NEWS RELEASE March 16, 2004 For Immediate Release Oscar Lacombe verdict delayed by a month EDMONTON - Alberta Provincial Court Judge David McNab announced yesterday that he will need another month to render a decision in the case of Oscar Lacombe vs. the Alberta government. The judgement had been scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, 17 March. Lacombe was charged by the Alberta government under the Criminal Code for openly refusing to license and register his rifle on January 1, 2003, the day Ottawa's billion-dollar gun registry took effect. The case is politically charged. Over 90,000 e-mail messages have reached the Alberta cabinet urging them to withdraw the Criminal Code charges against Lacombe, and to keep their 1998 promise to leave registry enforcement to Ottawa under the Firearms Act. Lacombe, a 75-year-old Metis war veteran, is a popular figure. As a guest of the Speaker of the Alberta Legislature yesterday, he was greeted by a loud and sustained welcome from all sides of the Assembly when he rose in the gallery. Lacombe has been working with the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy to oppose the federal Firearms Act. Citizens Centre chairman Link Byfield speculated today that the judge may be waiting to see what the government of Paul Martin intends to do with the registry. "There have been reliable reports that Ottawa is looking at 'decriminalizing' the whole firearms program before the next election," said Byfield. Lacombe and Byfield will address a protest rally in Lacombe's home region of St. Paul next Tuesday night, March 23 at 7:30, at the St. Paul Recreation Centre 90 minutes east of Edmonton. "Now is a good time for a strong show of force," said Byfield. "This wasteful intrusion into private ownership and provincial jurisdiction should not just be decriminalized, it should be entirely scrapped." - 30 - For background on Oscar Lacombe: www.citizenscentre.com   More info on Oscar Lacombe

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