Posted on 05/27/2008 8:22:14 AM PDT by neverdem
Mayor David Miller wants to close recreational shooting ranges in Toronto, along with giving the city power to block gun manufacturers and wholesalers from opening new plants or warehouses.
"Nobody can deny that hobby directly results in people being shot and killed on the streets of our city," Miller said of sport shooting yesterday, amid debate on a possible gun bylaw.
Canadian Olympic pistol shooter and downtown resident Avianna Chao begs to differ. She says that if Miller gets his way, it could mean an end to her sport – and it won't make the streets one bit safer.
Miller wants to terminate leases with two gun clubs that have shooting ranges on city property, one at Union Station, the other at Don Montgomery community centre.
Chao, who will head to Beijing this summer to compete for Canada at the Olympics, began shooting at Don Montgomery and now trains primarily at the Union range.
"When I heard about this city proposal today it just absolutely knocked the wind out of me," Chao said yesterday.
The gun debate erupted on a day when provincial Attorney General Chris Bentley and Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci were writing to their federal counterparts, seeking co-operation on curbing firearm violence.
"As you know, the people of Ontario continue to have serious concerns about the threat posed by guns and gun-related crime in our communities, particularly on the streets of downtown Toronto," Bentley and Bartolucci wrote in a five-page letter to federal Attorney General Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.
They asked for a three-point plan to limit gun violence by:
At the same time, city staff released a report calling for a bylaw that would allow the city to restrict or prohibit the making and wholesaling of firearms in Toronto.
Only police and the military should be allowed to operate firing ranges, the report says, calling for an end to the gun club leases.
Recommendations would apply to all firearms, including rifles and shotguns. But in a scrum with reporters, Miller directed most of his comments toward handguns.
"After John O'Keefe's tragic killing, I don't think there's any defence for sports shooters any more," Miller said, referring to the man shot in January by a stray bullet. The gun was legally owned by the man charged in the killing.
"It's a hobby that creates danger to others. Guns are stolen routinely from so-called legal owners. It's time that we got those guns out of Toronto," he said.
"Do we as a society value safety, or do we value a hobby that creates danger?" he asked. "Nobody can deny that hobby directly results in people being shot and killed on the streets of our city. Those are the facts. And they're provable again and again and again."
Existing makers and wholesalers of firearms would not be affected by any new bylaw. Nor would retailers, as they're governed by federal law. The staff report says as many as 40 per cent of handguns seized by Toronto police were legally purchased but stolen from their owners.
But Chao said shutting down shooting ranges and banning manufacturers has nothing to do with safety. "Gang members don't visit these (shooting) clubs," she said.
"You have to show your licence and all the paperwork. This has nothing to do with gang violence."
Her own guns are safely stored and locked, she said. She's never had a gun stolen. "Anyone should be able to see through this," she said, "that this is the politicians just trying to say they did something, even though it will have no impact on actual gun violence. ... Why don't they go after the gangs? Why don't they go after the illegal trafficking of firearms?"
Chao said Canadian shooters are already handicapped compared with competitors because other countries let shooters train full time. If ranges are shut down, she said, "I don't know how we're expected to compete internationally."
Steven Spinney, firearms safety officer for the Scarborough Rifle Club, was also stunned by the news.
"It doesn't make any sense to be zeroing in on a gun club," he said. "We're an Olympic sport ... I'm not sure how shutting us down would help to cut the gun crime."
Participants are required to take a safety course and the club uses only single-shot rifles.
With files from Vanessa Lu
Ask somebody from Toronto.
There is no part of this statement that may be attributed to logic. It is purely emotional.
“After John O’Keefe’s tragic killing, I don’t think there’s any defence for sports shooters any more,”
If we could just put those nasty gunowners in some work camps and.............
None can deny that batting practice leads directly to people being beaten to death with bats! Driving schools lead directly to people being run over! Timber cutting leads directly to people being cut up with chain saws!
Good job!
BTW, the answer is yes.
He soon will simply poof out of existence as people refuse to listen to the idiot.
Seeing stories like these are brutally painful for me. It’s a depressing world when there are people so insanely wrong that have power to take freedom on a whim.
So does Welfare - when are you going to ban that?
The Toronto Rod and Gun Club displays their outrage over this statement. ;)
Seriously, is there even one idiot liberal politician in the Western Hemisphere who can refrain from bald-faced lying about the difference between the effects of criminal elements wielding illegal guns and the effects of legal gun ownership?
If Miller had his way, gun ownership would be a felony.
“Only recipe I could find for clay Pigeons
Clay Pigeon Recipe
Ingredients:
2/3 a fluid ounce or 2 centilitres of Vodka
1/3 a fluid ounce or 1 centilitre of Apple Juice
Instructions:
Mix in a shot glass and serve.”
Pull!!!
Oh, and...yeah...the so-called Mayor is a damned fool.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.