SECTION: News

PAGE: A4

BYLINE: Ryan Lorge

DATELINE: Saskatoon

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Sask. MP keeps aim on Firearms Act

Don’t give up fight, Breitkreuz aide tells group.

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The Canadian Firearms act is a cruel joke being played out on two million honest gun-owning citizens, according to Dennis Young, the parliamentary assistant for Yorkton-Melville MP Garry Breitkreuz. Young spoke to a group of 240 firearm owners, researchers and politicians --including Saskatchewan Justice Minister Chris Axworthy and Saskatchewan Party Leader Elwin Hermanson -- about the inadequacies of the Canadian Firearms Act at a fund raising dinner for the Recreational Firearms Community (RFC) Saturday. “I’m going to try to encourage these guys that the grassroots is still a very powerful force in Canada, and that they shouldn’t give up,” he said.

The RFC is a coalition of groups opposed to Bill C-68 in its current form. Among its members are the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, the National Firearms Association, the Saskatchewan Police Association, the Saskatchewan Association of Firearms Education and the Saskatchewan Gun Collectors Association.

Young, a hunter and former RCMP officer in northern Saskatchewan, provides research and analysis on the gun control issue to Breitkreuz, the official opposition critic on firearms. Among other things, Young says this involves filing hundreds of access to information requests a year and four to five complaints to the privacy commissioner a week.

“He’s probably Canada’s premier fighter in opposition to this,” said Greg Illerbrun, chair of the RFC. According to both Illerbrun and Young, the RFC conference was not about denouncing all forms of gun control. “Nobody’s against gun control. What we’re against are measures that are totally ineffective at controlling guns,” said Young

Young believes the government’s current form of gun control is an unnecessary program that will cost over $800 million by February 2003. As an alternative, he suggests the money be spent enforcing court orders for people who have already been found to be dangerous.

“You’ve got 131,000 people in Canada that been prohibited from owning guns. So there’s a problem that the courts have already ruled on and identified. These people are so bad that they should not own guns. But what does the government do? The government does nothing,” said Young. “Law-abiding gun owners, on the other hand, over two million of us who have licences, if we don’ t tell the government where we’ve moved within 30 days, we could go to jail for up to two years. You see how ridiculous it is.”

In keeping with the theme of the conference, “You Are Not Alone,” Young spoke on the number of agencies that are working to see Bill C-68 repealed or amended. He also urged attendees to make their positions known to the provincial government. “There are things that the province can do. The provinces could be more aggressive in defending the rights of their citizens,” said Young. “This is going to waste so much court time. This is going to waste so much police time. These aren’t costs that are picked up by the federal government,” said Young. “These are costs that are picked up by the taxpayers of Saskatchewan.”

Also in attendance at the RFC conference were Alberta political science professor Ted Morton and Greg Ahenakew, first vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.