WAGCEVP
July 6, 2003, 10:06 PM
: An easy fix for Sgt. Johnston?
>
> It was reported in the Sun via the CFD:
>
> > A. W. Johnston, who celebrated his 89th birthday last Sunday, picked
> > up his mail a few days back and, among the bills and the junk-mail
> > leaflets, was a letter from the national gun registry's central
> > processing site in Miramichi, N.B.
>
> > Then there was the demand that Johnston take a firearms training
> > course. If he didn't, his application would be turned down and he
> > would find himself in breach of the law for possessing an army handgun
> > which, for over 50 years, has been locked away in a secure strongbox,
> > minus ammunition, and which has gone untouched since the last time
> > Johnston went into that box to file away his updated will.
>
> Surely a Toronto activist can get this chap in touch with the Ontario
> CFO and Public Safety and Security Minister Bob Runciman.
>
> These two officials will need to be reminded that "under FA s. 7(4)(a)
> the requirement for completion of firearm safety courses as stated in
> sub-sections (1) and (2) do not apply to an individual who has been
> certified by a CFO" [e.g. via alternative certification] and who as in
> FA Reg. s. 17 "continuously owned firearms since Jan. 1/79." [Common
> folks, no invalid oral quiz for this veteran, eh; he, no doubt, suffers
> from low threshold hearing loss].
>
> Now I'm certain Sgt. Johnston (retired) will be somewhat baffled when he
> hears that because he has not been licenced via a PAL or POL since Jan.
> 1/01 he can not have been in possession of a firearm - and since Ontario
> refuses to introduce a licensing amnesty . . . no, he is not delusional
> either.
>
> He may need to remind the Ontario bureaucrats who are actively enforcing
> the FA that it is also a matter of public record via former Justice
> Minister Rock (Hansard, June 13, 1995) . . "we are going to ask only
> that the [existing] owners mail in a card to identify themselves and
> their firearms. There will be a simple CPIC check . . . and then he or
> she will be licensed."
>
> Now, Sgt. Johnston will also likely be told by the province that he
> needs to join a gun club to maintain ownership of his war souvenir and
> this will no doubt cause him further upset . . .
>
> It was reported in the Sun via the CFD:
>
> > A. W. Johnston, who celebrated his 89th birthday last Sunday, picked
> > up his mail a few days back and, among the bills and the junk-mail
> > leaflets, was a letter from the national gun registry's central
> > processing site in Miramichi, N.B.
>
> > Then there was the demand that Johnston take a firearms training
> > course. If he didn't, his application would be turned down and he
> > would find himself in breach of the law for possessing an army handgun
> > which, for over 50 years, has been locked away in a secure strongbox,
> > minus ammunition, and which has gone untouched since the last time
> > Johnston went into that box to file away his updated will.
>
> Surely a Toronto activist can get this chap in touch with the Ontario
> CFO and Public Safety and Security Minister Bob Runciman.
>
> These two officials will need to be reminded that "under FA s. 7(4)(a)
> the requirement for completion of firearm safety courses as stated in
> sub-sections (1) and (2) do not apply to an individual who has been
> certified by a CFO" [e.g. via alternative certification] and who as in
> FA Reg. s. 17 "continuously owned firearms since Jan. 1/79." [Common
> folks, no invalid oral quiz for this veteran, eh; he, no doubt, suffers
> from low threshold hearing loss].
>
> Now I'm certain Sgt. Johnston (retired) will be somewhat baffled when he
> hears that because he has not been licenced via a PAL or POL since Jan.
> 1/01 he can not have been in possession of a firearm - and since Ontario
> refuses to introduce a licensing amnesty . . . no, he is not delusional
> either.
>
> He may need to remind the Ontario bureaucrats who are actively enforcing
> the FA that it is also a matter of public record via former Justice
> Minister Rock (Hansard, June 13, 1995) . . "we are going to ask only
> that the [existing] owners mail in a card to identify themselves and
> their firearms. There will be a simple CPIC check . . . and then he or
> she will be licensed."
>
> Now, Sgt. Johnston will also likely be told by the province that he
> needs to join a gun club to maintain ownership of his war souvenir and
> this will no doubt cause him further upset . . .