Early one August morning in 2010, four masked men shouting death threats began hurling firebombs at Mr. Thomson’s home. One of his pet dogs was injured; several fires in and around his home were set.
Mr. Thomson, an experienced firearms instructor, called 911 immediately. He also armed himself with a .38 calibre revolver, stepped outside his home and fired three shots — one into his lawn, and two into a stand of trees. His attackers fled, and were later arrested. All four pleaded guilty to arson and disregard for human life, and were sentenced to between two and three years in prison.
So ended the first threat against Mr. Thomson. The next began immediately thereafter.
Update: How to donate to Mr. Thomson’s legal defense fund.
h/t CL
Chalk one up for common sense.
Too bad it’s so rare.
He’d have been in trouble in most states, even here in FL. You can protect yourself by shooting the guys trying to burn your house down but warning shots are a no no. Minor issue. Matt Gurney wrote “Mr. Thomson’s victory will hopefully spare the next Canadian who defends themselves …” Canadian is singular and themselves is a double plural. He could have written “… the next Canadians who defend themselves …” but didn’t.
Yes. Some good,but now we have to start working on having Canada’s leftie/commie/socialist gun laws completely re-written,so that BS like this cannot even start in the first place.
Governmental responses like the initial response in this story are a big part of the problem. Fortunately it turned out properly. The last thing any government wants to cause is a shoot/shovel/shut up being seen as the only way to avoid future problems with “fine citizens” like the erstwhile fire-bombers and the law alike.
Since no-one is ever actually convicted but always charged, when are judges going to start awarding costs to modify prosecutors’ ignoring of established jurisprudence?
Congratulations Mr. Thomson a rare victory over Liberal mental illness indeed.
Very luck to not be spending the rest of his life in jail, bank accounts cleaned out, and family put out on the street. It has happened to innocent gun owners in Canada.
Liberalism 101 says that if you’ve been targeted by murderers, you will lie down and submit to their crimes OR the Liberal justice system will take care of you for them.
A rare win over liberal tyranny indeed…………… Harper?
Unfortunately, this is the problem today with our police and the legal system.
They now view everybody as a potential client/criminal, and have lost the ability to really SEE the bad ones.
That’s why, even in the upper middle class areas, we feel unsure when the cops are around. Their attitude has broken the trust that used to exist.
This is the way these things usually end, but the victim is still put through years of legal harassment and punishing costs before finally being acquitted or the charges are dropped.
I have no doubt the next Canadian to defend himself will be subjected to the same punishment. They don’t need to get a conviction when they know the process itself is the punishment, as with any entanglement with Human Rights Commissions.
It would be nice to see the Crown Prosecuter involved to be forced to resign for pursuing this so zealously.
Mr. Thomson needs some more time at the ramge. Fired three shots and only hit the lawn and two trees.
You may have noticed (or NOT) that the thugs who attacked his home were sentenced with a variety of penalties ranging from 2 to 3 years. You should know by now that means Thomson was put through an ordeal that lasted longer than the prison time ANY of those criminals were forced to pay.
Thomson also had to pay for his defence. Where will he begin to recover THAT cost?
BTW … Captcha is seriously flawed.
Hopefully this does set a legal precedent to curtail future prosecutions of this nature. It’s true that the process itself can be punishing enough. Mr. Thomson did the right thing with his actions, displaying an appropriate amount of courage and restraint, in what is still a risky response in today’s Liberal culture, where criminals have more rights than defendants. We need more such proactive responses and the backing of our Conservative, common-sense national government at least, to lend support and foster a return to confidence and decent living standards. We have Mr. Thomson’s perseverance to thank for getting the right ball rolling.
OMMAG >
Bingo, 100% agree.
In a just society this wouldn’t warrant a criminal charge or even a discussion. Unfortunately, common sense and a good education are often incompatible as shown in the judicial system frequently. At least there are still a few Judges with functioning brains.
Ian Thompson is not a wealthy man. You can help by donating below:
The rules of donation are set and required by the Law Society Of Canada:
Contributions in the form of check, money order, VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, may be sent “IN TRUST” to:
“EDWARD BURLEW IN TRUST” add a note that it is for Ian Thomson.
Edward L. Burlew
16 John Street
Thornhill, Ontario
L3T 1X8
Telephone: (905) 882-2422
FAX: (905) 882-2431
NOTE: You can call Mr. Burlews office to contribute via credit card. Please call and request a form to be sent out to you.
And Here is where emails go to Robert Mahler’s (prosecuting attorney) boss
Fax: 416-326-4007
E-mail at attorneygeneral@ontario.ca
Mailing address:
Ministry of the Attorney General
McMurtry-Scott Building
720 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 2S9
Gee guys, OMMAG and Knight 99, the captcha works every time for me …
There is a God…He answered many prayers over this matter.
They went after a firearms instructor, for unsafe gun storage? Does anybody else find that fact kind of entertaining?
This is a modest cause for celebration. The Judge dismissed the two charges,which were improper storage of the gun and ammunition.
The original charges of pointing a gun,firing the gun,and careless use of a firearm were dropped, as they should have been, two years ago.
Thompson may have won a pyrrhic victory,though,as the cops did seize his entire firearms collection,which initial reports said was substantial,and of course there are the legal costs.
I’ve tried to find a report as to whether he got his guns back, but have had no luck so far. Reporters seem to be NOT very good at reporting the small details.
Entertaining? No. Scary as hell. We ALL could face such charges, and would probably not fare as well in court.
batb >
My comment included approval of OMMAG’s on topic comment as well.
Captcha makes me resubmit “nearly” every time on my desktop, and every time from iPAD, which is the bigger pain in the butt. Cannot just go back to original entry (usually not always) need to save comment first then reopen new window then repost, which usually then works. A bigger pain on a stupid touch screen with limited capabilities anyway. Yes even when including Captcha character inputs that are definetly correct to start.
Overall the SDA sight seems slower than before, but strangly more so from desktop than IPAD, may have some housecleaning issues with my desktop, although only SDA seems slower not other sites.
Not really confused,because if you want to cut through all the liberal crap, he was just lucky he didn’t shoot one of the ingrates, and had a decent judge.
Luck was all that saved the guy from the state no less.
I’m glad he “won”, but standing up to twits firebombing your home, should have garnered a hand shake from the cops , not I’m guessing “I sympathize but my hands are tied, you really have should have been more meek”, from a dutiful police officer, that puts a pension and all the trimmings before some decent judgement.
I know it’s easy to say, but didn’t men before them actually exercise some thought that went along with the uniform? Or was I just wrong respecting the average cop not that long ago for being a stand up guy?
It’s really quite sad, and imagine if criminals where just a bit smarter and really caught on to the progressive ways of personal protection?
It’s difficult to continue respecting law enforcement when they seem to have become predators on law abiding citizens.
Two tier justice re Caledon and first nations in general. 10’s of thousands of law abiding citizen constantly pulled over and questioned to catch 1 or 2 drinking drivers. Constant speed traps in the name of revenue enhancement, and on and on.
Can a crown attorney be personally sued for damages from a damaging and dumb prosecution?
There are many, MANY law enforcement officers that will affirm…..off the record of course….that dead men don’t tell tales. IOW, if you intend to go further than just warning shots, be prepared to finish the job.
Yah, our just-a$$ system is a liberal joke, enforced by cops who are not hired for intellect
I’not an instructor, thus I shoot as I was taught, aim for centre body mass, these thugs (victums???)are lucky that it was mister Thompson, and not some one else
dmorris >
Not to mention, have you ever seen how cops treat guns, not to mention “seized property”.
News footage of them walking out of homes with rifles bundled under their arms like firewood just pisses me off to no end!
Many of these “guns” are people’s prized possessions and collections of high-end fine wood and finely tuned optics, worth many thousands of dollars. They’d have their ass’s handed to them in court if they treated some Liberals art collection the same way, which of course they wouldn’t to begin with.
Knight 99 –
why not select all, copy, then pste into a new form, to re-submit?
“Ian Thomson acquitted after shooting at his attackers”? I think not. Proper headline, “Ian Thompson finally released from judicial punishment after daring to resist attackers”. His punishment began when the cops showed up and has continued
There has been no justice done in this case since the moment it started, and probably before. This is a case of State oppression of an entirely innocent man, arranged and applied deliberately by the Crown. Possibly by the prosecuting Crown attorney alone, more likely as a POLICY of oppression dictated by higher authority in the province and in the Liberal Party.
“Justice” in the true and proper sense of the word will only be served when the person or more likely many persons who arranged the obscene persecution of Ian Thompson are dug out of the wainscoting, dragged the light and made to account for their actions. Paying Mr. Thompson back every penny he spent defending himself, out of their own pockets I hasten to add, would be just the starting point. ,
Somebody wake me up when that looks likely to happen.
Events such as these are useful to remind folks of the seething hatred that governments have toward the citizens.
small c conservative >
That is what I do.
Lost my longer answer to Captcha again, because I didn’t save beforehand.
Anyway just say’n not complaining, I don’t need to post at all if it really bothered me.
Michael Bryant didn’t even get a breathalyzer after admitting he drank wine and killed a guy while driving into on coming traffic to mount the sidewalk.
Shopped today at David Chen’s Lucky Moose grocery, who was also arrested by the police for nabbing a crack head robber for the cops.
Cops are union grunts with guns.
That headline is misleading.
From what I understand of the case, Mr. Thompson did not “shoot at his attackers”. He fired warning shots into the ground and at a tree dozens of yards away from them. Therefore he did not directly confront them with the firearm but simply warned them he had one and to break off their attack – which they did. This more than satisfies the “force=force” self defense provisions of the CCC. So technically Mr. Thompson did not assault anyone or shoot at anyone – as a firearms instructor his shots went exactly where he wanted them to go – in a safe direction into an inert target/backstop. Thus the dropping of all but the safe storage charges.
Be aware – this trial was NOT about self defense. This trial was about maintaining the abusive/inappropriate enforcement and police interpretation of the safe storage provisions in the firearms act. A technical reg. that allows the cops warrantless search and nebulous seizure powers and the crown to goon you over for a minor, non-criminal regulatory infraction – the objective being grinding you through the system is the punishment/intimidation (much like the CHRC tyranny of PC). In this case the crown is abusively, maliciously prosecuting Mr. Thompson because it “FEELS” (it is impossible to know) that he had too ready an access to his gun and his ammo in his response to a mortal threat.
I guaran-damn-tee you the odious crown prosecutor/Provincial AG will appeal. This safe storage provision, which is so routinely abused to oppress/ bully /confiscate guns of honest gun owners, is the primary intimidation/confiscation tool the gun control regime uses against firearms owners. There is no way such a malicious prosecutory tool will ever be surrendered by (what is increasingly being revealed to be) a police state authoritarian approach to civilian intimidation by authorities.
You can bet your next pay check that the prosecutors are pissed off, card carrying Lieberals or Dippers!
They now view everybody as a potential client/criminal, and have lost the ability to really SEE the bad ones.
Bingo. That’s the problem with the American gun-control crowd/left. Anyone who owns a gun (or whom they merely disagree with politically) is a criminal.
People who commit *actual* crimes are poor, helpless victims of an unjust society and — if they play the right cards — liberal celebrities and causes.
You draw a DEADLY weapon….. it’s NOT for fun.
Shoot to kill. Cause you’re gonna go through a hell of an ordeal, best make it worthwhile.
The prosecutors name, and address? Seeing as we are in a time of outing this and that?
Works for me, eastern paul. Already “making a list, and checking it twice…”
Occam >
“….this trial was NOT about self defense. This trial was about maintaining the abusive/inappropriate enforcement and police interpretation of the safe storage provisions in the firearms act.”
That’s precisely why that Libtard reporter in the US needs to be prosecuted for having that 30rnd magazine in his possession in the District of Columbia where they are “banned”.
These a-holes obviously need to get some of the treatment their dishing out to the rest of us, to understand what the problem is.
The local prosecutor is the real chump here. This should not have gone to trial. What a complete lack of judgement, to the point of vindictiveness. I wonder if he was under orders from above..
First post on the new system. Gah, captcha is a pain for my eyes.
Cannot just go back to original entry (usually not always) need to save comment first then reopen new window then repost, which usually then works.
I’m using F-Fox on a desktop computer and I frequently have problems with the Captcha thingie. Going back gives the same faulty Captcha string. So the new window sequence above is the only way around it. Most Captcha systems give a different string when the first one doesn’t work, this one is flawed.
Shoot to kill. Cause you’re gonna go through a hell of an ordeal, best make it worthwhile. I was also advised by a LE friend to drag the body across the threshold at least partially into your house. It makes their job easier.
Chalk one up for common sense.
Posted by: Johnny on January 5, 2013 12:31 PM
Johnny. If this story had anything to do with common sense, Mr. Thomson would never have ben put through this bullshit.
Nope, this story says a whole lot about the police and the Crown Attorney’s office, but says nothing about common sense – quite the opposite, actually.
“..They now view everybody as a potential client/criminal, and have lost the ability to really SEE the bad ones….”
Reminds me of this comment made by a Corrections Canada officer in describing your normal everyday citizen:
“…a non convicted individual residing in the community…” Joe Green Show (2006)…a comment I will never forget.
Far better, north_of_60, is “Shoot. Shovel. Shut up.” Or down here in Florida, just dump the body in the woods and let the wild pigs take care of it. NOTHING good ever comes out of getting “Law Enforcement” involved, unless you are a member of the Blue Wall, or one of the Masters.
The prosecutors name is Bob Mahler I believe. (Aryan?) The people of Canada and the United states should create a database with the names of these prosecutors. Like the Predator prosecutor Angela Corey in Florida who’s trying a twelve year old child for murder-AS AN ADULT!!!
These monsters should be exposed, hounded and villified for the monsters that they are. Email their places of work, their homes, their Facebook pages, their churches if any of these godless scum try to soothe their guilt with religion, (like Angela Corey). They’re predators like any other deviant predator. Anybody involved in three strikes prosecutions or the war on drugs is The Enemy. Like Public Employees are the enemy. Everybody should read “Taken Into Custody” by Baskerville and back it up with “The War Against Boys” by Sommers. Along with Plunder: How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation by Steven Greenhut.
The public should make it their jobs to make their lives a living hell. Just as they do to their victims.