From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   Seems Mr Harper knew - but refused to take action - on this very serious   
   issue.  After all, big election was coming up and the Canadian gun lobby was   
   financing a whole lot of his campaign.     
      
   Now we know that the RCMP Commissioner, Bob Paulson, was concerned about   
   rifles being converted to automatic weapons - and reported this concern to   
   Harper's Cons.  They did nothing.   
      
   Now it's up to the 'concerned Trudeau government' to take action.  Let's see   
   if they also rely on gun lobby funding. . . .   
   ______________________________________   
   CBC News Posted: Jan 15, 2016   
      
   Rifles converted to automatic fire an increasing risk, RCMP internal report   
   warns   
      
   Tests on 11 types of rifles and 1 pistol suggest many can be turned into fully   
   automatic weapons   
      
   The number of military-style firearms that can be temporarily jury-rigged to   
   become automatic weapons has increased "dramatically" in Canada over the last   
   decade -- and so has the public-safety risk.   
      
   That's the stark conclusion of an internal RCMP laboratory report on   
   improvised methods for upgrading semi-automatic weapons, and for illegally   
   altering magazine clips to allow for rapid continuous fire.   
      
   The lab report notes that Criminal Code regulations designed to thwart   
   makeshift upgrades may not apply to newer generations of weapons, creating a   
   legal void.   
      
   "The restricted and prohibited firearm provisions of Criminal Code regulations   
   were last updated in 1995, and there are presently numerous models of military   
   and paramilitary firearms on the Canadian market which are outside the scope   
   of the Criminal    
   Code regulations, many being non-restricted in classification," says the   
   15-page report.   
      
   "The Canadian introduction of new types of military and paramilitary firearms   
   not mentioned in the Criminal Code regulations, nearly all with large capacity   
   magazines sizes, started circa 2005 and has accelerated since."   
      
   "The public safety threat posed by improvised conversion to full automatic   
   fire has correspondingly increased."   
      
   A heavily censored version of the internal report, dated November 2014, was   
   obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act.   
      
   CBC News has previously reported on the RCMP's concerns about improvised   
   assault-weapon upgrades, an issue raised by RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson   
   directly with then public safety minister Steven Blaney last year.  But the   
   detailed Mountie lab work    
   documenting the issue was released only in the last week.   
      
   Last summer, Blaney rejected legislative changes to close any regulatory gap,   
   saying the current law was sufficient.     
      
   The Conservative government also passed Bill C-42 giving cabinet -- not the   
   RCMP -- the final say about which weapons to restrict or ban, after the   
   Mounties were slapped down for trying to get a popular semi-automatic   
   withdrawn from Canada.   
      
      
   Some rifles could be banned   
      
   But the new Liberal government has promised to "put decision-making about   
   weapons restrictions back into the hands of police, not politicians," raising   
   the possibility the RCMP may yet be able to get some semi-automatics taken off   
   the market.   
      
   A Mountie spokesman, Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer, would not say whether the RCMP is   
   pressing the new Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to act on the issue.    
   "The RCMP does not comment on the advice it provides to the minister," he said   
   in an email.   
      
   A spokesman for Goodale reiterated the Liberal government's commitment to get   
   "assault weapons off our streets," but said consultations are needed first.   
      
   "We will work with all levels of government, our stakeholders and the Canadian   
   Firearms Advisory Committee to move forward on this commitment," said Scott   
   Bardsley.   
      
   Among the Liberals' election commitments is to broaden membership of the   
   firearms committee to include representatives of women's groups and   
   public-health advocates.  Critics have said the committee is stacked with gun   
   proponents.   
      
   The RCMP lab tested 11 models of rifles and one pistol, including the weapon   
   used by Marc Lepine in the 1989 Montreal massacre and the semi-automatic used   
   by Justin Bourque in the 2014 Mountie shootings in Moncton, N.B.   
      
   The testing was prompted by Bourque's statement to police that he had   
   considered using an improvised technique to turn his rifle into an automatic   
   weapon.   
      
   The report says more than 1,200 test shots were fired between July and   
   November 2014, using a technique that is "widely reported on the internet   
   complete with installation and fitting instructions."   The name of the   
   technique is blacked out in the    
   documents, but has been known in gun circles for decades, and information   
   about at least one other technique also circulates.   
      
      
   New firearms on market   
      
   The Criminal Code regulations in the 1990s effectively protected against any   
   upgrades "by taking the firearms most practical for conversion to full   
   automatic fire off the civilian market," says the document, authored by Murray   
   A. Smith, manager with the    
   RCMP Canadian Firearms Program.   
      
   "Thus, the public safety risk posed by improvised conversion techniques was   
   largely negated and rendered moot, and not requiring much police attention."   
      
   But the proliferation of new firearms since 2005 has increased the risk to the   
   public, augmented by the availability of new magazines.   
      
   "Large capacity magazines are widely available for the military and   
   paramilitary firearms, and although limited in capacity by law and generally   
   reduced to five shots by a pin or similar modification, the original capacity   
   is typically readily restorable.   
   "   
      
   "The materials required for improvised full automatic fire are ordinary   
   everyday products."   
      
   Upgrading any weapon to fully automatic status is clearly prohibited by   
   Section 102(1) of the Criminal Code, with prison terms of up to 10 years.     
      
   But Smith's report raises questions about the current effectiveness of   
   20-year-old Criminal Code regulations as they apply to newer weapons shown in   
   lab tests to be "amenable to the improvised full automatic fire technique."   
      
      
       Thousands of stolen guns make Alberta unsafe   
       Man sentenced for obsessive gun collection   
       Tighter gun rules urged   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)