Gun control protest attracts 400 March 29, 2004 Bonnyville Nouvelle By Angela Brown St. Paul - If there had been an election in St. Paul on Tuesday, then Oscar Lacombe would have won the vote. About 400 people filled the town’s recreation centre to cheer for their hero, Lacombe, who was there to speak at a public rally to protest gun control and the firearm registry law. The rally was organized by the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy (CCFD). Chairman Link Byfield, columnist for the Calgary Sun and former publisher of the Alberta Report, and Craig Docksteader, also of the CCFD, took to the stage with Lacombe to state his case. Lacombe has been a virtual household name in Canada since he took those giant steps up to the doors of the Alberta legislature in Edmonton on Jan. 1, 2003, the deadline to register firearms under the federal Firearms Act (1995). Lacombe was making a political statement. “I won’t register my guns and I won’t submit to this unjust and dangerous law,” he said. Lacombe’s rifle was a prop for a press conference, but his message was loaded. What will you do to me? He wanted to see what kind of action the government would take against him for breaking the law. He said his rifle was neither licensed nor registered. Lacombe was charged on June 2003 with two offences: bringing a firearm to a public meeting and being in illegal possession of a firearm. Although the federal Firearms Act was designed to control firearms registry, Lacombe was charged under the Criminal Code instead, which is under provincial jurisdiction. The justification being, the Firearms Act dealt with firearms registry matters and, since Lacombe’s case involved an unlicensed and unregistered firearm, he would have to be prosecuted under the Criminal Code instead. This is where the complications arise. The Firearms Act is administered under federal jurisdiction, while the Criminal Code is administered provincially. However, in Lacombe’s case, the provincial government charged him under the Criminal Code, but it used a federal prosecutor, who represented herself as an agent of the provincial Crown during the trial. “It was an attempt by the provincial government to make it look like it was a federal prosecution, even though it wasn’t,” Byfield said. In 1996, the Alberta provincial government said it wouldn’t prosecute anyone for not licensing and registering their firearms. It challenged the federal Firearms Act because the law was a violation of provincial jurisdiction, involving private property issues. Lacombe wanted to be charged under the federal Firearms Act so he could challenge it. He is unequivocally opposed to the law requiring all firearms to be licensed and registered and he is particularly opposed to Bill-C-68, the Firearms Act, which he says is “unconstitutional.” “The Firearms Act gives the police the right to come into your home and seize personal property,” he said. “I want them to charge me under the Firearms Act, so I could take it to the Supreme Court,” he said. But the federal government isn’t prosecuting Lacombe under the Firearms Act. If it did, Lacombe’s case would be the first to be tried under the act. “The federal government is afraid it will be struck down as unconstitutional...because it’s an invasion of individual rights under the (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms),” Byfield said. Byfield said the provincial government should take the federal government to task saying it won’t prosecute under the Criminal Code, because the Firearms Act is a reasonable alternative that the federal government could use for prosecuting those who fail to register their arms. Lacombe agrees. “As long as the gun law remains in the Criminal Code, we can’t get rid of it,” said Lacombe. Lacombe pleaded not guilty to both counts in the charges. If he is found guilty, he may receive up to six months in prison and/or a $2,000 fine. No final trial date has been set yet for Lacombe’s case. Byfield said the CCFD’s mandate on the gun registration issue is two-fold. “Getting it out of the Criminal Code is step one (and) abolishing it is what we want to do,” he said. Lacombe, 75, who lives in Mundare, was the Alberta legislature’s sergeant-at-arms for 12 years. He is a decorated Korean War veteran and a proud Metis. Lacombe describes himself as an unlikely criminal. “All of my life, I have been in the business of law and order,” he said. “I believe in public safety and responsible behaviour.” Lacombe said he broke the gun law because he doesn’t believe in it, and he wants others to do the same. “Only soldiers and policemen have the right to carry guns, so you farmers and hunters have no rights,” he said. “Everyone has the right to defend his property.” Lacombe said the government’s purpose in imposing a gun registry law was to reduce crime rates. But he feels it is targeting the wrong people. “Duck hunters aren’t criminals,” he said. Lacombe’s plan was to take action to fight Bill C-68. He armed those in attendance at the rally last week with letters of protest to sign and send to their MLAs. Lacombe and the CCFD will continue pushing their cause in the months ahead. They’re planning more rallies for the summer. On April 17, Lacombe has been invited to attend a gun show in Consort and he hopes to find more people there who will send in letters to the government. “I have always been a private person and I don’t belong to any gun group,” he said. “I only speak for myself, and you here tonight.” Based on the March 24 meeting of the Alberta legislature, Lacombe’s cause is winning support. The legislative assembly passed a motion to recommend that the Alberta government urge the Canadian government to introduce amendments to the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code and remove the requirements for the registration of all non-restricted firearms. “The mandatory registration of all non-restricted firearms is an unnecessary intrusion on the property rights and cultural heritage of Albertans, fails to discourage criminal activity involving firearms, and has wasted an enormous amount of money,” said Dave Hancock, Alberta’s minister of justice, when he put forth the motion. Lacombe is optimistic about the future of his case. He has been invited to make a presentation in four other rural communities and the CCFD has received more than 100,000 e-mails from rural people that will be sent to Hancock and the federal government. “They (the provincial government) shouldn’t do Ottawa’s dirty work for them. Ottawa made the bill. They’re having a federal prosecutor act as an agent for the Alberta government,” said Lacombe. “They thought we wouldn’t challenge it.” Lacombe wants to challenge the Firearms Act because he thinks it’s an unjust law, he said. After serving for 27 years in the Canadian military, Lacombe feels he is justified in making a stand now. “I paid my dues,” he said. “I think I have the right to question my government.” Local farmer supports Lacombe At the rally for Oscar Lacombe, hobby farmer Al Bevan from Cherry Grove asked others in the room not to register their guns. He said in October 2002, the RCMP confiscated all 39 of his firearms. The incident was sparked following an earlier event when he and his son were returning home from a football game and encountered a deer on the road. Bevan’s car swerved to miss the deer and ended up in the ditch. “An angry neighbour called the RCMP,” he said. The RCMP officer arrived and noticed two rifles standing propped against the wall in the kitchen and one shotgun by the front door. Eleven days later, the RCMP returned to Bevan’s home with a search warrant and confiscated his firearms. On March 2, 2004, Bevan was charged with unsafe storage of a firearm. He received a $1,000 fine and is not allowed to possess a firearm until 2006, when the chief firearms officer will decide whether he can have his licence back. Bevan said his firearms were licensed, registered and not loaded. He kept rifles in the kitchen because he had a bear problem in the backyard. “The game warden said it was not a problem. I can leave my firearms out all year for a predator,” he said. Bevan is particularly upset because he felt his property was not respected and he felt he was treated unjustly by the RCMP. “I was put in jail,” he said. “I never did a thing wrong.” Bevan thought that an official who understood the circumstances of farmers and hunters would be more receptive. “I wish I was up in front of Judge Demetrick,” he said. Judge D.E. Demetrick, a local judge, has garnered a reputation recently for recognizing the need for those living in rural areas to be able to own a firearm so they can defend themselves against predators. Bevan came to the St. Paul rally to show his support for Lacombe in his mission to have the gun registry abolished. “Somebody has to stand up,” Bevan said.   More info on Oscar Lacombe

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