On November 6, 2020, gang thugs in one vehicle fired over 30 bullets from their illegally-possessed guns into another vehicle on Jane Street near Strong Court. While some of those bullets hit their intended targets – the occupants of the second vehicle – at least one found its way into Dante Andreatta Marroquin, an innocent 12-year-old boy walking down the street with his … [Read more...]
Matthew Marty Powder: Firearms Prohibition Order Violator Killed by Police
On July 26, 2019, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) issued a warning to the public that Matthew Marty Powder, a high-risk violent offender, was released from custody. On September 18, 2020, following a confrontation with police, Matthew Marty Powder was shot and killed by members of the Edmonton Police Service when he challenged them while holding a loaded firearm. Powder … [Read more...]
The American Firearm Prohibition Order System is Broken Too
While I devote thousands of words every month to the colossal failure that is Canada's firearm prohibition order system, keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals and domestic abusers isn't a purely Canadian problem. Case in point: 28-year-old Davante Doss from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Davante Doss is banned from possessing firearms until 2026 because of: a … [Read more...]
Marc Anthony Lerat: Another Firearm Prohibition Order System Failure
Marc Anthony Lerat is a violent, repeat offender with a lifetime firearms prohibition order against him. This prohibition did not stop Marc Lerat from illegally obtaining a .22 calibre rifle and ammunition for it, nor did it stop him from carrying the loaded rifle with him as he made his way around Regina. On September 7th or 8th (news reports are unclear) Regina Provincial … [Read more...]
BC Judge Rescinds Lifetime Firearms Prohibition Order
On December 2, 2019, The Honourable Mr. Justice Marchand vacated Terence Scott Fehr's lifetime firearm prohibition order. (The ruling was only published on CANLII.org last week, hence my not writing about it earlier.) The revocation of his lifetime firearms prohibition order was the last hurdle in Terence Fehr's dream of becoming an RCMP constable. You may initially be … [Read more...]
Adam Pichette: 5 Firearm Prohibition Orders Can’t Stop Him from Getting a Gun
Adam Pichette is the latest in a long line of exhibits proving Canada's Firearm Prohibition Order system is broken. To quote Paul Cherry of the Montreal Gazette, "The man arrested following the police shooting in the Old Port during the weekend does not appear to concern himself with firearm legislation. At the time of his arrest, he was subject to five different … [Read more...]
Firearm Prohibition Order Imposed After Nasty Breakup
On August 21, 2020, Newfoundland Provincial Court Judge Wayne Gorman issued a 4-year firearms prohibition order against a man identified only as Mr. AP (R. v A.P, 2020 58652) even though the Crown only sought a 2-year prohibition. “I have concluded that this is an appropriate case for the issuing of a section 111 Criminal Code prohibition. I have reached this conclusion … [Read more...]
Alberta Man Charged with Trafficking 3D Printed Firearm Parts
On August 18, 2020, 53-year-old Dan Forsyth was arrested and his home was searched. He now faces 11 criminal charges including two for firearms trafficking. On September 3rd, 2020, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) issued a press release about Forsyth's arrest in Picture Butte, Alberta, a small town 30 kms north of Lethbridge. “Make no mistake, printing 3D … [Read more...]
Robert Gordon Heltman: Another FPO Reoffender Running Free
Robert Gordon Heltman is currently the subject of a nationwide manhunt after he breached the conditions of his latest statutory release, and for violating his lifetime Firearm Prohibition Order. On August 19, 2020, North Okanagan RCMP suspected Heltman was in Vernon, British Columbia, and evacuated nearby residents of a home on Brooks Lane. “Given the high-risk situation … [Read more...]
Brodie Curtis Young: RCMP Screwup Sets Another Career Criminal With a Firearms Prohibition Order Free
Colour me shocked that our broken firearms prohibition order system failed to stop career criminal Brodie Curtis Young from illegally obtaining a gun and ammunition for it. That's bad, but after RCMP constables violated Young's Charter rights, the entire case against him was tossed out so as not to bring the administration of justice into disrepute. The July 23, 2020, … [Read more...]
Violent N.B. Drug Dealer Nicholas Bain Finally Arrested
It took them three months, but New Brunswick RCMP finally got their man. On August 11, 2020, a search warrant was executed at a home on Main Street in Sackville as part of the investigation. Nicholas Bain was located and arrested without incident. Bain was finally arrested after evading the RCMP for 84 days. The arrest warrant for Nick Bain, a violent career criminal with … [Read more...]
At What Point Do We Deny Bail to Repeat Offenders?
NOTE: See my previous commentaries on Darian Henderson-Bellman's tragic death here and here. On Tuesday, July 28, 2020, Darian Henderson-Bellman was murdered, shot dead in the ultimate act of domestic violence. Her alleged murderer, Darnell Reid, was out on bail despite violating a restraining order barring him from contacting Ms. Henderson-Bellman. He … [Read more...]
December 22, 2005: The Day Gun Rights Died in Canada
![R. v. Wiles [2005] The Day Gun Rights Died in Canada](https://christopherdiarmani.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/R-v-Wiles-2005-The-Day-Gun-Rights-Died-in-Canada-150x150.jpg)
Quash: to suppress or extinguish summarily and completely; to nullify, especially by judicial action On December 22, 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against drug dealer Philip Neil Wiles and, in so doing, quashed the right of Canadians to possess firearms. [P]ossession and use of firearms is not a right or freedom guaranteed under the Charter, but a privilege. … [Read more...]
Darian Henderson-Bellman: A Cautionary Tale of Domestic Abuse and Murder
Yesterday's commentary overflowed with my anger at our current Liberal government for their failure to fix Canada's Firearm Prohibition Order system. That failure, or more accurately this government's flat-out refusal to fix this broken system cost Darian Hailey Henderson-Bellman her life. In today's commentary I dig deeper into the story of her senseless murder. I do so … [Read more...]
Darian Henderson-Bellman: Murdered Because of Another Firearm Prohibition Order Failure
On Tuesday, July 28, 2020, Darian Henderson-Bellman was murdered, shot dead in the ultimate act of domestic violence. Instead of enjoying this August long weekend with family and friends, Darian Hailey Henderson-Bellman, the beautiful 25-year-old shown here, is dead because our government refuses to take seriously the threat of violent repeat offenders already prohibited … [Read more...]
ACT New Zealand Says Firearm Prohibition Order Bill Needs an Overhaul
ACT New Zealand promotes free markets, free ideas, personal responsibility and personal accountability – all those principles progressive, virtue-signalling governments oppose - and while they support the concept philosophically, the current bill needs a lot more work before they can support it further. “We fully support the intention of going after the gangs and illegal … [Read more...]
Repeat Offender: Cameron Robert Vail is Reason #262 to Reform Canada’s Firearm Prohibition Order System
Canada's Firearm Prohibition Order system is broken. The latest evidence to make my case? Repeat offender Cameron Robert Vail. In February 2018, Cameron Robert Vail was convicted of assault and sentenced to probation. One of his sentencing conditions was a 5-year Firearm Prohibition Order. On January 25, 2020, Cameron Robert Vail was arrested and charged with assault … [Read more...]
Why do Criminals Go Free When Police Screw Up?
In response to my Friday column Cops Screw Up: Drug Dealer Jermaine Barrows-Taylor Escapes Illegal Handgun Conviction, one reader shared his frustration with this case specifically, as well as these types of cases in general. I do not understand why police screwups result in criminals going free. If police illegally search a vehicle and find a body, does the driver get a … [Read more...]
Cops Screw Up: Drug Dealer Jermaine Barrows-Taylor Escapes Illegal Handgun Conviction
On February 20, 2020, Justice Timothy Lipson acquitted Jermaine Barrows-Taylor of all firearm-related charges, but accepted his guilty plea for drug trafficking. At the time of his arrest for a violation of the Highway Traffic Act on August 26, 2018, Jermaine Barrows-Taylor was under a Firearms Prohibition Order and his driver’s licence was revoked. When Toronto Police … [Read more...]
Reform Canada’s Broken Firearm Prohibition Order System
NOTE: This is an excerpt from my 45-page Special Report "Designed to Fail: Canada’s Broken Firearm Prohibition Order System and How to Fix It." In the pages ahead I will make the case for a new firearm prohibition order system – one modeled after the United Kingdom’s Management of Sexual and Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) Units. Unlike Canada, … [Read more...]