Date: 14 Jun 95 15:53:22 EDT
From: John Taylor <[76470 3001] at [compuserve.com]>
To: NOBAN uploads <[n--b--n] at [mainstream.com]>
Subject: "Old news" on Can-ban

     OTTAWA, June 13 (Reuter) - Canada's Liberal government pushed on Tuesday to
pass a controversial bill to force gunowners to register their firearms despite
heated opposition from gunowners and some Liberal party members.
     Gunowners charge the proposed law is an infringement on their rights. But
the Liberal government has refused to back down, saying the legislation will
reduce crime.
     "The people of Canada want this Parliament to pass this legislation,"
Justice Minister Allan Rock told Parliament on Tuesday. "We stand with the
victims of violence who have lost family members, we stand with the physicians
of the emergency rooms of this nation," Rock said.
     A final vote in the House of Commons, the lower house, was expected late on
Tuesday.
     Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien has stuck with the plan even though
the issue has split his party, which normally votes along party lines. Some
Liberals have vowed to vote against the proposal because constituents see it as
an unneeded and costly intrusion by government.
     Equally surprising, some members of the right-wing Reform Party, which is
dead set against the legislation, say they will vote for it. Polls show their
constituents back the legislation, they say, even though party members do not.
     Chretien said earlier that the tougher laws were needed to help Canada
avoid sliding into the violence found in U.S. cities. A nationwide poll released
this month showed that two out of three people supported the Liberal
government's push for tighter gun control.
     The proposed law would force gunowners to register their weapons, even
hunting rifles. Now registration is limited mainly to handguns.
     It would also increase penalties for use of guns in crimes and ban the
import and sale of many handguns. It would crack down on the smuggling of
weapons.
     The government weakened some of its more controversial proposals,
restricting the ability of police to enter homes to search for guns, for
example, under heavy pressure from gunowners, who borrowed ideas from
anti-gun-control forces in the United States.
     In Canada, the lines were tightly drawn between urban and rural dwellers,
with city dwellers such as Justice Minister Rock leading the way on tougher gun
control.
     Foes of the bill said the registry plan was too expensive to implement with
up to seven million guns in Canada.
     The legislation must still be passed in the upper house of Parliament, the
Senate. But political analysts say it is expected to pass the Senate, which has
only weak powers to block legislation, and become law.
  REUTER


------------------------------

Date: 14 Jun 95 15:53:24 EDT
From: John Taylor <[76470 3001] at [compuserve.com]>
To: NOBAN uploads <[n--b--n] at [mainstream.com]>
Subject: Clinton SS disarmed for G-7?

     HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, June 13 (Reuter) - Canadian police say President
(Bill)  Clinton's Secret Service guards, normally bristling with weapons, will
be disarmed during this week's Group of Seven summit.
     "The Secret Service will not be allowed to carry arms. The law in Canada is
that they do not carry arms," Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Terry
Elliott said on Tuesday.
     "We, the RCMP, are responsible for the security at the summit," he said.
      It is unusual but not unprecedented for Secret Service agents to be
unarmed when the president travels abroad. But it always creates difficulties
when the host country wants his guards not to carry weapons.
     In Washington, a Secret Service spokesman declined to comment on whether
agents would carry weapons in Canada.
     "We just can't comment because that obviously would impact on the security
of the president during his visit," he said.
     If the Secret Service does agree to be unarmed, agents are likely to still
have easy access to weapons should they need them.
     Leaders of the world's richest nations begin their summit on Thursday in
this picturesque seaside town. The G7 groups the United States, Britain, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.


------------------------------

Topic No. 17

Date: 14 Jun 95 15:53:28 EDT
From: John Taylor <[76470 3001] at [compuserve.com]>
To: NOBAN uploads <[n--b--n] at [mainstream.com]>
Subject: Canadian gun law
Message-ID: <[950614195328 76470 3001 HHE 91 3] at [CompuServe.COM]>

Excerpted under "fair use"

OTTAWA, June 13 (Reuter) - Canada's Liberal government overcame strong
opposition on Tuesday to force proposals through the House of Commons that will
tightly restrict the way gun owners can bear firearms in Canada.
     The controversial gun control bill passed in the lower house of Parliament
by a vote of 192 to 63 during a noisy session marked by yelling and emotional
speeches.
     Opposition politicians and gun owners charge the proposed law is an
infringement of their rights.
     But the Liberals say they want to cut down on crime, reduce suicides, and
protect a law-abiding culture.
     "The people of Canada want this Parliament to pass this legislation,"
Justice Minister Allan Rock told Parliament. "We stand with the victims of
violence who have lost family members, we stand with the physicians of the
emergency rooms of this nation," Rock said.
     Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien pushed hard for the new proposals
despite well-organised opposition that created an intense national debate on the
issue of gun control.
     Chretien said earlier tougher laws were needed to help Canada avoid sliding
into the violence found in U.S. cities. A nationwide poll released this month
showed two out of three people supported the Liberal government's push for
tighter gun control.
     The proposed law would force gun owners to register their weapons, even
hunting rifles. Registration is now limited mainly to pistols.
     It would also increase penalties for use of guns in crimes and ban the
import and sale of many pistols. It would crack down on the smuggling of weapons
and increase sentences for people who use guns in their crimes.
     The government weakened some of its more controversial proposals,
restricting the ability of police to enter homes to search for guns, for
example, under heavy pressure from gun owners, who borrowed ideas from anti-gun
control forces in the United States.
     In Canada the lines were tightly drawn between urban and rural dwellers,
with city dwellers such as Justice Minister Rock leading the way on tougher gun
control.
     Foes of the bill said the registry plan was too expensive to implement with
up to 7 million guns in Canada.
     Opposition Reform Party leader Preston Manning said the legislation will
not improve public safety and will likely face legal challenges from the
provinces who will have to bring the gun registry into force.
     "The law should be repealed," Manning said in Parliament.
     The legislation must still be passed in the upper house of Parliament the
Senate. But political analysts say it is expected to pass the Senate which has
only weak powers to block legislation and become law.
     The gun control issue split the Liberal party which normally votes along
party lines as some Liberals voted against the proposal as their constituents
saw it as an unneeded and costly intrusion by government.
  REUTER