avid A. Tomlinson is the National President of the National Firearms Association (NFA). He is active as an expert witness, and as a disseminator of the complex firearms related issues. Many of his views, reports, as well as other firearms related information can be accessed at the NFA website.
cancon
if there's a thorn in the NFA's side it must be Bill C-68 - what points of C-68 do you find most offensive?
David A. Tomlinson
The entire Bill, which is one huge problem, all parts interlocked and badly done. It is not possible to "repair" it by putting more "patches on the patches." That is what governmens have been trying for 65 years -- since the defective 1934 law. The NFA proposes scrapping everything and replacing everything with the comprehensive Practical Firearms Control System.
cancon
has C-68 been all bad, or has it helped to unite the NFA membership?
David A. Tomlinson
It has helped enormously in the NFA's task of welding the entire firearms community into one huge voting bloc with a high percentage of activists. The firearms community is now COURTED by our wiser politicians.
cancon
your American counterpart, the National Rifle Association, has Charlton
Heston as their First Vice President- if Canada was to have a celebrity
figurehead, who do you think would be a likely candidate?
David A. Tomlinson
That is useless in Canada, because our governments do not respond to public opinions or pressure. We have to fight IN THE COURTS using their own law against them. Remember what percentage of Canadians supported enactment of the GST legislation? Remember how much their ill-will affected our CLOG?
cancon
you sign your email with "CLOG: all Conservative or Liberal Ottawa Governments"- please explain what exactly this means.
David A. Tomlinson
You got fed up with Kim Campbell's Conservatives and threw them out, ending Kimmie's attacks on the firearms community. Then the Chretien Liberals took power -- and did exactly what the Campbell Conservatives had done before them -- attacked the firearms community. Throw the Chretien Liberals out and replace them with the Joe Clark Conservatives, and they will continue to attack the firearms community. Those are not two Parties -- they are ONE Party with two faces, and too many of us have been conned into believing that changing from one to the other will make a difference. It will not. They both form CLOGs.
cancon
what do you see as one of the most pressing firearms-related issues right now?
David A. Tomlinson
Sinking C-68-Titanic.
cancon
things are now at the point where gun sellers have to ask buyers to go through the Miramichi-based Firearms Centre, where the firearm is registered in a federal database. what do you think about this process?
David A. Tomlinson
That process is illegal. It criminalizes the seller, the buyer and the official who counsels them to get involved in it. We will shortly be PROVING that -- in a court of law.
cancon
as you note on the NFA site, "crime" is something that can be difficult to define. how do you personally define "crime."
David A. Tomlinson
Any behavior that deliberately, or by criminal negligence, seriously threatens or actually damages an Absolute Right. An Absolute Right is your right, under British common law, to your personal security, personal liberty or personal property. Under personal security, it is a crime to kill you, injure you, give you a disease, or otherwise physically harm you. Under personal liberty, it is a crime to imprison you, chain you to a rock, or forbid you to move to Moose Jaw. Under personal property, it is a crime to steal it, destroy it, damage it, paint it or move it without your permission.
You have those three -- and ONLY those three -- Absolute Rights. If you have them, you are free -- because no one can threaten or damage them, and how else can someone force you to do a thing you do not want to do? If you deliberately violate someone else's Absolute Right, that is a crime. Crime is punished by damaging or removing one or more of the Absolute Rights of the criminal -- because there is no OTHER way to punish a criminal, and hopefully make him see that crime is not worth the punishment. Go ahead -- TRY and come up with an effective punishment that does NOT damage an Absolute Right.
cancon
do you agree with the notion that today's youth is getting more violent? why do you feel this is so?
David A. Tomlinson
Certainly. Because the unfavorable consequences of violent CRIMINAL behavior are constantly being reduced and the unfavorable results of NON-criminal villent behavior (self-protection) are constantly being increased. There is now practically no chance that an average victim can -- legally -- successfully defend herself. That sort of legislation ALWAYS leads to increased confrontational crime, because it protects the criminal -- and NOT the victim.
cancon
i've read the interesting materials you've posted on the NFA site on such issues as search warrants and police raids- why do you think we are so ill-informed on so many of our basic rights?
David A. Tomlinson
Because the authorities have no interest in TEACHING us those rights. If we knew them, that would reduce the power of the authorities as THEY were forced to obey the law.
cancon
scenario: i am a homeowner who keeps a registered firearm in the house.
there is an armed intruder one night, shots are exchanged, and the intruder is dead on my kitchen floor. what should i do?
David A. Tomlinson
If you think that is even a POSSIBILITY -- and it is -- LEARN the LAW
regarding such actions. For example, are you aware of the POWER of shouting "You are under arrest!" BEFORE you shoot? If you are not, lock up your firearm until you LEARN the LAW.
- Call an ambulance for him. Do that FIRST -- YOU are not qualified to pronounce him dead., and it sounds so good in court. Saving life is always more important than notifying the police.
- Call the police, give your name and address, and tell them that an armed, home-invader criminal invaded your home. Then WRITE DOWN THE TIME and HANG UP -- whether they tell you to or not. You NEED to make the next calls BEFORE the police arrive.
- Phone your lawyer, and tell him you need him.
- Phone the news media, and tell them "A criminal invaded my home, and has been shot. Give your name and address, then HANG UP.
- When you hear the police arrive, UNLOAD your firearm and PUT IT DOWN. You do not want to be shot by a nervous police officer who thinks YOU are the armed home invader. WRITE DOWN THE TIME when they arrive. That, plus the time you wrote down in 2 above, are valuable evidence that the police cannot and do not PROTECT your home and family because they cannot come fast enough to do that.
- Then SHUT UP. Do NOT give any information until your lawyer is PRESENT. If you have to wait in a cell until he gets up in the morning, so be it. YOU do not know what it is safe to say, and what it is NOT safe to say -- so WAIT for your lawyer to get there.
- TELL YOUR LAWYER THE TRUTH. Lying to your lawyer is a fool's game.
cancon
you have been involved in a lot of legal struggles, sometimes acting as an expert witness, sometimes providing over the phone legal advice- is there any one case or incident that has been particularly memorable?
David A. Tomlinson
No. There have been many.
cancon
a lot of people think that if more of us could carried firearms there would be less incidences of armed individuals walking into public areas and killing innocent people. do you agree with this thinking?
David A. Tomlinson
Yes and no. Only those who are properly trained and screened should be allowed to do that. THINK -- how many people do YOU know that you would not trust to carry a concealed loaded handgun? The NFA advocates that it should be allowable -- but ONLY for a person who meets all the same relevant standards as an RCMP constable.
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