This Week: The Liberals have a lot of explaining to do

TEAM CSSA E-NEWS | June 22, 2018

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Liberal MP Bob Nault: Tories ‘Playing Politics’ With Remarks On Guns And Mental Issues
Liberal gun bill reaches final debate in Commons … in September
Liberals Called Out For Implementing C-71 Before Voted On by Parliament
The sorry spectacle of Canada’s legislative process being hijacked by the gun lobby’s agenda
Liberals, Tories still at odds over gun control bill
Teachers and guns: Inside a firearm training where educators learn to take down shooters
Concealed Carrier – a Father with his Kids – Stops Shooting at Walmart
Government of Canada taking steps to prevent and reduce gun and gang violence

COMMENTARY

– The Liberals have a lot of explaining to do –

First, Mark Holland stood in the House of Commons and inferred Canadian firearm owners are thugs:

"What thugs do is to make sure they are able to keep weapons in their car and not have to answer any questions. That is what they are going to do. They are going to put the weapons in the car and drive wherever they go. They know that if they are pulled over by a police officer, all they have to do is list one of a million different places to explain where they are going."

He probably didn’t mean to call all licensed, law-abiding firearm owners thugs, but those are the only people who can explain their way out of the police situation Holland described.

Then Liberal Member of Parliament Pam Damoff stood in the House of Commons:

“I keep hearing this term law abiding gun owners. And I appreciate that the majority of people who own firearms are law abiding gun owners. Marc Lepine, who killed fourteen women a Polytechnique, also had a firearms license. Alexandre Bissonnette, who killed six men in the mosque in Quebec City, had a valid firearms license. So, you know, we talk about law abiding firearms owners. A lot of times they are until they're not .”

Not to be outdone by his fellow parliamentarians, Bob Nault, M.P. (Kenora) stood in the House of Commons and launched his attack:

“I think one of our major concerns in today's gun scenario, and we see it in the U.S. and in Canada, is that there are a lot of mental issues with people who have firearms .”

If Mr. Nault’s claim was true, the RCMP would revoke hundreds of thousands of firearm licences every year. They don’t.

We understand political rhetoric but when elected Members of Parliament, speaking on behalf of the government, misunderstand our community as gravely as these three individuals do, it is no longer political rhetoric but political character assassination.

Canada’s responsible firearm owners are the second largest group of sporting enthusiasts in the country, bested only by sport fishing. Golf, the next most popular sport, has 1.5 million participants and hockey trails with 1.2 million.

These Liberal Party stooges view 2.1 million federally licenced, RCMP-vetted firearm owners as mentally deranged –– violent criminals ready to snap at the slightest provocation.

Why?

The visceral hatred these statements reveal signals a much deeper issue. Replace “gun owner” with any other identifiable group and the outrage would be instantaneous, monumental and catastrophic to the career of the person uttering such words.

Imagine if Mark Holland said: “What Metis' do is to make sure they are able to keep weapons in their car and not have to answer any questions.”

Or if Pam Damoff said: “Women are law abiding until they are not.”

Or if Bob Nault said: “…that there are a lot of mental issues with Quebeckers who own sports cars.”

They would be forced to resign in disgrace amid a parliamentary and media furor.

So why is denigrating the character of 2.1 million Canadians, men and women who have not broken any laws, who are federally licensed to own firearms, and who are vetted daily by the RCMP, deemed to be acceptable by our government?

Sources:

· https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/house/sitting-307/hansard#Int-10181133

· https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/house/sitting-316/hansard#Int-10225883

· http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/XRender/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20180618/-1/29616

· https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2013/pc-ch/CH24-1-2012-eng.pdf

Should MPs representing the government be reprimanded for malicious political commentary?

Yes

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Liberal MP Bob Nault: Tories ‘Playing Politics’ With Remarks On Guns And Mental Issues

By Ryan Maloney | huffingtonpost.ca | June 21, 2018

The veteran politician says he supports enhanced background checks.

A rural Liberal MP is standing by comments he made in the House of Commons about mental health and gun ownership that he says are being torqued by Conservatives to stoke outrage.

Bob Nault, who represents the northern Ontario riding of Kenora, spoke in favour of Bill C-71 on Monday — legislation that seeks to tighten rules on the sale and licensing of firearms.

The bill will enhance background checks so the entire life history of a licence applicant will be considered. Current legislation only requires a person's last five years to be assessed, looking for past crimes, violence, and associated mental illness.

Nault told the House that change is the main reason he supports the bill and made reference to the February shooting at Florida's Stoneman Douglas High School.

"I think one of major concerns in today's gun scenario, and we see it in the U.S. and in Canada, is that there are a lot of mental issues with people who have firearms," Nault said .

"When we think about individuals who have firearms and mental issues, and I am talking about the U.S. now, we can think about what happened to those kids who died in that school."

C-71 would go a "long way" in preventing such a scenario, he said at the time.

Tory MP: 'That is absolutely insane'

The remark sparked immediate gripes from Tory MPs. B.C. Conservative MP Mel Arnold rose to say he could not believe what Nault had said about there being "a lot of mental issues" among gun owners.

"I hope that phrase gets clipped and put out there among the millions of law-abiding firearms owners in Canada," Arnold said. "That is absolutely insane."

And that's exactly what has happened. The Conservative Hunting and Angling Caucus, a group of Tory MPs who advocate on behalf of hunters, anglers, and trappers, shared a short clip of Nault's remarks on Facebook.

C-71 debate

"To make a blanket statement and presume that there are "a lot of mental issues with people who have firearms" not only is a prejudice statement, but takes major steps backwards on all the hard work to open discussions around mental health awareness. What do you think?"

Posted by Conservative Hunting and Angling Caucus on Tuesday, 19 June 2018

James Bezan, the Tory defence critic, took to Twitter Thursday to accuse Nault of disrespecting gun owners with a "disgusting statement" he said showed "contempt" the Liberals have for firearms owners.

But Nault, a former cabinet minister who beat former Tory minister Greg Rickford in 2015, told HuffPost Canada the Conservative response was par for the course.

"I've been doing this for a long time and one thing I've noticed, it appears over and over again unfortunately, the Conservatives play politics with this," he said. "Plain and simple, it's just bad politics."

Nault said Tories were not doing their part to remove the stigma around mental health, as Bezan has advocated in the past.

The Liberal MP said he was not suggesting Canada has the same kinds of issues with gun violence and mass shootings as the U.S. He noted that gun laws here are stronger and more stringent and that firearms owners are diligent in following Canadian law.

"But I'm using that as an example that can happen here and we need to be vigilant about it," he said. "We need to modernize our approach to background checks."

See the story HERE

THANK YOU to the estate and friends of late member Bill Santarossa, for their generous donations to the CSSA in memory of Bill. Mr. Santarossa was the owner of Santarossa Shooting Sports in Rodney, ON, and a long time supporter of the CSSA.

Thank you for thinking of us and please accept our deepest condolences.

Rest in peace, Bill. - the CSSA Family

Liberal gun bill reaches final debate in Commons … in September

By Tim Naumetz | ipolitics.ca | June 20, 2018

A government bill that has had the extreme end of the gun-owning community in a furore since last March has been put on ice until September.

In a slew of deals between the Liberals and opposition parties to adjourn for the summer early on Wednesday, government and NDP MPs voted together to adopt an amended version of the bill after a brief round of committee witness hearings.

But the legislation, Bill C-71, will languish for the next 12 weeks after the House agreed that its final stage, third reading, will take place on Sept. 17.

The final House decisions on the legislation took place in a controversial atmosphere after House Speaker Geoff Regan made a “prima facie” finding that the RCMP was in contempt of Parliament for wording it used in advice to gun shops and firearm owners early in the bill’s Commons stages.

After a complaint last month from Alberta Conservative MP Glen Motz, Regan agreed with Motz that the RCMP was likely contempt of Parliament for using language that assumed the bill will dbe passed into law – even though no final vote had yet occurred in either the Commons or the Senate.

Regan’s use of the term “prima facie” means the RCMP will be found in contempt of Parliament unless it can rebut the allegations successfully. Committee hearings to investigate the Mountie actions and come back with a recommendation to the House will also wait until September.

RCMP web posts for gun owners and a bulletin to firearm businesses were intended as advice on what steps the firearm owners and retailers would have to take after the bill takes effect and – among other measures – the new law adds nearly 20 imported rifles imported from Switzerland and Czechoslovakia to the list of prohibited firearms in Canada.

As the firearms community awaits renewal of debate over the bill in the fall, a key deadline for thousands of owners of the CZ-858 and Swiss Arms semi-automatic rifles still stands.

Even if the legislation does not pass through the House, and then the Senate, after the summer recess, only those who legally owned the rifles up to June 30 will be allowed to continue to own the guns legally after the new law takes effect.

The government rejected a Conservative amendment that would have replaced the June 30 deadline with a date set by cabinet after the legislation passes.

RCMP and Justice Department lawyers testifying at the Public Safety and National Security committee told the committee delaying the deadline to some point after the bill becomes law would create a “larger pool” of owners who would be able to legally keep the rifles under the grandfathering clause.

See the story HERE

Liberals Called Out For Implementing C-71 Before Voted On by Parliament

By MP Glen Motz, Deputy Shadow Minister for Public Safety | News Release | June 19, 2018

June 19, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, ON – Following the ruling by House of Commons Speaker Geoff Regan that the RCMP had breached Parliamentary Privilege by moving to implement Bill C-71 well before it was debated and voted on in Parliament, Glen Motz, Conservative Deputy Shadow Minister for Public Safety and MP for Medicine Hat- Cardston – Warner released the following statement:

“It is inconceivable that the RCMP would implement Justin Trudeau’s gun legislation before Parliament has even had the opportunity to debate it or vote on it.

“Stakeholders have continually demonstrated that the Trudeau Liberals have used misleading statements and statistics to justify this misguided legislation, rushing debate and even refusing to hear from some witnesses.

“The Liberals cannot be trusted when it comes to firearms legislation because they fail to tackle criminals who use guns to commit violent crime, while treating law-abiding firearms owners as criminals.

“The safety of Canadians should be the number one priority of any government. Unfortunately, this legislation has no new measures to combat gang violence in Surrey, gun violence in the GTA and escalating crime rates in our rural communities.

“Conservatives will continue to fight for concrete actions to keep Canadians safe and focus our efforts on the criminal element behind firearms violence.”

-30-

Visit MP Motz's website HERE

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The sorry spectacle of Canada’s legislative process being hijacked by the gun lobby’s agenda

By Boufeldja Benabdallah, Heidi Rathjen, Michel Leroux | hilltimes.com | June 18, 2018

Not only is Bill C-71 devoid of any bold measures to combat the upward trends of gun-related crime, homicides and suicides, it barely fulfills the Liberal election promises.

The sorry spectacle of pro-gun interests hijacking the legislative process surrounding Bill C-71 would make the NRA proud. Never did we expect to see the gun lobby’s agenda so pervasively influence the deliberations of the Commons committee charged with reviewing the Liberals’ proposed gun control legislation. As the hearings come to an end, survivors of gun violence and families of victims cannot help but feel a bitter sense of betrayal by a system that is supposed to protect Canadians from preventable gun injury and death.

Not only is Bill C-71 devoid of any bold measures to combat the upward trends of gun-related crime, homicides and suicides, it barely fulfills the Liberal election promises and doesn’t come close to repairing the damage inflicted on our gun laws by the Harper government—damage that Justin Trudeau vehemently criticized while in opposition.

Take, for instance, the promise to “repeal” the 2015 changes that allow owners to transport restricted weapons virtually anywhere in their province (that is, to and from any gun club, shooting range, gun business, port of entry/exit and police station). Bill C-71 only narrows the list of trajectories that are automatically authorized to “gun clubs or shooting ranges,” which covers 96 per cent of all transport purposes, according to officials. In other words, the bill fails to reinstate the previous authorization to transport (ATT), which specified each place a handgun may be transported to, like the actual gun club of which its owner is a member.

The proposed legislation nonetheless represents a step in the right direction, by reinstating commercial sales records and requiring sellers to validate a potential buyer’s licence. So when we testified before the Public Safety Committee last May, we supported the bill and counted on the Liberal and NDP members to introduce amendments in accordance with the recommendations of violence and suicide prevention experts.

But apart from Liberal MP Pam Damoff (who, hats off to her, tabled and skillfully defended an amendment improving the screening process), most of what we heard consisted of Conservative MPs proposing amendment after amendment aimed at weakening the bill, with government bureaucrats painstakingly explaining the principles and intricacies of the law in response.

The right of all Canadians to be safe from gun violence was continually overshadowed by the apparently supremely critical importance of not letting one single gun owner get “caught up in a background check” and lose their licence.

Isn’t this the whole point of gun ownership being a privilege and not a right in Canada? That a reasonable assessment of a risk to public safety based on past violent or suicidal behaviour, independent of whether the applicant has a criminal record, is sufficient grounds to prevent an individual from owning guns? You know, to err on the side of caution?

This is what the overwhelming majority of Canadians believe and expect. Yet the entire political process—from speeches in House of Commons to debates in the media to the parliamentary hearings—was predominantly focused on how the law would affect “law-abiding gun owners.” Each measure (and each amendment) was subject to a barrage of questions and criticisms from the perspective of hunters, target shooters, collectors, and businesses. Even the notion of making a phone call to validate a buyer’s licence was considered a major cause for concern.

Amid all this talk of “burdens” on gun owners, reflections on the human and financial costs of easy access to firearms were few and far between.

And what about semi-automatic military-style assault weapons? Unfortunately for the 80 per cent of Canadians who are opposed to their private ownership, the bill doesn’t even address the issue of classification. Worse, the Trudeau government has so far been successful at dodging the very question of whether or not these weapons should be legal.

In fact, in response to the Quebec mosque community’s plea to ban assault weapons, the public safety minister, with a billion-dollar budget and scores of lawyers and bureaucrats at his disposal, lamented that such a ban would be “complicated” and require “a complete change of the classification system” … though he magnanimously offered to examine any legislative proposals provided by the victims of a massacre.

Let’s hope that our senators, who as appointed rather than elected members have no reason to fear a minority of vocal gun enthusiasts, will know to put the safety of Canadians first.

Heidi Rathjen is co-ordinator of Poly Remembers (PolySeSouvient), on behalf of survivors and victims’ families related to the tragedy at the École Polytechnique. Boufeldja Benabdallah, president of the Quebec mosque, on behalf of families and victims of the 2017 massacre. Michel LeRoux, father of police officer Thierry LeRoux, who was shot by a legal gun owner with a known history of violent and suicidal behaviour.

See the story HERE

Liberals, Tories still at odds over gun control bill

By Alex MacPherson | Saskatoon Star-Phoenix | Updated June 17, 2018

The federal government is insisting an amendment to its new gun control bill undercuts any suggestion the legislation will create what some have described as a "backdoor gun registry."

While the amendment declaring the bill is not a registry was proposed by the official Opposition, the Conservatives aren’t convinced it will be enough to assuage gun owners’ fears.

Introduced this spring, Bill C-71 is headed back to the House of Commons after being worked on by the multi-partisan Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, which approved multiple amendments.

One of those amendments states: “Nothing in this act shall be construed so as to permit or require the registration of non-restricted firearms.” It passed with what the committee chair called “a rare occasion of unanimity.”

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the new language represents the “final word” on arguments to the contrary, which have been advanced by some pro-gun groups and, in online advertisements, the Conservatives.

“The Conservative strategy is a little hard to understand in (putting forward the amendment) because it does seem to undercut their argument,” the Regina-Wascana MP said this week in an interview.

Goodale has maintained from the beginning that Bill C-71 is not an attempt to resurrect the Canadian Firearms Registry, which was launched in 1995 and scrapped 17 years later amid huge cost overruns.

When introducing the amendment, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus told the committee his party doubted the government’s claims and said the amendment was intended to “ensure there will be no return of a long gun registry.”

“We believe it is fair and would solve the problem,” he said.

The Conservative deputy shadow minister for public safety, however, questioned why the Liberal committee members would adopt the amendment while refusing to alter aspects of the bill that worry some gun owners.

Those provisions include a requirement for gun dealers to keep detailed records of sales and inventories, as well as a new stipulation that every transfer of firearms be accompanied by a unique reference number.

“When we adopted this and they agreed, we expected they would also support changes that removed elements … that were essentially a gun registry. Unfortunately, they didn’t do that,” Glen Motz said in an interview.

Those records will not be accessible without a warrant , according to the government.

Goodale notes that amendments proposed by the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Green Party were all accepted, including one that stipulates only one reference number is required for simultaneous transfers.

“What (the Conservative amendment) says is already the truth. So you don’t really need to state the obvious,” Goodale said, adding he doesn’t expect opposition to the amendment as the bill moves toward royal assent.

That isn’t good enough for Motz and his colleagues, who have also criticized the bill for failing to achieve its stated aims of improving public safety . He said the amendment is just window dressing.

“Whether (it) is in there or not, Canadians remain concerned. So the Liberals can agree to anything they want in an amendment and say it’s not a gun registry, but what have they changed?”

See the story HERE

Camp Goodtimes 'Kids Camp' benefits from the generous support of HACS

Money raised helps support kids, teens and families affected by cancer.

On June 17th, the Historical Arms Collectors Society of British Columbia presented its annual donation to the Canadian Cancer Society's Camp Goodtimes 'Kids Camp' at the HACS Fathers Day Gun Show in Chilliwack.

The camp provides children and their families affected by cancer with a safe place where they can have fun in a medically supervised setting.

As its number one charity, HACS has proudly donated over $100,000 to Camp Goodtimes over the past decade.

HACS also makes an annual donation of $10,000 to the CKNW Kids' Fund which provides support for children living with physical, mental and social challenges in BC. .

Learn more about Camp Goodtimes HERE

Learn more about the CKNW Kids' Fund HERE

From left to right: Al Amundson, Sergeant-at-Arms; Ron Tyson, President; Mike Wallace, Treasurer; Art Hoivik, Vice President; Ashleigh Gulkiewich, Leadership Officer; and Danielle McVicar, Camp Goodtimes Manager, Canadian Cancer Society.

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Teachers and guns: Inside a firearm training where educators learn to take down shooters

By Kalhan Rosenblatt | NBCnews.com | June 19, 2018

"I need to have that weapon on me at all times in case something would happen,” an Ohio teacher said. “I know the other teachers feel the same way."

On a recent morning in Newcomerstown, Ohio, a row of teachers stood in a line with guns drawn and moved slowly toward a row of steel plate targets.

As the teachers advanced, bullets pinged off the metal with each round they fired.

The teachers had come to take part in Faster Saves Lives, a voluntary training program run by an Ohio-based nonprofit that has taught more than 1,300 school staff members to carry and use firearms since 2013. (Faster stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response.)

“My students are my kids, basically, and I want to be able to protect them just like I would protect my own son,” said a 34-year-old Ohio teacher of students with special needs who participated in the program and spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern that by going public, she or her school could be targeted by a shooter.

The teacher is one of 400 who will be trained by Faster this year, said Joe Eaton, the program director for Faster. Even before the Parkland shooting in February, classes were filling up within 24 hours. Since then, Eaton has scheduled four extra classes in response to the high demand.

"Schools are realizing they have to have a plan for themselves of how to save lives until the professionals get there," Eaton said.

As state legislatures and school boards across the country grapple with arming teachers in the wake of recent school shootings, a growing number of districts have sought to train their staff, and Faster’s leaders are in talks to expand their regular trainings into 12 other states beyond Ohio. Despite concerns from insurance companies, gun-control advocates and many teachers who say that arming educators will make schools more dangerous, the number of trained teachers is likely to continue to grow.

Over the past several months, as the toll of school shootings has risen, many districts have either approved of or are considering proposals to arm teachers.

“Even people who say, ‘We don’t want guns in our schools,’ well, when an event happens, you’re calling the police and you’re hoping they bring guns,” said Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, a pro-gun group that runs the Faster training in Ohio.

Talk of arming teachers began shortly after the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in 1999, and intensified after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut in 2012, according to the Education Commission of the States, which tracks education policy.

Before the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 18 states allowed adults to carry weapons on school grounds with the permission of the principal or school board, while dozens of districts allowed teachers to be armed, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures .

After the Parkland shooting, the debate heated up, particularly after President Donald Trump came out in favor of arming teachers. As of last week, at least 17 bills related to arming school staff had been proposed in 10 states over the past four months, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures . Of those, only one bill in Florida has been enacted . Most of the bills have failed, while two remain still pending.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced a wide-ranging school safety program less than two weeks after a gunman killed eight students and two teachers at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. His proposals included expanding mental health screenings, increasing school protections and expanding a marshal program that allows school personnel to have a firearm.

"We all share a common bond, and that is we want action to prevent another shooting like what happened at Santa Fe High School," Abbott said at a news conference after a meeting with students, teachers and school officials.

Ohio is one of the states where a teacher can bring a gun to school with the approval of a principal or district. Some districts, like Sidney City School District in the western part of the state, requires firearms to be kept locked in biometric safes, until they are needed in an emergency. The Ohio special needs teacher who completed the Faster program this spring said she's hoping she'll be able to carry a gun with her as she moves from classroom to classroom throughout the school day.

"I need to have that weapon on me at all times in case something would happen,” she said. “I know the other teachers feel the same way."

Not all teachers agree. In a letter to Trump after the Parkland shooting, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said America’s classrooms are no place for guns.

"Teachers don’t want to be armed, we want to teach," Weingarten wrote. "We don’t want to be, and would never have the expertise needed to be, sharp shooters; no amount of training can prepare an armed teacher to go up against an AR-15.'"

Some experts are skeptical about the value of arming teachers and say it could distract students.

Adam Winkler, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who specializes in the Second Amendment and gun control, said he believes that bringing guns into the classroom "will have a severe impact on learning," but will not have any effect on the number of mass shootings.

“There is no evidence to show that arming teachers will see a reduction of mass shootings — we’ve seen them occur on campuses where there are armed security personnel,” Winkler said, adding that he hoped there was not an increase in accidental school shootings.

Even states that have allowed teachers to have firearms on campus have run into hurdles.

In Kansas, a 2013 law allows school staff members to be armed after the Sandy Hook shooting, but no public school employee has brought a gun to school because the insurance company that covers most school districts in the state said it would not insure schools that allowed staff to carry concealed handguns.

“It is a situation where legislators who didn’t know anything about insurance are making rules that won’t work,” Kansas state Sen. Lynn Rogers, who opposed the law, previously told NBC News.

In some Ohio districts, uniformed and armed officers cost $100,000 per person to insure, according to The New York Times . It is unclear what it will cost to insure trained teachers.

But Irvine, who runs the group that oversees Faster, said he believes this is the only way forward to protect school children.

“We protect things of value with armed security,” he said, “and our children are our most precious resource.”

See the story HERE

Lanark Guns & Gear Show

June 23, 2018

At the Lanark Community Centre

67 Princess Street

Lanark, ON

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission: $7. Children under 12 are FREE with adult.

Promoted by Valley Outdoors Promotions. For more information, please contact Dave Arbour at 613-257-7489, email him at [email protected] or visit the website at Valley Sportsman Show

Concealed Carrier – a Father with his Kids – Stops Shooting at Walmart

By John Crump | ammoland.com | June 19, 2018

Tumwater, Washington – -(Ammoland.com)- Once again it is proven a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun. This time it happened in a Walmart Supercenter parking lot in Tumwater, Washington.

Around 5:30 PM police responded to a call of a car driving erratically. Police assumed the driver was drunk. When they arrived on the scene, they found a 16-year-old female suffering minor injuries. The female reported that a man stole her car and fled the scene. Police tied the erratic driver to the stolen vehicle.

While the police were speaking to the victim at the scene of the car theft, they received another call of shots fired near Tumwater High School. It turns out that the shooting took place at a Walmart Supercenter near the school by the same suspect who stole the 16-year old girl's car.

An armed man entered Walmart and fired three shots at a display case before leaving the store. The suspect did not hit anyone inside the store. The motives for the shooting inside the store is still under investigation.

The man then went outside the Walmart that is located 30 miles south-west of Tacoma Washington and tried to carjack another man. The carjacking victim refused to give up his car. The carjacker pulled his gun and then shot the driver for refusing to give up his car.

According to Tumwater Police spokeswoman Laura Wohl, medical personal airlifted the victim to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Police and hospital staff have not released the condition of the victim at the time of this writing.

The unnamed suspect then tried to carjack another car in the same Walmart parking lot. This time he was stopped by a bystander with a concealed carry permit.

A father with his children saw everything going down in the parking lot and felt he needed to take action to protect his family and the other people in the Walmart parking lot. He pulled his gun from his holster and fired two shots that hit the madman instantly killing him bringing the rampage to an end.

A second citizen also pulled his handgun, but it is unclear if he fired any shots.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel.

Brian Adams was in the store at the time of the shooting and fled to the parking lot where he saw the shooter. He took cover behind a car and watched the events unfold. He credits the father who stopped the suspect as a hero.

“This guy could have taken out more people, wounded or killed,” Adams told the Seattle Times. “People are grabbing their kids and pushing them in front of them and saying go, go, go and starting heading toward the nearest exit and you just start running, and you don't know where to run to in all honesty.”

Police are continuing to investigate the Father's Day crime, but the people of Tumwater owe a big thanks to the father who had a gun, and the will to use it to protect his family and others.

See the story HERE

WANSTALLS RANGE DAY July 15, 2018

Alrighty everyone, Range Day tickets are live and for sale. Make sure you pay attention to the time you select! Stay tuned for a giveaway for a pair of tickets! Fire the 1919 machine gun with all proceeds going to the Canadian Shooting Sports Association!

Click HERE to buy your tickets!

Government of Canada taking steps to prevent and reduce gun and gang violence

By PSEPC | newswire.ca | June 19, 2018

OTTAWA, June 19, 2018 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to preventing and reducing crime, especially gun and gang violence. A new federal initiative of $327.6 million over five years to tackle the increase of gun related violence and gang activities in Canada, along with the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS), are critical to this work.

Today, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness released the summary report on the Summit on Gun and Gang Violence , held in March, 2018. The summary provides an overview of presentations led by partners and stakeholders from across the country. It will help inform the allocation of new federal funding to tackle gun and gang violence in Canada.

Key concerns and considerations reflected in the summary report include:

The increase of gun and gang-related crime rate since 2013 and the evolving nature of gangs, which are becoming more fluid, mobile and innovative in their use of technology;
The need for law enforcement to integrate efforts and have access to more resources for analysis, research and training and enhance information-sharing amongst all partners;
The importance of resources for border security to prevent firearm smuggling.

This initiative will support enforcement measures and community-led projects involving prevention. It will build on federal expertise and resources related to the illegal trafficking of firearms, and invest in border security to enhance prohibition of illicit goods, including drugs and guns. Funding will also be provided to Indigenous communities and organizations to address the unique needs of Indigenous communities and urban populations.

In addition, a new call for applications was recently launched under the NCPS to support projects aiming to prevent or reduce the impact of gangs, violence, bullying and cyberbullying on youth, including on Indigenous and vulnerable populations. The NCPS call for applications is now open and will close on July 31, 2018.

Quotes

"While Canada is generally a safe country, over the past five years gun and gang violence has been increasing. The Government of Canada is committed to combatting these trends and making our communities safer through a package of common sense measures. We are grateful for the thoughtful input from our partners at the Summit on Gun and Gang Violence, and the ideas that will come from our call for crime prevention projects. Together we are advancing joint action for prevention, intervention and enforcement initiatives."

- The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Quick Facts

In 2016, police reported 141 gang-related homicides, 45 more than in 2015. Since 2013, gang-related homicides in Canada's largest cities have almost doubled.
Firearm-related homicides in Canada have been steadily increasing since 2013, reaching a total of 223 in 2016, 44 more than the previous year.
In November 2017, the federal government announced approximately $327.6 million over five years, starting in 2018–19, and $100 million annually thereafter, to combat gun crime and gang violence. Public Safety Canada will engage with partners to discuss the outcomes of this Summit and how the federal initiative can best support enforcement measures and community-led projects.
The Summit on Gun and Gang Violence was hosted in Ottawa (Ontario) by Minister Goodale on March 7, 2018 to engage more than 180 experts from law enforcement, Indigenous, youth and community organizations, mayors from large municipalities and representatives from most provinces and territories and address the challenges, opportunity and best practices for reducing gun crime and gang violence in Canada.
The NCPS call for Applications is open from June 6, 2018 until July 31, 2018, 11:59 p.m. (PST)
In April 2018, Public Safety Canada launched the Crime Prevention Inventory, the first national database of evidence-based crime prevention programs in Canada, in collaboration with the provinces and territories.