took when they met last Thursday with the new U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, and spent much of their time blaming their crime problems on guns smuggled...

Friday, 19 August 2005, 18:17 GMT 19:17 UK Woman attacked by 50-strong gang A woman was left with glass fragments in her eyes after a gang of about 50 youths launched an attack on her car using iron bars and other weapons. The woman became trapped in her red Rover 100 by the gang in Fawley Close, Furze Platt, Maidenhead, in Berkshire, on Wednesday night. She dialled 999 and was rescued by police but the youths had scattered down nearby alleys and footpaths. About 30 weapons, including knives and a petrol bomb, were found in the area. Police had also...