Proof to the Canada bashers that Canucks aren't pussies!
 

Too bad I dont support their message, but I am totally glad that the spirit of protest drove these fellas to act.

More people need to get involved in issues and contribute to policy that WE THE PEOPLE - not the government, and not global corporations - control.

Make 2003 the year you really get involved with the issues you believe in. Protest if you have to. Join others who believe in your cause. WHATEVER that cause is.

Stop letting the media be your mental soother and start creating and making the news yourself.

Good luck in 2003 - in both business and personal lives.

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Protest leader arrested on Parliament Hill

OTTAWA - One person was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a protest on Parliament Hill, where between 150 and 200 people voiced their opposition to the new national gun registry.

Jim Turnbull, who organized the protest, was arrested when someone brought him part of a gun, known as a receiver.

Mounties arrested him for having a firearm in a public place or gathering.

Demonstrators said the fact the RCMP didn't charge Turnbull under the Firearms Act for not registering his gun was a moral victory and proved the registry is ineffective.

The national gun registry, which went into effect at midnight, put thousands of otherwise law-abiding Canadians on the wrong side of the law.

Some of them have been waiting for this day, so they can challenge the Firearms Act. Others might have tried to sign up at the last minute, but were shut out by a system that couldn't handle the demand.

In the last week before the deadline, the Justice Department decided that a letter of intent to register would buy a gun owner a grace period beyond the Jan. 1 deadline.

Led by Turnbull, the head of the Canadian Unregistered Firearms Owners Association, the demonstrators took their statement of protest to the steps of Parliament, and burned a copy of the 1995 Firearms Act, which enacted the registry.

Next, they burned gun registration forms.

RCMP were standing by, watching the demonstration to make sure no guns were carried onto Parliament Hill, where they are prohibited.

The protesters had promised to bring unregistered guns to the protest, and even to hold an auction. They said they wanted to be arrested.

David Austin of the Canadian Firearms Centre says failure to register guns could lead to fines, imprisonment or both.

But how often either happens is open to speculation at this point.

Saskatchewan Justice Minister Chris Axworthy, for one, has said the province won't use its prosecutors or conservation officers to enforce the registry.

Checking for registration papers is the responsibility of local police, who won't know who has sent in letters of intent, for example, and who hasn't. So Austin says laying charges will be up to the discretion of the police officers involved.

Unacceptable, says Canadian Alliance MP Gary Breitkreuz. "Criminal law should not be exercised or administered in an arbitrary manner," he said. "I think the government's in a bind; I don't think they know what to do."

Breitkreuz says as many as 200,000 gun owners could be considered criminals today.