cuchulainn
Member
Man, things are getting dirty up there.
http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id={1D61A87B-B051-4BF5-AA88-3751BF54E947}
From the Edmonton Journal
http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id={1D61A87B-B051-4BF5-AA88-3751BF54E947}
From the Edmonton Journal
Gun owners aghast at anthrax attack
Prominent registry opponents say their lobby being framed: MAKES US 'LOOK BAD'
Rick Pedersen and Florence Loyie, Journal Staff Writers
The Edmonton Journal
Saturday, January 04, 2003
Opponents of gun control denounced the Edmonton anthrax scare Friday, with two organizations suggesting the incident is a smear to discredit the vocal campaign against gun registration.
"We do not agree with acts of terrorism," said Rod Dyck, vice-president of the Alberta Fish and Game Association and a prominent opponent of gun control.
A package addressed to the Canadian Firearms Centre leaked powder late Thursday night, shutting down an Edmonton mail sorting plant after testing equipment initially erred by identifying the powder as anthrax. Dyck questioned the motives of whoever sent the package.
"Nothing says this comes from a gun owner. It could have come from the other side. That is probably where it did come from -- from a radical group that is strongly opposed to guns. What better way to make us look bad?"
Jim Hinter, president of the Edmonton-based National Firearms Association, called on city police to "throw the book" at whoever sent the package through the Edmonton post office, on its way to the Firearms Centre.
"This could be someone trying to make firearm owners look bad," he said, after his organization contacted the Edmonton police to offer assistance.
"The NFA deplores this childish activity, Hinter said. "This is just foolish and unproductive."
Another movement leader called the Edmonton anthrax scare horrible.
"I abhor any activity like that," said Ed Hudson, a leader of the Canadian Unregistered Firearms Owners Association, who was in Montreal for a noon protest against gun registration.
"Everything we have been doing is open, honest and responsible. Our civil disobedience is peaceful."
Businessman Harry Penner, 65, is refusing to register his rifles, as are Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths and Oscar Lacombe, the former sergeant-at-arms for the Alberta Legislature.
Penner called the anthrax hoax ridiculous.
"These are some nut cases or something," he said when he was interviewed at one of his businesses in Didsbury, south of Red Deer. "We are probably what you'd call redneck country but I don't know anyone who would do that."
Penner considers the firearms registry a bureaucratic waste of money and he visited the Didsbury RCMP Thursday to turn himself in, only to find the RCMP are not pressing charges until they receive instructions from Ottawa.
Meanwhile, tests were still being done Friday to determine the nature of the white substance found in the letter. The discovery of the letter Thursday night forced authorities to quarantine 150 city postal workers for several hours over fears they were exposed to anthrax.
Workers at the west-end postal facility noticed dust rising into the air after some envelopes had gone through the sorter. Emergency crews were called and employees were kept inside, while the replacement shift workers were forced to stay outside.
Tests at the site ruled out that the powder was anthrax and everyone was allowed to go home shortly after 2 a.m. Friday.
The letter was taken to a University of Alberta lab and the identity of the white substance is expected in 24 hours.
"According to our tests, it's not anthrax,'' said Karen Carlson of the Edmonton fire department. But it's obvious the white powder was deliberately put in the envelope by someone.
This incident follows four anthrax scares this year at the Firearms Centre in New Brunswick. Spokesman David Austin said packages of powder arrived twice this spring and twice this fall, the last time roughly a month ago. The powder was not anthrax but after one incident in the spring, the centre was closed for a week. Police determined the first envelope was mailed in Alberta.
Anthrax spores, which can spread deadly bacteria, killed five people when mailed to various locations in the U.S. starting in the fall of 2001.
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$1B 'BLACK HOLE'
Gun registry opponents kept up calls Friday for Ottawa to suspend what they call an overpriced and wasteful snafu.
Earlier Friday, Ontario's public security minister said he'd ask other provinces to join his call for a halt to the embattled gun registry until the auditor general can assess its value.
"The federal firearms program is a billion-dollar black hole," Bob Runciman told a news conference on Parliament Hill.
He noted that a December report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser, which confirmed the mushrooming costs, could not be finished because the government failed to provide vital details.
Results of another audit, ordered after Fraser's damning review, are expected by February.
Ottawa could better use the money for joint projects to thwart cross-border gun smuggling or bolster local police forces that may someday face terrorist attacks, Runciman said.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has also criticized the gun law, saying criminals don't register their weapons. And Alberta legislature member Doug Griffiths has publicly vowed to defy the rules.
Ran with fact box "$1B 'black hole'", which has been appended to this story. Detector a success page A3. This is no joke page B1.
© Copyright 2003 Edmonton Journal