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CILA / ICAL
Defending Canada's Heritage
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For Immediate Release

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Would little Michael James be alive today if the
Canadian Firearms Centre hadn't dropped the ball?
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On Friday, January 3, 2003 Canadians were shocked by the accidental
shooting of 6 year old Michael James by his 7 year old sister in Mississauga, Ontario.
This terrible tragedy might have been averted had the Canadian Firearms Centre
implemented a highly recommended proposal.

In July of 2001 a group known as the Experts Technical Committee on Firearms
met in Ottawa to discuss technical matters relating to firearms.  This group
was composed of acknowledged experts in the gun field, police services groups
and senior bureaucrats from the Canadian Firearms Centre and reported to the
Firearms Centre CEO.

One of the items discussed at length was the establishment of a gun safety
program for primary school children, similar in concept to the Eddie the Eagle
program.  The basic message would be "Stop, don't touch. Get an adult."  There
would be no actual firearms involved with the program.

The proposal to establish this program received unanimous support from the
participants of the meeting, including all police groups present.  Various
offers were made to obtain the reference materials and to put the program
together.  This was followed up on.

CFC Senior Policy Analyst Carolyn St. Denis then quashed the whole proposal by
saying "it was unworkable because the Coalition for Gun Control would never
buy into it."  While no formal minutes were kept, several members of the Committee
were consulted during the creation of this release and the sequence of events
confirmed.  Since that time, no further meetings were scheduled.

Is firearms safety the real agenda of the Canadian Firearms Centre?
Throughout the implementation of the firearms control program we have repeatedly heard,
"If it saves one life it's worth it", "we're establishing a culture of safety"
and "we're doing it for the children".

Why did the Canadian Firearms Centre refuse to pursue such a natural safety
initiative?  Why has their own "Aiming for Safety" Program been slashed to the
bone.

As a Member of the Firearms Experts Technical Committee, CILA Executive
Director Tony Bernardo says, "I am extremely disappointed that such a
critically important safety program could be dismissed so easily to satisfy a
political agenda."

Could it be that the Justice Minister's "culture of safety" is really a
"culture of deceit".

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for more information contact:

CILA Institute for Legislative Action / Institut CILA pour l'Action
Législative

National Office
569 Grandview St. S.  Oshawa, ON.  L1H 7T5
Ph: (905) 571-2150 Fax: (905) 436-7721  e-mail:
[email protected]

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(905) 238-3090

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16 John St.  Thornhill, ON  L3T 1X8
PH: (904)882-2422  Fax: (905) 882-2431

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