Absolute lies

So the perception in Toronto is that gun violence is up and local, federal and the Toronto police department have been parroting the same line, that 50% of guns used illegally are domestically sourced and it’s an absolute lie.

“Currently, there is no national repository for this type of information in Canada. The Canadian Firearms Program does not collect or track national statistics with regard to the origin of crime guns,” said Sgt. Marie Damian.

Source: CBC

The RCMP which manages the Canadian Firearms Program does not have any data on where guns are coming from whether from the US or from domestic sources.  Perhaps the local police department keeps track of this right?  Well here’s the information made available by a Dennis Young through a freedom of information request.

So if we look at the data last year there were 726 crime guns seized and of those, 67 could be traced to a licensed owner or ~9%.  So where is the 50% that the politicians and the Toronto Police keep saying?  Even the city’s own police department’s data doesn’t back this stat up…  Let’s take a look at the third chart as I find it the most interesting as ~50% of the guns seized are in the prohibited class (again it’s fairly consistent).  What’s most interesting is that as a legal owner with both my PAL & RPAL, I cannot purchase a prohibited class firearm.

In fact no one who’s received their license after 1996 can, only those who were in possession of those types of guns before the Firearms Act came into place can yet they account for 50% of all firearms seized in the last 10 years worth of data.  Don’t believe me, well download the report and take a look yourself.

Look obviously there’s an issue with gang violence and crimes committed by those who use firearms but let’s be frank it’s not someone like myself doing it.  To really tackle the root causes of these things requires a multifaceted approach (dealing with lack of opportunity, systemic racism, etc) and will require many years if not a generation to fix and that’s just not sexy for politicians.  They want a quick fix that can keep them in power 4 years from now and it’s not possible when dealing with such large societal problems but hey let’s blame legal owners, it’s an easy bait and switch.

Just the boys

This was a pretty busy weekend, it all started Saturday morning with lunch with Stephen & Helene.  We went to a dumpling place near Hwy 7 & West Beaver Creek, I’ve never been there before but it was good and Maggie & Brandon approved.  After Maggie went to Blue Mountain for her tax course, she’ll be gone all week and it’ll just be Brandon and I.  I took him to badminton where he played rather well then swimming and it’s funny to watch him learn the breast stroke.

Silly reason to take the picture but I thought it was fun I parked right behind another Prius. 😉

My cousin Cathy and her son Mike are here from Quebec city (staying with my mom) for the week and with me going to the range today, I met up with them for dinner and so Brandon could sleep over as it’s easier than waking him up at 6:30 in the morning and driving him there.  Picked up Mario on the way and met a friend who never shot before at the range and it was great.  He took some videos of me shooting the metal targets at the 10 yard range and man that’s a lot of fun.

LOL kids taking video in portrait mode!  We wrapped up around 11:30, dropped Mario off, went home to drop my guns off then to Canadian Tire to return a few items.  Was happy the overall fuel consumption for today’s trip was 4.4L / 100 KM (53 mpg)!

Haha I know I’m a geek but I love seeing that small number!  After I got home, I cleaned my guns then the house and Brandon’s still not back yet, my mom took them out for dinner so I guess I got to wait a bit longer before I see my little angel, I know it’s only been one day but man how I miss him.  Too bad I have to work tomorrow but it’s a super short week as I’m taking Thursday & Friday off.

It wouldn’t have helped

So the Feds are talking about restricting gun ownership further, I get that it’s an easy way to score political points by going after legal gun owners, I just wish everyone would realize it wouldn’t have stopped the Danforth shooting last month.  The loser’s brother was a drug dealer and had associates who had a bunch of illegal guns, I still fail to see how more rules and regulations on legal owners would do anything.

The federal government has already said it would consider a number of different ways to crack down further on handguns, including empowering municipalities to do so – a commitment Blair reiterated this week.

He also cited measures already included in Bill C-71, which proposes to tighten certain regulations on gun ownership laws, including expanded background checks on would-be gun owners, stronger record-keeping by retailers and requiring buyers to first present a firearms licence.

Source: Global News

Neither of the above discussed items would have stopped the loser (I will call all mass shooters or terrorists this moving forward) from acquiring a gun.  If the government or us as a society want to deal with the problem with shootings we need to deal with the underlying issues, what is causing people to act out in a violent manner?

Of course those questions are much harder to answer and will take a lot longer, it’s just easier for those in charge to blame guns.

Fun weekend

So this weekend we did a lot of driving, hey new car means adventures right…  We did the usual Brandon activities (badminton & swimming) and after dinner Maggie & the boy went back to Commander to play some more badminton so I figure I’ll take the Toyota Prius out and try some of those Prius driving tips to get better gas mileage.

On city roads I can run on EV mode anytime I want now though it’s only good at maintaining speed, not enough power to actually accelerate.

Today I went to the range with some people from work Patricia, Hannah & Shafi.  Hannah has her license but they were all new to shooting and it was fun to see the big smiles when they had after shooting each gun.  I brought 9 guns for them to try out, a bunch of pistols, some rifles and a shotgun.  I don’t I don’t have the group picture we took but Shafi did capture me shooting a S&W 686 revolver in slow motion and that’s pretty cool!

Very neat to see the ring of fire that comes out of the barrel!  We left just after 12, everyone was tired and had a great time, they all shot pretty well and haha I think they’re hooked. 😉

So the driving tips I read online worked pretty well, 

We put on quite a bit of mileage but that’s how it always goes at the beginning right, after 554.6KM, I still have 1/3 of a tank according to the gauge and 4.4L / 100km is equivalent to 53.4 MPG for my American friends.  That’s freaking awesome, yes I have to drive slow (going ~110km/h) but hell that’s fine if I’m getting great mileage!  What will also take some getting use to is people flying by me but hey I’m driving a Toyota Prius, not a Ferrari!

All in all a great weekend now I’m just relaxing and will clean some guns shortly.

Political Expedience

So the Danforth shooter’s background is starting to come to light and while he’s had a hard life, it’s pretty clear that A, he wasn’t a licenced owner and B that he didn’t acquire his handgun legally.

Hussain did have at least two prior mental health-related interactions with police, according to a source with knowledge of the encounters. However, Toronto police would not confirm whether Hussain was known to them, as there are no public safety reasons to disclose past interactions he may or may not have had, a spokesperson said.

That alone would eliminate his chances on getting a gun license AND

Last year brought another blow. Faisal’s older brother, Fahad Hussain, suffered a drug overdose last summer and as of January this year remained in a “vegetative” state at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, court records show.

Two years earlier, on July 24, 2015, Fahad was behind the wheel of a rented Hyundai Accent in Saskatoon when police boxed in the vehicle and arrested him and a 22-year-old female companion for allegedly selling crack cocaine. Police seized 26 pieces of individually wrapped cocaine in a Tylenol container weighing 4.72 grams. A summary of the arrest said officers also seized four cellphones that were “ringing off the hook” with people ordering drugs. He had no prior criminal record.

Prosecutors in Saskatchewan agreed to transfer the charges to Ontario, where Fahad, as a condition of his release, was ordered to reside at a Thorncliffe Park address with Faroq and Sutana Hussain.

Back in Toronto, in February 2017, police charged him with possessing ammunition — a shotgun shell — and failing to comply with bail conditions. He was released on Feb. 21 that year on $10,000 bail and ordered to live in Pickering with his surety, a 33-year-old named Maisum Ansari, court records show.

Last September — while Fahad was in a coma — fire crews responded to a carbon monoxide alarm at the Pickering home and alerted police to a suspicious substance in the basement. Durham Regional Police executed a search warrant, finding 33 guns and other prohibited devices, such as overcapacity magazines, and seized 53 kilograms of a substance identified as the deadly street drug carfentanil.

Ansari, who owns the home, was charged with 337 firearm-related offences. He is out on bail. The Star contacted Ansari through his lawyer, who said his case is still before the courts and he has no comment.

Source: The Star

So looks like the brother was no good and that’s most likely the source of where the firearm came from yet politicians are rushing over themselves to create new laws that only affect people like me…  It’s all smoke and mirrors, it only gives the public the appearance of something being done when in reality it’s not.  Obviously this was a very troubled individual and the solution to this problem is not more rules for law abiding citizens.

Big holes

This morning I went to Silverdale with Mario as I wanted to try my new Lakefield Mossberg 400G and it didn’t disappoint.  I used the 18.5″ barrel and it ate all the slugs I could feed it, the sporting and 3″ magnum.  The custom built CQBR also performed flawlessly with the Daniel Defense BCG installed, not sure what I’m going to do with the NEA yet, maybe I’ll shoot it at a later time.

I played a little with the Sig Sauer P226R and shot it a lot better today, got to compare it to Mario’s Norinco NP22, the single action for both guns are actually similar but the double action while heavy on the real Sig, is very smooth.  Shot a lot of steel with the HK SFP9 and man I got to get some smaller plates, 4″ is not a challenge and the 2″ ones are a lot of fun.  We wrapped up at around 11, came home and then in the afternoon went to Brandon’s swimming class.

For dinner we had a BBQ and those things are always yummy, now we’re just relaxing at home.

Boom!

On Monday I picked up a used Lakefield Mossberg 400G shotgun and it’s unique because it was made in Canada. 🙂

The Lakefield Mossberg 400G shotgun is mechanically identical to the 500 series and the parts are cross compatible, I guess Mossberg gave it a different series number because it was manufactured here.  It came with a 30″ smooth bore barrel with a fixed full choke and I purchased a 500 series 18.5″ barrel (cylinder bore) and well it fits perfectly.  The wood furniture also makes it look really old school, I’m going to the range on Saturday and can’t wait to try it out!

Wee toys

Who doesn’t like getting toys…  My Radian Raptor AR15 charging handle in FDE come in as well as my A2 stock and LPK for the empty Anderson AR15 lower.  I’m going to eventually build a 20″ AR15 and this is a good step. 🙂

The lower just has a mil-spec trigger and I’ll try it out on Friday when I go to Silverdale with a colleague from work.

Another toy?!?

So about a month ago I traded my Gen 4 Glock 19 for a Sig Sauer P226 and woo it finally arrived today!

The base gun is a P226 chambered in 22LR but the previous owner also had a complete retail 9mm upper and with the Sig it’s as easy as swapping the slide, barrel and recoil spring.  The gun comes with two 22LR 10 round magazines and 3 9mm 10 round mags.  It’s also got tritium night sights and is in near mint condition, the previous owner definitely didn’t fire this thing much.  Oh I really appreciate the smaller profile E2 grips, I have small hands and this fits me much better than the standard grips.

Initially I was suppose to go to Silverdale with Laura & Mario on Saturday but I bailed because I’m going to take a pistol class next week so I’l try this gun then (maybe if I have time), if not maybe in early May.  I’ve never been a big P226 fan but now that I have one I have to admit it’s pretty well built.  I guess time will tell if I keep this thing or not but it’s always fun to fondle high quality firearms. 😀

Aren’t they pretty?

So like a good redneck on my day off (every long weekend I get an extra day), I spent some time cleaning my rifles specifically my AR15s.  It’s been a while since I’ve given them a thorough scrubbing and the DD MK18 was obviously the dirtiest but it’s minty fresh now.  While I had the various rifles broken down I spent some time on the bolt carrier groups of each and argh I have a chip on my NEA bolt.

From top to bottom, the Stag NiB BCG, the Daniel Defense BCG and the NEA.  I hate that brand, NEA is junk and I purchased this thing before I knew any better but with my experiences and Brayden’s who’s had to send his rifle back a few times, I’ll never buy their stuff again.  Anyway as the picture on the right shows, the chip is small but I’ve seen quite a few NEA bolts break at the cam pin so I’m not taking any chances and will get it replaced.  The DD on the other hand has the most mileage on it and is in great condition, when I get the replacement NEA back I’ll sell it and buy something else.