Solomon Friedman is an Ottawa based lawyer who specializes in the criminal defense of gun owners throughout Eastern Ontario.
Last month he appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU) about the proposed bill (C-19) to abolish the long gun registry. It’s well worth a watch:
You can visit Mr. Friedman’s website here: FirearmsLaw.ca
Update – Related Articles:
Michael Taube – h/t L. Hill
Solomon Friedman – h/t Hans
AMEN!
Hear, hear!
I would like to buy him a beer or a glass of nice red wine.
The efforts at gun control and licensing are merely an extension of the UN aim to disarm civilians world wide. One World Government cannot succeed while citizens have access to firearms. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot,Idi Amin etc all knew this and their first acts as dictators were to disarm their citizens. History shows us how well that all turned out.
mike
I remember many years ago, walking in to a sporting goods store and buying a rifle,the only paperwork involved was a receipt for the purchase.
Never thought I’d see the day we’d be able to do that again,but,maybe in time for Christmas….:-)
I like the young lawyer’s speech,hope it penetrated the thick skulls of the usual suspects.
There was a great article in the Ottawa Citizen today as well. The “week of hate after Dec. 6th” is officially over. Let the common sense prevail.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/Good+riddance+long+registry/5846830/story.html
Must be a shock to many Canadians that we finally have a Prime Minister that is trying to keep all his campaign promises. Mr. Harper, you rock!!
I emailed the following to our illustrious PMO et al. back in October.
The only way in which firearms policing could have been made more ridiculous is by banning sales to Jewish folks. The ‘Canuckleheads’ won WWII but you wouldn’t know it since they seem to be adopting what can only be described as fascist policy.
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/17/solomon-friedman-firearms-laws-deny-law-abiding-citizens-their-rights/
The Conservative government has pledged to scrap the long-gun registry, a move welcomed by Canada’s law-abiding firearms owners. It is unfortunate, however, that the discussion has focused exclusively on the long-gun registry. All the involved parties — politicians, policy makers and commentators — are missing the forest for the trees. In fact, the long-gun registry is the least offensive portion of the Firearms Act and related legislation and regulations. Of course, it is overly expensive, wasteful and there is no evidence of improved public safety. But at least its constitutional.
Other provisions of the Firearms Act are far more problematic and seem to run directly counter to the most fundamental freedoms at the heart of our democracy.
A fellow who has been involved in shooting sports for nearly three decades to me, “All I want, as a law-abiding gun owner is to have the same rights as any convicted criminal.”
The right to silence. The presumption of innocence. The right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The right against self-incrimination. These guarantees are centuries old, the product of hard-won struggles and well-established jurisprudence. And most people simply take them for granted.
Canadians know that the police require a warrant to search their homes. No warrant, no entry, they assume. Moreover, the public is well aware of the notion that, in order for the police to enter your home, violate your privacy and examine your personal belongings, they must demonstrate reasonable and probable grounds to believe that a criminal offence has been committed or that evidence of an offence will be located during the search. That’s true of course, unless you are a licensed owner of a registered firearm: Deer gun, bird gun or Olympic competition .22 caliber rifle — it doesn’t matter.
Anyone with a firearms collection is subject, under the terms of the Firearms Act, to an inspection of their home by a “firearms officer.” Failure to comply with an officer’s direction is a criminal offence. Moreover, anyone who owns even a single firearm is obligated, again on penalty of criminal charge, to produce their firearm for inspection on demand. Papers, please!
Canadians are also familiar with the right against self-incrimination and its legal Siamese twin, the right to silence. In a justice system which is founded on the presumption of innocence, the notion that the state can coerce an individual into participating in his own prosecution is both foreign and offensive.
Except of course for the licensed owners of registered firearms. The Firearms Act requires gun owners to give “all reasonable assistance” to peace officers and firearms inspectors. Where ordinary suspected criminals correctly have the right to refuse to assist the state in building a case against them, gun owners are denied that critical freedom.
The gun control scheme also reverses the burden of proof which is at the heart of our common law system.
For most offences, the Crown must prove each element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. The exception to the rule? Individuals are presumed to be in illegal possession of firearms unless they provide proof of licensing and registration. The state does not have to prove that the firearm is possessed illegally; the individual must prove that it is possessed legally.
Notice that there is no requirement that the police must suspect that the gun owner committed a crime. There is no need for even the most remote allegation of violence, personal instability or criminal intent. Simply by being a licenced gun owner, a “crime” committed by nearly two million Canadians, one is forced to surrender fundamental freedoms.
Now of course, there is one class of individual who is exempted from these draconian provisions. You see, to receive a firearms license and legally acquire firearms in Canada, one must pass an exhaustive background check. References are called, spouses are consulted, criminal histories are queried.
Naturally, individuals with serious criminal records are denied firearms licenses. They are thereby essentially exempt from the onerous requirements of the Firearms Act and its Regulations. Only law-abiding citizens are subject to its provisions.
Canada’s entire system of gun control laws is badly in need of review, repeal and reform, so that lawful gun owners are not denied the same democratic rights as any other citizen of our country. Wasteful and inefficient as it may be, the long gun registry is merely the tip of a deep and dangerous iceberg.
National Post
solomon@edelsonlaw.ca
Wow! That just kept getting better and better.
Good article!!!
Eliminating the LGR is just the first step in undoing AlanRock’s anti-firearms agenda.
The first step I hope in this insanity being repealed by Urban Morons.
I have said it again again. They can register and license my weapons when they pry them from my cold dead hands!
I will not allow anyone to take my rights, my uncles went to Europe to stop tyranny, it would be a crime against the sacrifice they gave to do less.
Uptwinkles from me!
Legislation makes poor memorials – great soundbyte
This intelligent discourse will no doubt not see the light of day on the television news or in print media – with the possible exception of the Sun and SunTV. Anyone notice the ‘Reserved for the Media’ sign on the desk behind him? Looked pretty empty back there.
Oops. Apparently the National Post gave Mr. Friedman a soapbox. Note to self – read all the links before posting….
Being a handgun instructor in eastern Ontario, I think I need Friedmans number on speed dial. The guy is good.
Grobe:
Which club are you a member of?
I think that Candice H’s response to the Chiefs of Police was even better than Soloman’s speech. Talk about a smack down!
Thank you Mr. Friedman.
“…that Bill C-19 will serve as a memorial of sorts. A tombstone marking the final resting place of wrongheaded policy making…”
My fave.
It’s going to feel strange to not be a criminal and to no longer assume that every neighbour is a criminal. Property values are already going up.
I watched the whole 4 hour “debate” in Nov. Very well presented by all the speakers for abolishing the LGR. Some conservative speakers were amazing while the Liberal and NDP members scrambled, squirmed, and outright lied attempting to get their failed views across.
Candice Hoppner was brilliant in calling one particular police chief a liar to his face, while several serving and retired RCMP plus Fish & Wildlife officers gave passionate and real life experience testimonials towards scrapping it.
The best part was the palpable hopeless frustration by the NDP/ Liberals who watched their usually fruitful lies and deceptive spins circle the toilet bowl for 4 hours, then flush.
The right to own firearms is a fundamental bond of trust between free citizens and their elected government.
If your government fears your legal and responsible ownership of firearms, you need to ask why. No responsible government elected from the ranks of a free society should have the right to disarm its own populous for obvious reasons.
This is the cornerstone of Liberty that the idiotic “granola” left cannot get their heads around. The better organized totalitarian left understands perfectly.
Very well put and it will be so nice to see the end of this totalitarian POS. It’s hard to believe that not that long ago (well it didn’t seem that long ago) I was able to walk into the Calgary Hudson’s Bay store, buy a rifle and walk out with it over my shoulder without anyone giving me a second glance. I should note that I was also 14 at the time.
It will be so weird to become a non-criminal again although my opinions of the local Gestapo are unlikely to change. What we need to push for now are the right to concealed carry and an end to restrictions on AR-15’s which are purely for cosmetic reasons. Also, it’s time to end sexist laws which prohibit the possession of small pistols; women with small hands should be allowed to own pistols that are a lot easier for them to use effectively than a large pistol. We also need changes to the criminal law which allow the defense of one’s property with firearms and the recognition that there are two legged urban varmints that are far more destructive than a coyote in a sheep herd.
Loki>
Heh heh, I remember the same, only a Canadian Tire store.
The real issue, is why can’t we do that anymore?
The canned Liberal answer is “because we live in different times”, then we need to ask how did that happen and why is continuing to degrade into a criminal society, degrading the western values that made Canada culturally unique, safe, prosperous, trusting of its citizens, and truly free?
The registry was more or less a joke in my community coffee shop where we met on Saturday morning for the weekly bull session. Many did not register anything and those that did would register one, where actually they had 4 or 5. One of my friends had 11, but registered 1. There was plenty of notice that this law was coming and we all stocked up on enough ammo to finish a small war. I can guarantee you that this was a fairly prevelant attitude throughout the rural community. We did not do it to break laws, as these are salt of the earth, law abiding citizens. We did it because the law was stupid. Most rural people don’t do stupid.
After my son got his juvenile hunting card (could only handle firearms under direct supervision), my father-in-law took him for a stroll through our woods looking for grouse. A nice image, of a grandfather passing down and sharing his love for the outdoors and hunting.
BUT
What Grandpa did was in fact illegal under the Firearms Act. See, Grandpa has been hunting since he was a boy, and only had a Possession License. He had never taken a Federal firearms course; they didn’t exist when he started. Under the Firearms Act, the person doing direct supervision of a junior hunter *must* have taken the course.
You can imagine my reaction when I discovered this quirk in the law. Ironically, the details were explained by some volunteers from the local Police, who came to our Rod & Gun Club to allay concerns about the Act when it came into force. They came to soothe us, but they left the club members feeling more bitter and angry then before.
Since then, I have voted Reform & Alliance and then Conservative, and made annual donations to them. I will *never* vote Liberal or NDP in my life.
The whole Liberal Firearms act needs to get tossed, the LGR is just one of the sickening sections, and was first to go.
The background work to toast this legislation has been ongoing since the minute it was proposed, but you eat an apple pie, one piece at a time.
These gun-grabbers go into terminal denial when the principal….”registration leads to confiscation”…..when even here in Canuckistan…when Allan Runt got C68 past Royal Assent…he directed the Police to aggressively locate, confiscate any and all unregistered firearms.
Does anyone doubt that the GTA Police, at the direction of Chief Blair, has not assembled it’s very own registry of any and all firearms registrations in the GTA?
News from the US, indicates that Eric Holder, the Attorney General, during Clinton’s administration sought to spin the “Assault weapons Ban” to include not just the dreaded semi-automatic but to extend even to lever actions such as Winchester ’94’s but all pump-guns as well.
Gun-grabbers are enemies of the people.
Another poll, somewhat related to the above…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2011/12/should-the-long-gun-registry-data-be-destroyed.html
This is another must see – Chiefs Of Police VS Candice Hoeppner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGI368nzHcw