Thursday, November 18, 2010

Canada: Gun Photo Embarrasses Firearms Office


Gun photo embarrasses firearms office
Vivian Hayward, in the centre of the picture, did not want to comment on the gun photo. 
(submitted by Canadian Sports Shooting Association)
CBC News article link
November 18, 2010 | CBC News

A photo that shows P.E.I.'s chief firearms officer holding an automatic weapon on a pickup truck filled with guns has become a weapon for anti-gun registry activists.

The leaked picture shows chief firearms officer Vivian Hayward and two other provincial employees perched on the back of the pickup truck with the message "Wanted … guns or else!"

The picture was never intended for public viewing. It was taken two years ago as a gag for an anniversary publication of the RCMP's Canadian Firearms Program. Every provincial office was asked to come up with a "creative" photo.

"It is true, the photo was taken, it was just deemed inappropriate for the purpose that they believed was intended, so they rejected that one," Steve Dowling, a lawyer for the P.E.I. Department of Justice, which oversees the Chief Firearms Office, told CBC News Wednesday.

An RCMP spokesperson said it was inappropriate because "its message was not consistent with the mission, vision and values of the program."

Another photo was used for the anniversary publication, but this September the pickup truck photo was leaked and made its way to the internet. It's being used to promote anti-gun registry agendas on conservative blogs, a YouTube video, and other websites.

Tony Bernardo of the Canadian Sports Shooting Association said when it was leaked to him he understood it was a gag, but he didn't find it very funny.

"What we're really appalled with is the attitude that we're coming to get your property," said Bernardo.

"We're not going to compensate you for it, we're just going to steal it."

Dowling said there are no safety or legal issues with the photo. Hayward did not want to comment on the story.

CBC News Comments
excerpts:

OnanTheLibrarian wrote:
Posted 2010/11/18 at 12:38 PM ET

Imagine three police officers taking pictures of themselves goofing off with their service pistols in front of the police department. Will some of you still be saying "Lighten up, Francis?".

What's the difference? Moreover, these people arrest other Canadians for doing the very things that they did in this photo!

pittsky wrote:
Posted 2010/11/18 at 12:48 PM ET

No safety issues? In the photo the chief firearms officer for PEI Vivian Hayward, has her finger on the trigger. That is the most fundamental safety issue there is with any firearm. 

If there are no safety issue in this photo then I see no reason I can't walk around with my AR-15 in a strip mall with my finger on the trigger.

srt4u2nv wrote:
Posted 2010/11/18 at 1:02 PM ET

"can anyone prove that these are indeed real, loaded and fully operational firearms before you accuse these people of committing a crime by having them outside and in a photo, and of handling them improperly?" [starrydays17 wrote: Posted 2010/11/18 at 12:46 PM ET]

Doesn't matter replica firearms are PROHIBITED DEVICES in Canada if you posted this same picture you would be facing criminal charges and jail time.....That's the point the very laws we citizens have to abide by are being broken in that picture why do these government workers get to ignore the law we have to follow.....

Vox Populi Z wrote:
Posted 2010/11/18 at 12:59 PM ET

No firearm registry will PREVENT murder, accidents or suicide by a determined criminal; a careless firearms user \ act of God; or a disturbed person who wants to die by his/her own hand. 

The key word here is PREVENT. Therefore the registry by this test does not enhance public safety as it was its original intent nor does it prevent on-going gun violence, injury or suicide by gun. It is a failure. 

So what is it then? 

It is a just mechanism to count legal guns. Universal firearms registration is also an essential requirement to firearms confiscation and prohibition. The Liberal Canadian government that started this mess planned to disarm all law abiding Canadian firearm owners. Social resistance stopped their plan. That is still the agenda of today’s Liberal’s and NDP party and a sentiment shared by the lobby of political Police Chiefs for obvious reasons. The clandestine agenda behind this misguided ideology is to hasten the back door Canadian adoption of the UN Small Arms Treaty whose ultimate goal is to ban civilian firearms ownership world wide. 

Join the NFA today link

CBC News home page

Chief Firearms Officer of Prince Edward Island Wants Your Firearms ... OR ELSE
Sept 2, 2010 | CSSA

Vivian Hayward, the Chief Firearms Officer for Prince Edward Island, and two of her Area Firearms Officers pose for a "gag" photograph standing on a truckload of seized firearms.

Considering the Chief Firearms Officer and her office, as a branch of the Canadian Firearms Centre and part of the gun registry, deal with firearms in the hands of Canadian gun owners, it seems apparent just whose guns she wants -- or else.

"I came to Ottawa with the firm belief that only police and military should have guns." - Alan Rock

"I've come to the conclusion that significant change is needed. I've come to the conclusion that we should ban handguns." - Prime Minister Paul Martin

"It's time to end the ownership of handguns in this country" - NDP Leader Jack Layton

"I don't see a good reason why we can't ban handguns in this country." - Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

"No one needs (semi-automatic) weapons, and we would all be safer without them in Canada." - Liberal Leader Stephane Dion

"the more that we restrict access to handguns, long guns, the better." - Elizabeth May, Green Party Leader

Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) home page

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