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NFA COMMENT:16 October 2002 NFA Newswire
 Item 1: Media Report; Concealed weapon permit unlikely for shooting victim

                      That article is quite interesting, because it demonstrates
                      that the Authorization to Carry required by people at risk
                      is not available.  In the words of the Supreme Court of
                      Canada (SCC), the Authorization to Carry (ATC) is apparently
                      "a specially-tailored defence to a particular charge" [ in
                      this case, Criminal Code sections 90 and 95].   You must
                      have an ATC to carry a loaded, concealed handgun.

                      Some years ago, the SCC looked at a similar law - the
                      abortion law.   In that case, the equivalent of an ATC was a
                      TAC - a Therapeutic Abortion Certificate.  You could not
                      have or do an abortion unless you had a TAC.

                      Dr. Morgentaler was charged with doing an abortion without
                      having a TAC.  He was found innocent, and the law was struck
                      down, because the TAC was "illusory, or so difficult to
                      obtain as to be practically illusory."   According to the
                      SCC, if the law OFFERED "a specially-tailored defence to a
                      particular charge," then that defence HAD TO BE AVAILABLE.
                      It could not be "illusory, or so difficult to obtain as to
                      be practically illusory" - or the court would have to find
                      the accused innocent, and strike the law down.

                      SCC decisions set precedents that are binding on every court
                      in Canada.  If an individual is arrested for carrying a
                      loaded, concealed firearm without the necessary ATC, the
                      accused can prove that the ATC is "illusory."  In this
                      article, the police spokepersons have gone a long way toward
                      proving the case for the accused.  The rest of the proof can
                      be brought out in court.  The defence lawyer just asks the
                      people responsible for issuing ATCs to ordinary citizens who
                      are at risk just how many they have issued since 01 Dec
                      1998.

                      The answer is zero, which apparently makes the case for the
                      defence.  The accused must be found innocent, and the law
                      itself must be struck down.  The SCC says so.

                      NFA Newswire is a free service offered by the National
                      Firearms Association.

                      For more information on the issues covered here, or on other
                      firearm related information, please contact the National
                      Firearms Association at (780) 439-1394 or visit our website.
Also, from the NFA's October Presidents Message, Jim Hinter says:
"In the courts, we are seeing many positive rulings. In Ontario, the Provincial Supreme Court has ruled that the inspection powers under the Firearms Act are unconstitutional. We confidently expect that, with the NFA's help, much of the firearms control law will be altered by the courts.

We have also prepared a Constitutional Defense for persons who are charged with being in possession of firearms without a license. We have found what we believe is an iron-clad set of Supreme Court precedents that provide a solid defense for an accused person in this area.

We have had the first indications of how effective that defense can be. A young man in Ontario was charged, this August, with being in possession of a firearm without a license.

When the Crown was shown the NFA's defence information and told that it would be used, the Crown withdrew the charges."

This is page, definitely has some of the 'best' news we've heard in quite a while.. This ridiculous piece
of legislation is crumbling bit by bit...