Federal minister urges parliament to pass handgun freeze

Federal minister urges parliament to pass handgun freeze

LAW
Breadcrumb Trail Links Local News Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Article content Canada's Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the federal Conservatives are to blame for legislative delays on handguns that have led to a backlog of firearm registrations. Advertisement 2 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content In May, Ottawa introduced a bill that proposes freezing handgun sales and transfers, a move slammed at the time by Alberta's chief firearms officer as an “intrusion” into the lives of gun owners. It also led to a spike in handgun sales, and, according to the Alberta government, a bottleneck in transfer and license applications that…
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Proposed ‘red flag’ gun law in Canada could lead to ‘swatting,’ criminal lawyers say – National

Proposed ‘red flag’ gun law in Canada could lead to ‘swatting,’ criminal lawyers say – National

LAW
Criminal lawyers are warning that a proposed “red flag” law from the Liberals could be taken advantage of by bad actors and lead to “swatting,” where law enforcement is called on an individual for illegitimate reasons. The red flag law proposed would allow any citizen to flag to a court another individual with guns that they suspect is a danger to others or themselves, potentially resulting in their firearms being taken away. The current law only allows police to make this case to a court.The citizen's case before a judge would be “ex parte” under the new law, which means that it wouldn't involve the other party or make them aware of the flagging. Read more: Handgun smuggling still a concern as Liberals move to freeze weapon A judge could…
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The irony of today’s tough-on-crime rhetoric

LAW
America faces a challenge on the issue of crime. Whether we deal with it effectively or not, however, depends on the willingness of leaders from both the left and right to drop the slogans and culture wars and truly put public safety first. "Let them go." "Lock them up." “Defund the police.” “Back the blue.” Conflicting messages from political leaders are not only confusing and divisive, they also miss the point that many people don't feel safe and want solutions that work. Regardless of the historical decline in overall crime rate — a trend that accounts for the current uptick in certain violent crimes — some are demagoguing the broader issue to usher in an era of draconian sentences under the guise of public safety. Ironically, these tough-on-crime proposals can…
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Oklahoma spent millions on a legal and PR campaign to paint reservations as ‘lawless dystopias’ and convince the Supreme Court to weaken tribal sovereignty,

Oklahoma spent millions on a legal and PR campaign to paint reservations as ‘lawless dystopias’ and convince the Supreme Court to weaken tribal sovereignty,

LEGAL
Indigenous and environmental activists protest in front of the White House in Washington, Oct. 11, 2021.Sue Ogrocki, File/Associated PressThe Supreme Court ruled last week the state of Oklahoma has some jurisdiction over tribal lands.Native law experts told Insider the ruling ran counter to decades of Native law.They said the court bought into Oklahoma's dubious narrative of reservations as "lawless dystopias."Oklahoma engaged in a coordinated effort to disparage Native American tribes and convince the Supreme Court to weaken tribal sovereignty — and it worked, according to Native law experts.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court sided with the state in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta in a 5-4 opinionholding that the state of Oklahoma had concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government to prosecute some crimes committed on reservations.But Native law experts said the decision ran…
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