Semi-Auto Ban Rumour Still Have Legs?

From an Aussie correspondent, today:

Here in Australia there was a push to further restrict firearms last year. The Police ministers were to meet the next day and the following was on the agenda: All pump action rifles to be banned. Levers and bolts taking more than three rounds to be so restricted that they would effectively be banned as well. The shooters got wind of it before the announcement and started faxing and emailing our politicians.

No restrictions were announced. One state (Western Australia) refuses to licence pump action rifles, but has reduced the restrictions on pump action shotguns as a trade off. Victoria was the source of the police document that I saw, it's police minister decided no further changes were needed. Queensland's licencing branch has had a hissy fit and has announced that as far as it is concerned a pump action fitted with an AR magazine will be treated as an AR, but no change has gone through the state parliament.
Zero change occurred in the other states. We won.

Start writing or faxing now. When an announcement is made, it is too late as the politicians will not back down when their public image is on the line. If they deny there was any such plan, then you have won.

Update 3 - November 6, 2006.

Just when we thought this story could be put to bed, it continues to break. As more MP's offices report to their constituent's concerns, the messages are not consistent. Some are saying the CPC "has no plans, currently", some point to Bill C-21 as not having any changes to semi-autos (it doesn't, but then it wasn't intended to), some, like the following from David Emerson's assistant, are more illuminating:

"Further to our telephone conversation, I can confirm that the government is currently in consultation regarding the possible reclassification of restricted firearms. This process is being conducted with Provincial, Territorial and Stakeholders across Canada. The intention is to improve Canada’s laws, enhancing public safety while keeping with our platform. Please note that this is only a consultation process.

I have requested more information from Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, and as soon as I am in receipt of same, I will be in touch with you.

Sincerely,

Elecia Elliott
PA to the Honourable David Emerson, PC, MP
Vancouver Kingsway

Update 2 - November 6, 2006.

Feedback coming out of variety of CPC MP offices today is indicating that no plan is in the works to further ban or re-classify semi-automatic firearms, although there have been a few admissions that it has been a topic of discussion. For the moment, it appears that calm is returning to the hinterland, and the CPC has been fully apprised of its constituent's concerns....

Update - November 6, 2006.

In response to the rumour, the office of Stockwell Day, deluged apparently with emails, faxes and phone messages has been advising callers that Minister Day and the CPC have no plans currently to introduce changes to classification or prohibition to semi-automatic long guns. They have been somewhat surprised by the intensity of the response to the weekend rumour.

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MPs in Ottawa arrived this morning to find their fax, email and voice-mail machines full of expressions of concern from their constituents over the possibility of bans or reclassification of popular semi-automatic sporting long-guns. While rumours have circulated for a bit, the tenor raised somewhat over the weekend when a respected source outlined a serious plan that is rumoured to be in the works. Rumblings have been emanating from the Hill for a couple of weeks about this.

Stockwell Day's office is somewhat consternated about the volume of concerns and their source, but has not issued a definitive denial.

One MP, David Sweet, of Dundas-Ancaster-Flamborough-West Hamilton, has reportedly responded to a constituent:

I called the office the Hon. Stockwell Day on receipt of your letter and was informed that there are consultations taking place with the provinces, territories and stakeholders on repeating and semi-automatic firearms. They said that there may be some firearms reclassifications, but at this point they cannot confirm what if any. They are mindful of those with outdoor traditions and of collectors like yourself.

I have forwarded your letter along to Minister Day so that he is made aware of your concerns and frustrations.

Sincerely,
David Sweet, M.P.

The comment of interest is "re-classification". This has been one of the concerns outside of an outright ban. Some of the popular sport/competition semi-automatic firearms like the SKS, M-14, AR-15, and Beretta Storm may wind up as prohibited, or in the case of the M-14 and SKS, as restricted.
The Liberals slammed the door last year on owners of grandfathered prohibited firearms, removing their ability to take them to a range to shoot. Court challenges are underway on this decision. The SKS and M14, in addition to being popular hunting rifles, are also pivotal in the sport of Service Rifle competition, along with the AR-15. The loss of these firearms would effectively destroy Service Rifle competition, one of Canada's oldest shooting sports, one steeped in the traditions of Canada's military history.

The unacceptable part of all of this, is that there is no compelling public safety issue justifying the drive to ban and reclassify these firearms. The political will has come largely from raw vote-getting politics, ignorance, lack of general knowledge of firearms, leftist and socialist agendas, and from supporters of the UN world-government view. No defensible statistical and criminological justification has ever been put forward to support the assault on democratic principles these policies represent. A review of the Firearms Act (C-68) and the consequent Criminal Code amendments will clearly illustrate how anti-democratic and draconian these policies, and their underlying legislation, are.

[Cross-posted from www.editorialtimes.ca]