Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 140
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5/15/2016 at 9:43 AM
Bruce, the man at the center of the story, used to come to the Brandon shows, where he would walk around the show with some 100 year old rifle over his shoulder and a sign that read " unregistered rifle for sale" in protest of the long arms registry, which he considered unconstitutional. He was trying to get charged under the provisions of the firearms act, and when that didn't happen he pushed the envelope further and further. When he finally did get what he thought he wanted, the charges were not over the unregistered rifle, but rather 50 other criminal code charges (the bulk of which did not make it through the courts).
In Bruce's own word's, he underestimated the determination of the government, and their dislike for his civil disobedience.
They spent a lot of money to investigate and prosecute Bruce, then house him for the time in prison. The fact that they want to seize his house as "proceeds of crime" is far-fetched. He and his wife built the house themselves at a time when he was licensed as a gunsmith....it is a very long stretch to call it proceeds of crime.
I can understand the "proceeds of crime" seizures with regard to things like drug distributors who would otherwise go to prison, a few years later be released, and then could come out and enjoy the large house and the fast cars they bought with the proceeds. But that is not the case in this instance, and the move by the crown towards forfeiture is an perversion of the act. The judge already gave Bruce a punishment that in the end was served. Taking the man's house is going too far.
End of the day, the non-restricted registry is gone for many reasons, primarily that an expensive list of lawful owners guns is not money well spent, and the appetite by the public for the billion(s) spent went sour. Bruce now has to live with the aftermath of his efforts to publicize the draconian firearms act, and for that the Ontario government wants to reduce him and his family to nothing.
If this thread turns into a debate about the effectiveness of the registry, with it gone for several years now, the firearms crime rates have not gone up, so it will be a tough debate for the pro-registry side.