Meet a group of legal firearms owners who feel they’ve become target practice for soft-on-crime politicians who don’t know what to do about the crisis of rising gun violence in Toronto.
They’re the members of the Toronto Revolver Club, who practice their target shooting at a compact range tucked away in East York, which I visited last Wednesday night.
I took them up on their invitation to see what they do and how they feel about Mayor John Tory’s (and city council’s) call in July for a ban on handgun and ammunition sales in Toronto.
Tory’s chief opponent, Jennifer Keesmaat, backs a ban, too.
They tell me they’ve regularly been snubbed over the years by their councillor, Janet Davis, who is retiring after the Oct. 22 election. Club members have also repeatedly invited Tory to come, to no avail.
It was competition night and members were quietly moving in and out of the main meeting area to the firing line where they were testing their abilities to hit a paper bull’s-eye — using flat lead bullets from 18-metres away (they recycle their cartridges and make their own ammunition).
Past president Sav (who didn’t want his last name used for fear of repercussions from his neighbours, protesters or thieves) said theirs is the oldest gun club in Canada with about 240 members, ranging in age from 93 to 18.
Inside the range, I was given earphones and safety glasses for protection from the noise and stray casings.
Sav said they’re very concerned about the gun ban, first of all because many of the facts being used to support the controversial measure are “very misleading.”
He said the contention that 50% of all guns taken off the streets of Toronto were legally purchased in this country is “B.S.
“If my gun was used in the commission of a crime, it would be traced back to me and I’d be in more trouble than the person who committed the crime,” he said.
“It’s heavily regulated … criminals do not register their guns,” he said, insisting most of the guns used by gangs here in Toronto still come from the United States.
They’ve been in their current location since 1954, he said, and 10 years ago the membership was opened to women.
Their members include active and retired cops, doctors, ministers, engineers, architects, financial planners, and provincial and national target shooting champions.
“They enjoy the competition and camaraderie,” he said.
Sav says there’s a very “rigorous” process to first get a licence through the RCMP, that pistols have to be stored in a locked location at home and transported without ammo in a locked carrying case to a federally-approved range.
They must also be approved by the club itself. References, a police report, completion of a safety course and a training program are all required, including six sessions where newbies are monitored on the firing line.
After all that — which takes about six months to complete –only one in three actually make it as members.
Maxine Powers (not her real name) says there are cameras outside the club and members are escorted when they leave.
“Safety is something we take very seriously,” she said, noting that if members don’t obey the rules, they’re gone.
She’s been a member for five years and finds it “addictive” to compete against herself.
“It’s a sport you can excel in the older you get,” Powers said.
Sav reiterated before I departed that taking away legally registered guns is not only a “knee-jerk reaction” by the politicians but that it would “solve nothing.
“It’s all political posturing … and we’re the scapegoat,” he said.
“Show me Chief (Mark) Saunders an incident involving a legal gun.”
Please share this
No comments:
Post a Comment