MicroBalrog
New member
U.S. gun lobbyist here to `counsel'
Canadian shooting group enlists NRA
Official denies interfering with election
Dec. 3, 2005. 01:00 AM
BETSY POWELL
CRIME REPORTER
The National Rifle Association, arguably the most powerful lobby group in the United States, has been enlisted to help shore up the influence of the Canadian gun lobby during the federal election campaign — something opponents say smacks of foreign interference and is indicative of the NRA's widening influence around the globe.
Glen Caroline, director of the NRA's grassroots division, is a keynote speaker and is giving a seminar today in Scarborough at the general meeting of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, an umbrella organization of recreational firearms groups. It has 10,000 members.
The association invited Caroline to tap into the NRA's 135-year-old expertise "on grassroots lobbying ... basically (help to) increase the presence, how to help our candidates. They're not coming up here to interfere with the election or tell us who to vote for, they're just telling us how to become more politically active," Larry Whitmore, the association's director of sport development, said yesterday.
"We as firearms owners have not been very good at protecting our rights with the government because we're just not organized enough and we thought we would learn from the best."
But Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, said she's astonished by the blatancy of the NRA's involvement because the group's influence in jurisdictions outside the United States, while well known to people who monitor gun control issues, is not as familiar to the public at large.
"I don't think the average Canadian understands how powerful the gun lobby is," in opposing attempts to block tightening of gun control legislation and bans on handgun sales, the Ryerson professor said.
"It is ironic because it's three days before the anniversary of the Montreal massacre, it's in Toronto where most people are currently preoccupied with trying to prevent gun violence."
The NRA has a well-established tradition of "interfering" in other countries, Alun Howard, of the International Action Network on Small Arms, said yesterday by phone from London, England. "We've seen them working in Central America ... their arguments have appeared in England and Australia, so it's certainly a worrying trend that the NRA has gone global."
Most recently, the NRA's influence was credited — or blamed, depending on your viewpoint — with influencing the outcome of Brazil's national referendum in October on a proposal to ban the sale of guns.
In a country with one of the world's highest firearm murder rates, the proposal was soundly rejected.
NRA public affairs director Andrew Arulanandam said yesterday that the organization is only too happy to provide "counsel" to organizations in other countries to help ensure that "gun rights" prevail around the world, adding "we're really heartened with what happened in Brazil."
The NRA was approached because members belonging to the association share its underlying mantra: that gun control laws don't work, criminals don't obey the law, and the only people affected by gun control are law-abiding citizens, Whitmore said.
While the association hasn't officially endorsed a party, it likely will this weekend.
Additional articles by Betsy Powell
Canadian shooting group enlists NRA
Official denies interfering with election
Dec. 3, 2005. 01:00 AM
BETSY POWELL
CRIME REPORTER
The National Rifle Association, arguably the most powerful lobby group in the United States, has been enlisted to help shore up the influence of the Canadian gun lobby during the federal election campaign — something opponents say smacks of foreign interference and is indicative of the NRA's widening influence around the globe.
Glen Caroline, director of the NRA's grassroots division, is a keynote speaker and is giving a seminar today in Scarborough at the general meeting of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, an umbrella organization of recreational firearms groups. It has 10,000 members.
The association invited Caroline to tap into the NRA's 135-year-old expertise "on grassroots lobbying ... basically (help to) increase the presence, how to help our candidates. They're not coming up here to interfere with the election or tell us who to vote for, they're just telling us how to become more politically active," Larry Whitmore, the association's director of sport development, said yesterday.
"We as firearms owners have not been very good at protecting our rights with the government because we're just not organized enough and we thought we would learn from the best."
But Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, said she's astonished by the blatancy of the NRA's involvement because the group's influence in jurisdictions outside the United States, while well known to people who monitor gun control issues, is not as familiar to the public at large.
"I don't think the average Canadian understands how powerful the gun lobby is," in opposing attempts to block tightening of gun control legislation and bans on handgun sales, the Ryerson professor said.
"It is ironic because it's three days before the anniversary of the Montreal massacre, it's in Toronto where most people are currently preoccupied with trying to prevent gun violence."
The NRA has a well-established tradition of "interfering" in other countries, Alun Howard, of the International Action Network on Small Arms, said yesterday by phone from London, England. "We've seen them working in Central America ... their arguments have appeared in England and Australia, so it's certainly a worrying trend that the NRA has gone global."
Most recently, the NRA's influence was credited — or blamed, depending on your viewpoint — with influencing the outcome of Brazil's national referendum in October on a proposal to ban the sale of guns.
In a country with one of the world's highest firearm murder rates, the proposal was soundly rejected.
NRA public affairs director Andrew Arulanandam said yesterday that the organization is only too happy to provide "counsel" to organizations in other countries to help ensure that "gun rights" prevail around the world, adding "we're really heartened with what happened in Brazil."
The NRA was approached because members belonging to the association share its underlying mantra: that gun control laws don't work, criminals don't obey the law, and the only people affected by gun control are law-abiding citizens, Whitmore said.
While the association hasn't officially endorsed a party, it likely will this weekend.
Additional articles by Betsy Powell