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A 40-year-old man with a history of disputes with police has been arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Const. Valérie Gignac in Laval, north of Montreal. François Pepin had been charged repeatedly with issuing death threats and harassing police officers and court workers. He was under a ten-year court order barring him from possessing firearms, the CBC's Amanda Pfeffer reports from Laval. François Pepin Despite the ban, which dated from 1999, he had asked for, and was granted, permission to use a gun for hunting during the fall season. He had been charged in...

Grits misfire on gunsWe were wrong on the the rifle registry and PM Martin's handgun ban is no better: It could hurt himBy Sheila Copps OTTAWA -- The phone lines to the Prime Minister are burning up. The last thing rural MPs want to talk about during this election empaign is gun control. By throwing the handgun grenade into their midst, Martin may have just kissed rural Canada goodbye. No doubt his handlers have done their math. There are more voters living in cities than in rural areas. By proposing to ban handguns, he hopes to solidify his support in...

The law-abiding suffer, the mugger walks free (Filed: 29/11/2005) Less than four years ago, the then Lord Chief Justice ruled that all muggers should be sent to prison for at least 18 months. Lord Woolf's sentencing guidelines, hailed at the time as a "tough new crackdown" on street crime, were to apply even to young, unarmed, first-time offenders. Lord Woolf ruled that, for people who stole mobile telephones or small sums of money in public places, "custodial sentences will be the only option available to the courts, unless there are very exceptional circumstances". At the time - January, 2002 -...

TORONTO SUN Sat, Nov. 26, 2005 EDITORIAL: Liberal spin on guns is a crime It said everything voters need to know about Prime Minister Paul Martin and the Liberals. Yesterday, in the dying hours of Parliament just before an election is forced on them Monday, they tabled a bill to, wait for it, get tough on gun crime. Of course, it will die on the order paper as soon as Parliament is dissolved -- two days from now. Among other things, the bill proposes increased mandatory minimum sentences for some gun crimes, an idea Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who introduced...

Liberals to table tough gun bill Response to violent summer in Toronto will include stiffer minimum sentences By CAMPBELL CLARK Friday, November 25, 2005 Page A8 The Liberal government will table a bill to toughen laws on gun crimes and gun dealing, responding to a summer of violence in Toronto that has sent political waves through the party's ranks as an election campaign approaches. Although the bill is doomed to die with the fall of the government next week, the Liberal government is intent on getting it into the House of Commons to demonstrate it has adopted a tougher approach...

By SCOTT DEVEAU Tuesday, November 22, 2005 Posted at 8:54 PM EST The federal government has committed to holding a high-level summit over Toronto's gun violence, according to a coalition of Toronto's black leaders. The Coalition of African-Canadian Organizations met with Prime Minister Paul Martin in Ottawa Tuesday to urge him to recognize the issue as a national crisis. The group said Mr. Martin committed to the summit, which aims to bring together the federal, provincial, and municipal governments with community leaders in the new year to tackle the issue of gun violence head on. "This is a crisis," said...

Police officers in Scotland should be armed when responding to incidents involving firearms, according to the Scottish Police Federation. The call followed the death of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot in Bradford on Friday while responding to an armed robbery at a travel agency. But the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland said arming more officers was unnecessary. Acpos president Peter Wilson said the nature of policing was "unpredictable". The SPF said its policy since 1999 had been that police should not be routinely armed. But it said some members felt its policy should be revised since firearms...

Police are continuing to question five men and a woman about the murder of rookie woman police officer Sharon Beshenivsky , who was gunned down by armed raiders. Pc Sharon Beshenivsky: Police said the gunman had not hesitated to open fire on the unarmed officers Pc Beshenivsky, 38, who had three children and two stepchildren, was killed on her youngest daughter Lydia's fourth birthday as she arrived at the raid in a travel agent's shop in Bradford, West Yorkshire, on Friday. The former childminder had been a community police officer for two years before joining the full-time West Yorkshire force...

A 12-year-old boy was charged with first-degree murder Friday after he allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot a man four times during a street dice game in the pre-dawn hours on Chicago's Far South Side last Sunday. The boy -- one of the youngest in recent memory to be charged with murder in Cook County -- continued firing even after the 26-year-old victim fell to the ground, a law enforcement source told the Chicago Sun-Times. Deon McGary of Hazel Crest was shot in each shoulder, his right bicep and groin, another source said. The boy allegedly opened fire soon...

A MASSIVE 83% of those who responded to an Irish Examiner poll believe that Mayo farmer Padraig Nally should not have been jailed for killing Traveller John 'Frog' Ward. Out of 496 people who responded to the phone/ text poll, a total of 414 said the farmer, who was sentenced to six years, should not have been sent to prison. Only 75 agreed with the sentence handed down by the Central Criminal Court. Interest in the case has provoked major debate and last Tuesday, an RTÉ Prime Time programme on the issue recorded its second highest viewing figures ever when...

Police heavy-handed during raid, man says Last updated Nov 14 2005 06:50 AM NST CBC News A St. John's man says police were overzealous when they raided his home Thursday. Bill Miller is the owner of Hot Diggity Dog, a sidewalk hot dog vending company in St. John's. He says police were out of line and acting on questionable information when they searched his home and business looking for guns. On Thursday, police searched a storage area on George Street used by Miller's business. His home on Feild Street was also searched. Miller says about 10 heavily armed police officers...

11/11/2005 - Dad of 15 jailed for shop raid Robber threatened trader with fake gun A DRUG dealing father of 15 children who robbed and threatened a 64-year-old shop worker with a fake gun, has been thrown behind bars. Tony Richards, from Coley Park, grabbed cash and gold jewellery from pensioner Margaret Chede’s Whitley Street shop in Reading on April 23. Reading Crown Court heard the 55-year-old went into Sphere Communications at 10am, shortly after Mrs Chede opened up, and pointed the weapon at her, saying: “Give me all the money you have here.” Unsatisfied with the change she handed...

TORONTO, Canada (AFP) - Residents of Canada's biggest city are living in fear of increasing gun violence and blame their neighbour, the United States, for exporting their gun culture and weapons north, officials told AFP.

[reports two separate suburbs where police were fired upon] also this: Bands of youths forced a team of France-2 television reporters out of their car in the suburb of Le Blanc Mesnil, then flipped the vehicle and set it on fire.

Gun law 'puts cash before safety' GUN campaigner Linda Mitchell has slammed Government claims that licensing the owners of potentially deadly air guns would be a waste of resources. Linda has waged a war on air guns after her son was shot in the face with a pellet. She won a victory when the Government announced all sales of air guns should be licensed – but she said she would not rest until all the weapons were off the streets. But she is furious at Home Office Minister Hazel Blears's rejection of moves to force all existing owners to register...

A MAN who killed a burglar with a samurai sword is unlikely to be charged, police said yesterday. Johnny Nguyen says he grabbed the deadly blade from two attackers after he and his girlfriend were tied up. One of the intruders is dead and his injured accomplice is under police guard in hospital after Mr Nguyen is believed to have turned their sword against them. Police said last night it was unlikely Mr Nguyen would be prosecuted. "At this stage we believe he was defending himself," said acting Sen-Sgt Steve McIntyre of the homicide squad. The deadly chain of events...

Five men were shot when a gang forced their way into a house in east London. Two of the gang initially tried to get into the property in Walthamstow but the residents fought them off with what are described as kitchen utensils. Police said two more men then managed to get in and shot the five residents in the attack on Sunday. The injured were taken to hospital by a neighbour where three were treated for minor injuries and two are said to be in a stable condition. The four gunmen escaped in a Ford Ka and a Volkswagen hatchback...

No change on burglar law By SUN ONLINE REPORTER THERE will be no reform of the law on how much force householders can use to tackle a burglar, the Home Secretary has decided. Charles Clarke ruled that existing legislation was "sound", but needs to be better explained. Instead, a new campaign will educate the public about how far they can go to defend their property under current law. Prime Minister Tony Blair last month said he would support a change in the law, if Government consultations showed it was necessary. The move followed Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens's statement...

According to the Toronto Star, the Liberal government is set to announce new and tougher laws to fight crime. In addition to proposed new legislation the federal government is also considering suing U.S. gun manufactures for the fact that some of their firearms are smuggled into Canada and used by Canadians to kill other Canadians. Toronto police have estimated that 50 percent of the guns that are found on the streets of Toronto have their origins south of the border. The government intends to sue the manufacturers both in the United States and in Canada if the company has assets...

Concern over gun rise By Carron Taylor A senior Met police officer has warned the scourge of gun crime has spread to Wandsworth, despite the borough commander once dubbing the area one of the safest in London. The Met Police's assistant commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, said guns were now spreading to parts of London such as Wandsworth and Putney. Gun crime has increased across Wandsworth by nearly 84 per cent over the past financial year. Mr Ghaffur, whose responsibilities include serious gun crime and divisions such as Operation Trident, said the increase in firearm incidents was part of a national trend....