PUBLICATION:        The Toronto Sun 

DATE:                         2004.01.30

EDITION:                    Final 

SECTION:                  News 

PAGE:                         7 

ILLUSTRATION:             photo by Brian Gray, CP AN UNDERCOVER cop holds a gun mailed to a Hamilton boy, 15. 

BYLINE:                     MARIA MCCLINTOCK, OTTAWA BUREAU 

DATELINE:                 OTTAWA 

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SHOT FULL OF HOLES

SYSTEM BLAMED FOR GUN IN MAIL

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Holes in Canada-U.S. border security are to blame for an AK-47 slipping past the eyes Canadian customs officers and the post office, according to the head of the National Firearms Association. "Shipping it across by post means that the U.S. postal service, Canada Post, and Canada Customs all screwed up," Jim Hutton said yesterday. "It opens a huge gap in our border security. What else is being mailed into Canada that's being missed? The border is insecure."

BORDER SECURITY

  Hutton suggested the federal government reallocate some of the money poured into its controversial $1-billion gun registry program into beefing up border security. A report earlier this week detailed how a 15-year-old Hamilton boy had an AK-47 assault rifle mailed to him at his home by a U.S. internet buddy. Labelling on the parcel said an aluminum baseball bat was inside. The case has prompted the Canada Border Services Agency -- formerly known as Canada Customs and Revenue Agency -- to review how the weapon went undetected.

SUN REVELATIONS

Sun Media revealed earlier this month that guns and drugs are routinely being sent into Canada through the mail, with only a fraction being caught. Canada Post spokesman John Caines said yesterday the post office would only deliver the parcel once it cleared customs. "I'm not saying that they should have detected it, but any mail coming into the country ... goes into customs for inspection. Once they clear it, it becomes like any other piece of mail," Caines said.

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NEWS RELEASE - January 22, 2004

GUN REGISTRY FAILS TO TRACK 288,688 GUNS BROUGHT INTO CANADA BY TOURISTS

“Customs never checked to see if the American hunters took their guns when they left Canada.”

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns109.htm