For example...
"Three months before the incident, Mr. Paredes had purchased his legally registered Baby Desert Eagle pistol after taking courses at a shooting range."The Globe's Tu Thanh Ha seems to imply that obtaining a handgun simply involves showing up & learning how to load your gun... like taking a cooking class at your local community college.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Back when I was involved with shooting sports, you had to, one... go through police checks before you could even get a Firearms Acquisition Certificate. That FAC would allow you to purchase a rifle or a shotgun.
Two... if you wanted a handgun qualification, it was an entirely separate process that involved joining a gun club and going through ten weeks of observation, training & testing. If you didn't pass the tests, or the club instructors didn't like what they saw... you didn't qualify.
I'm guessing, if anything, the process has been tightened up in the last 25 years.
Tu goes on to say...
"He conceded he broke several gun-handling rules: He transported his gun loaded with the safety off. He took it downtown. He had a holster even though he wasn't licensed to use one."No Tu... he didn't break "several gun-handling rules"... he broke the law of the land.
Even after you qualify to own a handgun, you are only allowed to transport it, in a locked case separate from any ammunition... straight to a licensed firing range, or a shooting competition... period. There are no licenses for holsters... and carry-permits in Canada are virtually unknown for private citizens.
Edward Paredes, having been through the process, knew all this. The fact that he had a loaded gun in a holster at all outside of a licensed firing range is all the proof the Crown needs of his intent that night.
I'm sure all legal gun owners would join with me in condemning the criminal activity of Mr. Paredes... and would say, "use a gun, you're done."
Lock this murderer up.
