Mr. O'Leary and his staff have pledged to work with members of our community going forward to effect these positive changes. The CSSA appreciates the time Mr. O'Leary and his staff spent learning about our issues, and we thank him for his support to our community.

MIDDLETON - It was a week of assaults, unregistered restricted firearms, and checkstops in Annapolis County from March 6 to 13 -- and a whole lot of other calls for service to which RCMP members responded.

Annapolis District RCMP responded to 123 calls including 15 that were 911-related, one concerning animals, one to assist another government agency, three false alarms, one false fire alarm, three frauds, two harassing communications, and one impaired driving call

There were also 47 related to those restricted weapons, but those were all RCMP-generated as police attempt to account for firearms under a previous gun registry.

There was a Liquor Control Act call, four mental health calls, four motor vehicle crashes, numerous traffic violations, a theft over $5,000, a theft under $5,000, a sexual assault, a suspicious vehicle, a theft of a bicycle, one drug trafficking call, one uttering threats, and two wellbeing checks.

Following are a few of the calls for service:

(Note: Due to the sensitive nature of cases concerning sexual assault, children’s welfare and mental health issues, not all calls are considered appropriate for publication.)

-- March 6 at 3:14 p.m. West Dalhousie. Police received a call about a suspicious person walking on the West Dalhousie Road. The man was seen walking onto people’s property and occasionally going into the woods. Police made a patrol and located the man who said he was new to the area and had planned to do some hitchhiking in the area. Police provided transportation and advised the man to call them if he needed any further assistance.

-- March 7 at 6:50 a.m. Middleton. A person was identified as being in possession of an unregistered prohibited firearm as per the former restricted weapons registered system. RCMP are working on bringing unregistered weapons into compliance with the Canadian Firearms Information System. Forty-six other firearms in Annapolis County were identified as being in the same category.

-- March 8 at 5 p.m. at Centrelea. Police received a complaint that a person was receiving unwanted calls from an unknown person all winter long and recently the calls had been increasing in frequency. During the calls the phone would ring into an open line but nothing is heard on the call. The person has been given instruction on tracing the call and has been advised to contact their phone service provider as it may be a technical issue with the phone lines.

-- March 9 at 7:04 p.m. at Bridgetown. Police received a complaint of a single-vehicle accident involving a deer. Police went to the scene. The deer was dead on the side of the road. The driver and passenger were not injured. The vehicle sustained significant damage and was not drivable so a tow truck removed the vehicle.

-- March 9 at 8:16 a.m. at Middleton on Highway 10. Police conducted a checkstop with radar enforcement. Thirty vehicles went through the checkstop. Two summary offense violations and one written warning were issued. Two other checkstops were conducted during the week in Nictaux and the other in Lawrencetown.

-- March 9 at 4:49 p.m. at Wilmot. Police received a complaint of fighting at a residence in Wilmot. Police went to the location and learned that no assault or threat had taken place. It was a verbal argument between the two parties. The assault claim was unfounded.

-- March 9 at 8:44 p.m. at Port Lorne. Police were called to a complaint that a donkey and a horse were on the road in Port Lorne. RCMP members patrolled the area and with the assistance of the owner located the animals and they were put back in the barn.

-- March 9 at 1:25 p.m. at Upper Granville. Police received a complaint from a motorist who was driving behind a vehicle that was believed to be driven by an impaired person. The vehicle was reported to be all over the road and had almost gone into the ditch. Police attempted to intercept but the vehicle was gone on arrival. Police were able to contact the owner of the suspect vehicle from plate information. Police determined the driver was fatigued, not impaired. The driver reported pulling over a number of times to keep from falling asleep.

-- March 10 at 3:53 p.m. at Maitland Bridge. Police were called to a complaint of assault. Police learned that the complainant had been assaulted by another male. Police went to the scene and began an investigation which is ongoing.

-- March 10 at 7:15 p.m. at Bear River. Police were called to a complaint of assault. A male was arrested and later released on a promise to appear and conditions. The accused will appear in court on April 24.

-- March 10 at 5:58 p.m. at Upper Granville. Police received a complaint of a vehicle all over the road on Highway 1 in Upper Granville heading east towards Bridgetown. Police were able to intercept the vehicle. There were no signs of impairment but the driver was issued a verbal warning for crossing a double solid line.

-- March 10 at 8:58 a.m. at Meadowvale. Police received a complaint of a theft from a motor vehicle. A homemade bike valued at about $2,000 was taken from a truck. Police were able to obtain a description and serial number -- plus photos of the bike. This will be added to the Canadian Police Information Centre to monitor in the event the bike is put for sale. The investigation is ongoing.

-- March 12 at 9:57 p.m. at Middleton. Police received a complaint of an assault. Police attended and arrested one male who has been charged with assault and will appear in court at a later date.

-- March 12 at 1:03 p.m. at Bear River. Police received a complaint of harassing phones calls. The complainant was receiving calls from a person known to her. Calls were not threatening in nature but the complainant would like them to stop. Police advised the complainant of their options.

-- March 12 at 9:57 p.m. at Wilmot. Police responded to a two-vehicle crash on Highway 1 in Wilmot. There wee no injuries. One vehicle crossed the road to avoid hitting a dog that had run out in front of it. That vehicle braked quickly and the vehicle behind was unable to stop in time and collided with the front vehicle. There was minimal damage to the vehicles. Parties exchanged vehicle and insurance information.

-- March 13 at 7:29 a.m. at Lequille. Police responded to a 911 single-vehicle accident with a truck in the ditch. The driver reported he was not injured. The vehicle was a Canadian Forces truck. EHS attended. Upon police arrival a military tow truck and other military personnel were on scene.

Crimes, or information on crimes, can be reported to the Annapolis RCMP at 825-2000 in Middleton, or 665-4481 in Bridgetown. Information on crimes can also be reported to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

See the story: http://www.annapoliscountyspectator.ca/news/local/2017/3/16/assaults--accidents--and-firearms-keep-annapolis-county-rcmp-bus.html

In a tacit admission that criminals and scofflaws have had little trouble circumventing Australia’s National Firearms Agreement (NFA) and the government’s confiscation effort, Australian officials have set a date for another firearms amnesty program. The program is set to begin in July and last for three months. Despite offering no compensation for surrendered firearms, government officials hope that the plan will net 260,000 of an estimated 600,000 illegally possessed guns.

In 1996, following a high-profile shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia’s states and territories adopted the federal NFA. The agreement set up stringent licensing requirements to possess firearms, requiring license applicants provide a “genuine reason” for owning a firearm; the agreement made clear that personal protection was not a genuine reason. The measure also targeted several types of commonly-owned firearms, and included a near total ban on civilian ownership of semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns.

To coincide with the new restrictions, the government provided a firearms amnesty and compensation program. Through a massive public education campaign, gun owners were warned that they were required to turn their newly-prohibited firearms over to the government for a set price. Incorrectly called a "buy-back" by some U.S. politicans, as the NFA did not grandfather the possession of firearms owned prior to the new restrictions, the ban and amnesty amounted to gun confiscation.

In announcing the new federal amnesty program, Justice Minister Michael Keenan told the Sunday Mail, “This is the first Australia wide gun amnesty since 1996, when the Howard government took action following the devastation of the Port Arthur Massacre,” but acknowledged, “there have been state-based amnesties over that time.”

In fact, according to research conducted by University of Sydney Professor Philip Alpers, from 1987 to 2015, there were 41 (38 state and 3 federal) firearm amnesties of various durations in Australia. Alpers calculated the total number of firearms turned in to various authorities over this period at roughly 1.1 million.

Implementation of yet another amnesty is a broad acknowledgement of the futility of Australia’s gun control regime and amnesty programs. Further, more sophisticated analyses have also revealed the ineffectiveness of the country’s previous turn-in efforts.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice reviewed the available research on Australia’s NFA firearm confiscation program and issued a memorandum that concluded that the effort had no effect on crime generally. In coming to this determination, the memorandum cited work from University of Maryland Professor Peter Reuter and Jenny Mouzos, aptly titled, “Australia: A Massive Buyback of Low-Risk Guns.” The NIJ memo made clear that the researchers “found no effect on crime.”

Given that turn-in programs do not reduce crime, some might wonder why Australia would once again embark on such a pointless endeavor. However, Keenan was kind enough to provide the Sunday Mail with the government’s rationale, explaining, “This is as much about giving a family a chance to get rid of an old heirloom as it is about getting rid of guns off our streets.”

With refreshing candor, the Australian government has admitted that its intent with the new amnesty is to disarm the otherwise law-abiding who are not in total compliance with Australia’s onerous gun control regime. This pursuit of unregistered heirlooms and family keepsakes will no doubt have an effect on violent crime similar to that of previous amnesties; none.

See the story: https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170310/decades-after-firearm-confiscation-australia-announces-new-amnesty-program

The image bears a striking resemblance to a scene from Denis Villeneuve's thriller Sicario. Two vans with tinted-glass windows cruise through the busy streets of a Mexican city, followed closely by a federal police pickup. Two armed officers in full combat gear stand in the cargo area, watching over the convoy. 

The passengers inside the vans, however, are not undercover CIA operatives, but a group of Canadian students from the University of Toronto (UofT), on their way to a meeting at the Federal Police' Tactical Operations Center in Iztapalapa, Mexico City's most populous borough. 

Last month, UofT sent ten criminology students to Mexico City to learn about the intricacies of Mexico's organized crime conflict. Over ten days, the Canadian students met with Mexican academics, human rights activist, former directors of national intelligence, law enforcement agents, Canadian diplomats involved in bilateral security cooperation and other experts on Mexico's organized crime challenges. Throughout the meetings, participants often brought up a straightforward question: Why should Canada care about the Mexican cartels?

The election of Donald Trump has produced an unexpected transformation in the structure of Canada's relationship with Mexico. For the first time in 23 years, authorities in Ottawa and Mexico City cannot rely on the leadership of the U.S. to act as a bridge between the two countries and set the path for future cooperation. 

Ever since the U.S. presidential election, Canadian authorities have worked to reassure stakeholders that Canada will not neglect its relationship with Mexico. However, if the current U.S. administration turns its back on its southern neighbour, Canada may be compelled to rethink its relationship with Mexico, including in the sphere of cooperation on security-related issues.

Canada has a vested interest in the political and economic stability of Mexico. According to the Canadian government international's gateway, "Canada and Mexico are each other's third largest trading partner, with two-way merchandise trade reaching over $37.8 billion in 2015. Canadian direct investment in Mexico reached over $14.8 billion in 2015, while Mexican direct investment in Canada totaled $1.4 billion." 

Several well-known Canadian firms such as Scotiabank, Bombardier and Blackberry have significant investments in Mexico. However, the stakes of these companies in Mexico pale in comparison to those of Canadian mining firms. According to Deloitte"of the total foreign mining businesses in Mexico, 73 per cent are Canadian, representing 44 per cent of Canada's total investment in the country." 

These companies are particularly vulnerable to Mexican cartels which have metamorphosed from drug trafficking organizations into sophisticated protection rackets. Canadian firms' extraction and transportation of minerals in Mexico often take place deep within rural cartel strongholds where crime syndicates tax businesses for the right to operate, often in complicity with local authorities.

From a broader perspective, the Mexican cartels also present a greater menace to security and stability through North America. A simple theorem seemingly ignored by Trump acolytes is that political and economic turmoil in a country tends to spill over into its neighbours. 

Dr. Monica Serrano, an expert on security at El Colegio de Mexico, a Mexico City research institution, explains "some problems are intermestic by nature, they are of both international and domestic concern. Countries affected by these issues should have a say in the formulation of strategies meant to address them."

The rise of Mexican cartels can have ramifications in Canada that exceed drug-related problems commonly associated with them. Cartel activities can have a direct impact on immigration, human trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime in Canada. In fact, one of the most important areas of cooperation between the RCMP and Mexico's Federal Police comprises crimes involving online sexual exploitation of children.

Over the past ten years, Mexico has been flooded with illegal weapons smuggled from the U.S. 

The cartels also pose a direct threat to the safety of 1.9 million Canadians who visit Mexico every year. Last January, cartel gunmen opened fire at a music festival in Playa del Carmen organized by Torontonians Philip Pulitano and Craig Pettigrew. Five people died in the attack including Canadian bouncer Kirk Wilson. Apparently, the attack happened in retaliation for organizers' refusal to pay protection money to Los Zetas, one of Mexico's most brutal cartels.

By observing the impact of organized crime in the Mexico-U.S. border, Canada can also anticipate and come up with solutions for problems at its own border with its Southern neighbor. The evolution of illegal gun trade clearly illustrates this argument. 

Over the past ten years, Mexico has been flooded with illegal weapons smuggled from the U.S. The demand for arms by crime syndicates in Mexico, where gun laws make the legal purchase of weapons extremely complicated, has undeniably fueled this trade.

Canada faces a similar problem, albeit, at a much lower scale. In 2005, 70 percent of guns used in homicides in Toronto were automatic weapons smuggled from the US. According to the Canadian Border Services Agency, Canada has experienced a continued increase in gun seizures. 

While the number of guns seized by Canadian agents, 316 in 2015, does not compare to the 40,000 weapons seized in Mexico between December 2012 and July 2016, an increase in the demand for firearms in Canada could drive-up gun smuggling through its 5,526-mile Southern border.

Ultimately, Canadian authorities consider that a long-term solution to Mexico's organized crime problems requires a significant transformation of the country's legal institutions. Unlike the militaristic approach of the U.S. to combating the Mexican cartels, Canada has invested in the strengthening of Mexico's criminal justice system, through initiatives such as the Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program. 

The success of this type of projects, however, relies on a strong commitment to cooperation from both countries. As Annie Chen, a fourth-year Criminology student at UofT explains: "The increasingly interdependent and globalized international system favors collaboration, and countries that isolate themselves will suffer politically and economically. Canada cannot afford to ignore pressing security issues in Mexico."

See the story: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/valentin-pereda/organized-crime-mexico_b_15219094.html

Officials from the Czech Republic have been among the most vocal critics of the European Union’s efforts to restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Most recently, the Czech government has contemplated taking the drastic step of amending the country’s constitution in order to better protect the rights of Czech citizens to possess guns for self-defense.

This latest move by Czech officials comes as the EU is winding up its plans to further restrict gun owner rights by amending the EU Firearms Directive. The directive sets the minimum gun control standards that each EU member state must enact. Using terrorism as a pretext for further gun control, the European Commission announced its proposed changes to the directive less than a week after the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. Most notably, the initial plan called for a vague ban on the civilian possession of “Semi-automatic firearms for civilian use which resemble weapons with automatic mechanisms.”

Since the Commission issued its initial proposal, negotiations between the European Parliament and European Council have resulted in the removal of some of the worst aspects of the Commission’s plan. However, the pared down directive still contains significant new gun controls.

The revised plan generally prohibits civilian use of centerfire rifles and shotguns that are equipped with a magazine with a capacity greater than 10 rounds, and centerfire handguns that are equipped with a magazine with a capacity greater than 20 rounds. The plan also prohibits the civilian acquisition of these magazines going forward.

In addition to restricting the configurations of available firearms, the revised directive places new burdens on gun owners. In relation to issuing and maintaining gun owner licenses, a background document on the latest version of the plan stated, “it was agreed that each member state must have a monitoring system to assess relevant medical and psychological information which they may operate on a continuous or non-continuous basis.”

Facing these new controls, Czech Minister of the Interior Milan Chovanec authored the constitutional amendment to better ensure that Czechs would be able to possess firearms for their security. Euractiv Czech Republic reported that Chovanec is optimistic about the amendment’s chances. The amendment requires passage by a three-fifth’s majority in the Chamber of Deputies and a three-fifths majority in the Senate to be enacted.

The Czech Republic has long had a vibrant pro-gun culture, and the Euractiv report also made clear that Czech gun owners continue to be opposed to the proposed changes to the EU Firearms Directive. Prior to a debate on Chovanec’s amendment, the minister was presented with a petition with 50,000 signatures in opposition to the directive.

Last July, in an interview with Czech media outlet Blesk, Czech President Milos Zeman urged citizens to arm themselves in order to combat terrorist violence. Further, in January, in the context of an armed citizenry responding to terrorist acts, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry explained, “The possibilities of state bodies to quickly and efficiently prevent casualties and other damage are limited during such attacks.”

As Brussels bureaucrats race to forfeit the rights of their “constituents” in the wake of violent extremism, Czech officials have wisely recognized that better protecting their citizenry’s right to self-defense is the superior means of combatting terrorist violence. As most Americans would recognize, ensuring citizens’ access to the means for self-defense is of vital importance and worthy of inclusion in a nation’s foundational document.

See the story: https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170310/czechs-seek-pro-gun-constitutional-amendment-in-face-of-eu-gun-control