Why? Of Aurora, Dawson, Pink Angels, Gun Control & the Harper Government

In remembrance and tribute to those who have been injured or killed in Aurora, Colorado--and because I have just read Jan Wong's Out of the Blue, bringing the Dawson College shooting to the forefront of my thoughts--I offer this encore presentation of this blog post, with the following thought:

The dead are still dead. The gun registry has been killed in Canada. Our federal government, which has muzzled public scientists, lied to us repeatedly (e.g. about the opinion of StatsCan's chief on proposed changes to the Census long form), seems to believe we are the new Texas--all about oil, beef, worshipping warrior culture, guns, and manly men. Truth is, Canada is so much more than that.

To you Americans still convinced that more guns will make them safer, and the misguided Canadians who feel the same way, I offer this chart, recently seen on Facebook:

Guns don't kill people: people kill people--with guns!!

What I'd like to say to the women of the world, especially, is that we must take back the power we have allowed others to wield on our behalf. We must become more politically active and demand MORE gun control.  

Why is all this firepower be so readily accessible to the unfortunate few who lose their grip on reality?


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Five years later…

Photo credit: Peter McCabe, The Canadian Press

First off, I think today is a day for offering our condolences to the De Sousa family, and our best wishes for healing to them especially, and

to anyone who was hurt at Dawson College five years back. I’ve learned a bit more about Anastasia De Sousa the past couple of days, from a website called “mypinkangel.com,” created and maintained by Lucie Bouchard Antoniazzi. Ms. De Sousa had had a hard time while growing up because she had asthma and scoliosis. She was treated—amazingly well treated—at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. When she was 14, she underwent a gruelling six hour operation to straighten her spine. Steel rods, the whole works. It was painful and difficult. The first time she got out of bed after the surgery, she was 3 inches taller.

I mean, that girl suffered.

And everyone knows that means her whole family suffered with her. And after recovering from all that—her breathing eased because her spine no longer pressed on her lungs--she’s shot to death by some mentally ill guy who had unbelievably easy access to guns. [For more in this sadly ironic vein, please see "Colorado shooting victim narrowly missed Eaton Centre Shooting"]

Nineteen people shot, thousands terrified, their sense of safety shattered. I’m sure I feel the way all Montrealers feel in wishing the De Sousa’s all the best in the future. But I think they and the entire Dawson community are also owed an apology.

You know, I was struck by today’s front page stories about that kidnapped 3-year old in BC. The boy’s father is in the papers saying, “The judge and the system failed us.” I’ve been thinking about that—“The system failed us.”

Because I think our federal gun laws failed us. I think they failed Anastasia De Sousa and her family.

I’m not even talking now about the gun registry, which I support. I have a more basic question. Why was the Dawson College shooter—I don’t even like to say his name--able to amass all that firepower?

With official government permission.

Why?

For what purpose? A young, troubled, unemployed guy…I mean, the guy had 4 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition with him that day…I’ll say it again, why did our society allow it? Why did our government allow it? Why do we treat guns like cameras?

I started writing in favour of gun control in 2006, and I haven’t stopped. On a day like today, I’m also thinking about the late Stephanie Hoddinott. Stephanie Hoddinott was wonderful 20-year-old woman with her whole life ahead of her. She had a 4.0 GPA in her veterinarian technician program, was smart, beautiful, and well-loved. On January 10th, 2010, she was murdered in her home by an ex-boyfriend who had legally purchased a handgun—supposedly for target-shooting. That ex-boyfriend then killed himself.

I mean, an 18 year old is too young to buy beer in Ontario. But he can buy a gun.

Why is that? Why do we put up with it?

The De Sousa family has helped set up The Pink Angel Fund to help combat asthma and scoliosis. They’re also trying to build a memorial room in the hospital (called a Best Care Unit) in order to help and inspire patients struggling with the same medical issues she struggled with.

The Pink Angel Fund is holding a gala on September 24^th; Premier Charest and his wife Mme. Michele Dionne are Patrons of Honour at the gala. You can buy a ticket or make a donation on Ms. De Sousa’s behalf.

I was very touched to hear about this. This family has lost so much but they find solace in thinking of...helping...others.

So that’s what I’m thinking of on this day: the grace of the De Sousa family in reaching out to help others who suffer. And I’m asking myself why we allow anybody to get a gun…I know there are hoops people have to go through to buy them. But if Marc Lepine, Valery Fabrikant, and Kimveer Gill could jump through them so easily, they’re obviously not set high enough.

The Public Safety Minister has a firearms advisory committee. The day after the Dawson shootings, a member of the committee, Tony Bernardo of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action told the Canadian Press, “To be perfectly honest it's a lot of fun to shoot.” He also owns a Beretta CX4 Storm. He repeated the comment at last year’s parliamentary committee hearings on Bill C-391, the law proposing to destroy the gun registry. He made the comment in front of Anastasia De Sousa’s mother, Ms. Louise De Sousa, and Ms. Suzanne Laplante-Edward, mother of Anne-Marie, a victim of the Polytechnique massacre. They had been announced as being in attendance.

I think our government has a lot to apologize for.

The Dawson College Peace Garden (CBC News)

RIP Stephanie Hoddinott: Sad Second Anniversary of Preventable Murder

As part of an homage to those killed and injured last year in Tuscon, while Rep. Gabrielle Giffords lay in intensive care, I re-ran some of my previous gun control-related posts. This piece coincided with the tragic anniversary of the murder of Stephanie Hoddinott. This sad event occurred in Canada, a place with relatively stringent gun control, compared to the United States of gunhappy America.


Still, our laws are clearly not stringent enough, as her disturbed, estranged boyfriend was able to obtain a handgun for "target practice."


Unfortunately, the target was Stephanie. And how much practice is necessary to shoot someone point blank, anyway?


Here is a revamped version of my piece, which originally appeared in The Toronto Star:

It's been just over a year since another senseless handgun-related murder, the case of Stephanie Hoddinott, a 20-year-old woman. Stephanie had a 4.0 GPA in her veterinarian technician program, was smart, beautiful, and well-loved. On January 10th, 2010, she was murdered in her home by an ex-boyfriend who had legally purchased a handgun—supposedly for target-shooting. The crime has understandably devasted her mother, Brenda Passa: “Stephanie wasn’t just my daughter, she was my sister, and my best friend.”


The young man, Jake Ferrier, shot himself in the head almost immediately afterward, lingering several days on life support before succumbing to his self-inflicted injuries.


In a letter to Mr. Harper, Ms. Passa wonders why we permit so many guns in our society, since the vast majority of Canadians are no longer required to hunt for subsistence.


What she finds hardest to understand is why, in her province, an 18-year-old isn’t considered mature enough to legally buy a case of beer, but IS permitted to own a handgun.


It only takes one pull of the trigger to separate the law abiding citizen from the law breaking criminal, she says, pointing out that Canada's handgun restrictions haven't been updated since 1930.


Times have changed, she says: “Being 18 in 1930 is not like being 18 in 2010. Children live with their parents longer; they are younger emotionally and need time to develop before dangerous weapons”  are made available.


She wants Canada's Prime Minister to change the age limits for gun ownership. And she wants target shooters to have their weapons confined to shooting ranges.

“I hope no one ever has to endure what I went through,” she says.
On January 10^th last year, Jake texted Stephanie repeatedly (he had texted her 40 times the day before). She didn’t respond, so he showed up at Passa's house. Stephanie's mom met him at the door to say her daughter wouldn’t see him.


He said, “Not even for two minutes?” and Ms. Passa told him, “No, not even for two minutes, Jake. I’m sorry, I can’t make her.” She shut the door.


“I liked him,” Ms. Passa says.


She feels nobody who knew him would have predicted what happened next, insisting there had been no warning signs.


But, she notes, he certainly must have lied on the Possession and Acquisition License (PAL), the form that's completed and (supposedly) assessed before a person is permitted to buy a gun.


Ms. Passa says the PAL asks several significant questions. “Guess what?” she says, “the murderer lied on his application.” Jake Ferrier’s parents were in the midst of a divorce, and he had also recently broken up with Stephanie, facts the form asked for but Jake declined to note. “People are lying on these forms,” she says.


Ms. Passa went to her daughter’s room—Stephanie was packing for Toronto where she’d just started working at U of T (the University issued a heartfelt lament of her passing).


Stephanie had plans for her life: she wanted to attend vet school, and her mother supported her ambitions every step of the way.


On that fateful day last January, her mother asked if Jake had made any threats, but Stephanie said the problem was only his incessant texting. The two women finally decided Ms. Passa would call the young man’s mother to discuss the situation. Ms. Passa decided she'd shower first.


And it was while she was in the shower that she heard two loud bangs.


By the time she threw on her pyjamas and ran to her daughter’s room, Stephanie lay face down on the bed and Ms. Passa’s boyfriend was speaking with 911.


She kept calling her daughter's name but there was no response. Turning the girl over revealed she’d been shot in the head. The 911 technician told Ms. Passa to start CPR. “I blew in her mouth--blood was coming out of her neck and the top of her head. My daughter died in my arms, to the sound of my screaming."


The 911 crew arrived to find her covered in her daughter’s blood.

Ms. Passa is clearly devastated. She has nightmares, she cries every day. She says she herself would legally be permitted to purchase a handgun immediately, asking, “Do you think I am in any state of mind to own a handgun?”


Ms. Passa intends to do everything in her power to toughen the gun laws. She is convinced keeping  guns at shooting ranges would be workable and effective. “Fighting this is the only thing keeping my will to live, that's the only thing I have left now. Stephanie is not dying for nothing.”


Prime Minister Harper, Ms. Passa wants to know, can you help her?


A Facebook page set up by Stephanie’s cousin Tyler Hoddinott, “RIP Stephanie Hoddinott,” has over amassed nearly 4,000 members.

"Y?" Dawson College five years later: the Harper government still owes us an apology

Five years later…

First off, I think today is a day for offering our condolences to the De Sousa family, and our best wishes for healing to them especially, and

Photo credit: Peter McCabe, The Canadian Press

to anyone who was hurt at Dawson College five years back. I’ve learned a bit more about Anastasia De Sousa the past couple of days, from a website called “mypinkangel.com,” created and maintained by Lucie Bouchard Antoniazzi. Ms. De Sousa had had a hard time while growing up because she had asthma and scoliosis. She was treated—amazingly well treated—at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. When she was 14, she underwent a gruelling six hour operation to straighten her spine. Steel rods, the whole works. It was painful and difficult. The first time she got out of bed after the surgery, she was 3 inches taller.

I mean, that girl suffered.

And everyone knows that means her whole family suffered with her. And after recovering from all that—her breathing eased because her spine no longer pressed on her lungs--she’s shot to death by some unwell guy who had unbelievably easy access to guns.

Nineteen people shot, thousands terrified, their sense of safety shattered. I’m sure I feel the way all Montrealers feel in wishing the De Sousa’s all the best in the future. But I think they and the entire Dawson community are also owed an apology.

You know, I was struck by today’s front page stories about that kidnapped 3-year old in BC. The boy’s father is in the papers saying, “The judge and the system failed us.” I’ve been thinking about that—“The system failed us.”

Because I think our federal gun laws failed us. I think they failed Anastasia De Sousa and her family.

I’m not even talking now about the gun registry, which I support. I have a more basic question. Why was the Dawson College shooter—I don’t even like to say his name--able to amass all that firepower? With official government permission.

Why?

For what purpose? A young, troubled, unemployed guy…I mean, the guy had 4 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition with him that day…I’ll say it again, why did our society allow it? Why did our government allow it? Why do we treat guns like cameras?

I started writing in favour of gun control in 2006, and I haven’t stopped. On a day like today, I’m also thinking about the late Stephanie Hoddinott. Stephanie Hoddinott was wonderful 20-year-old woman with her whole life ahead of her. She had a 4.0 GPA in her veterinarian technician program, was smart, beautiful, and well-loved. On January 10th, 2010, she was murdered in her home by an ex-boyfriend who had legally purchased a handgun—supposedly for target-shooting. That ex-boyfriend then killed himself.

I mean, an 18 year old is too young to buy beer in Ontario. But he can buy a gun.

Why is that? Why do we put up with it?

The De Sousa family has helped set up The Pink Angel Fund to help combat asthma and scoliosis. They’re also trying to build a memorial room in the hospital (called a Best Care Unit) in order to help and inspire patients struggling with the same medical issues she struggled with.

The Pink Angel Fund is holding a gala on September 24^th; Premier Charest and his wife Mme. Michele Dionne are Patrons of Honour at the gala. You can buy a ticket or make a donation on Ms. De Sousa’s behalf.

I was very touched to hear about this. This family has lost so much but they find solace in thinking of...helping...others.

So that’s what I’m thinking of on this day: the grace of the De Sousa family in reaching out to help others who suffer. And I’m asking myself why we allow anybody to get a gun…I know there are hoops people have to go through to buy them. But if Marc Lepine, Valery Fabrikant, and Kimveer Gill could jump through them so easily, they’re obviously not set high enough.

The Public Safety Minister has a firearms advisory committee. The day after the Dawson shootings, a member of the committee, Tony Bernardo of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action told the Canadian Press, “To be perfectly honest it's a lot of fun to shoot.” He also owns a Beretta CX4 Storm. He repeated the comment at last year’s parliamentary committee hearings on Bill C-391, the law proposing to destroy the gun registry. He made the comment in front of Anastasia De Sousa’s mother, Ms. Louise De Sousa, and Ms. Suzanne Laplante-Edward, mother of Anne-Marie, a victim of the Polytechnique massacre. They had been announced as being in attendance.

I think our government has a lot to apologize for.

The Dawson College Peace Garden (CBC News)

RIP Stephanie Hoddinott: Sad First Anniversary of Preventable Murder

As part of an homage to those killed and injured recently in Tuscon, where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords still lies in intensive care, I've been re-running some of my previous gun control-related posts. This piece coincides with the tragic anniversary of the murder of Stephanie Hoddinott. This sad event occurred in Canada, a place with relatively stringent gun control, compared to the United States of gunhappy America. Still, our laws are clearly not stringent enough, as her disturbed, estranged boyfriend obtained a handgun for "target practice." Unfortunately, the target was Stephanie. And how much practice is necessary to shoot someone point blank, anyway?

Here is an revamped version of my piece, which originally appeared in The Toronto Star:

It's been just over a year since another senseless handgun-related murder, the case of Stephanie Hoddinott, a 20-year-old woman. Stephanie had a 4.0 GPA in her veterinarian technician program, was smart, beautiful, and well-loved. On January 10th, 2010, she was murdered in her home by an ex-boyfriend who had legally purchased a handgun—supposedly for target-shooting. The crime has understandably devasted her mother, Brenda Passa: “Stephanie wasn’t just my daughter, she was my sister, and my best friend.”

The young man, Jake Ferrier, shot himself in the head almost immediately afterward, lingering several days on life support before succumbing to his self-inflicted injuries.

In a letter to Mr. Harper, Ms. Passa wonders why we permit so many guns in our society, since the vast majority of Canadians are no longer required to hunt for subsistence.

What she finds hardest to understand is why, in her province, an 18-year-old isn’t considered mature enough to legally buy a case of beer, but IS permitted to own a handgun.

It only takes one pull of the trigger to separate the law abiding citizen from the law breaking criminal, she says, pointing out that Canada's handgun restrictions haven't been updated since 1930.

Times have changed, she says: “Being 18 in 1930 is not like being 18 in 2010. Children live with their parents longer; they are younger emotionally and need time to develop before dangerous weapons” are made available.

She wants Canada's Prime Minister to change the age limits for gun ownership. And she wants target shooters to have their weapons confined to shooting ranges.

“I hope no one ever has to endure what I went through,” she says.

On January 10^th last year, Jake texted Stephanie repeatedly (he had texted her 40 times the day before). She didn’t respond, so he showed up at Passa's house. Stephanie's mom met him at the door to say her daughter wouldn’t see him.

He said, “Not even for two minutes?” and Ms. Passa told him, “No, not even for two minutes, Jake. I’m sorry, I can’t make her.” She shut the door.

“I liked him,” Ms. Passa says.

She feels nobody who knew him would have predicted what happened next, insisting there had been no warning signs.

But, she notes, he certainly must have lied on the Possession and Acquisition License (PAL), the form that's completed and (supposedly) assessed before a person is permitted to buy a gun.

Ms. Passa says the PAL asks several significant questions. “Guess what?” she says, “the murderer lied on his application.” Jake Ferrier’s parents were in the midst of a divorce, and he had also recently broken up with Stephanie, facts the form asked for but Jake declined to note. “People are lying on these forms,” she says.

Ms. Passa went to her daughter’s room—Stephanie was packing for Toronto where she’d just started working at U of T (the University issued a heartfelt lament of her passing).

Stephanie had plans for her life: she wanted to attend vet school, and her mother supported her ambitions every step of the way.

On that fateful day last January, her mother asked if Jake had made any threats, but Stephanie said the problem was only his incessant texting. The two women finally decided Ms. Passa would call the young man’s mother to discuss the situation. Ms. Passa decided she'd shower first.

And it was while she was in the shower that she heard two loud bangs.

By the time she threw on her pyjamas and ran to her daughter’s room, Stephanie lay face down on the bed and Ms. Passa’s boyfriend was speaking with 911.

She kept calling her daughter's name but there was no response. Turning the girl over revealed she’d been shot in the head. The 911 technician told Ms. Passa to start CPR. “I blew in her mouth--blood was coming out of her neck and the top of her head. My daughter died in my arms, to the sound of my screaming." The 911 crew arrived to find her covered in her daughter’s blood.

Ms. Passa is clearly devastated. She has nightmares, she cries every day. She says she herself would legally be permitted to purchase a handgun immediately, asking, “Do you think I am in any state of mind to own a handgun?”

Ms. Passa intends to do everything in her power to toughen the gun laws. She is convinced keeping guns at shooting ranges would be workable and effective. “Fighting this is the only thing keeping my will to live, that's the only thing I have left now. Stephanie is not dying for nothing.”

Prime Minister Harper, Ms. Passa wants to know, can you help her?

A Facebook page set up by Stephanie’s cousin Tyler Hoddinott, “RIP Stephanie Hoddinott,” has over amassed nearly 4,000 members.

Of Pardons and Handguns: Mr. Harper, are you listening?

When Prime Minister Harper recently discovered, three years after the fact, that convicted pedophile Graham James had obtained a pardon, the PM was concerned enough to interrupt the Public Safety Minister on Easter Sunday to discuss changing the pardon laws.

Here’s another example of injustice that begs for Prime Ministerial activism: the case of Stephanie Hoddinott, a 20-year-old woman from Midland, Ontario. Stephanie had a 4.0 GPA in her veterinarian technician program, was smart, beautiful, and well-loved. On January 10th, she was murdered in her home by an ex-boyfriend who had legally purchased a handgun—supposedly for target-shooting. Says her mother, Brenda Passa, “Stephanie wasn’t just my daughter, she was my sister, and my best friend.”

The young man, Jake Ferrier, shot himself in the head almost immediately afterward, lingering several days on life support before succumbing.

In a letter to Mr. Harper, Ms. Passa wonders why we permit so many guns in our society since we no longer hunt for food. She can’t understand why, in her province, an 18-year-old isn’t considered mature enough to legally buy a case of beer, but IS permitted to own a handgun. Just one pull of the trigger separates the law abiding citizen from the law breaking criminal, she says, pointing out our handgun restrictions date from 1930. Times have changed: “Being 18 in 1930 is not like being 18 in 2010. Children live with their parents longer; they are younger emotionally and need time to develop before dangerous weapons” are made available.

She wants the Prime Minister to change the age limits for gun ownership, and she wants target shooters to have their weapons confined to shooting ranges.

“I hope no one ever has to endure what I went through,” she says. On January 10th, Jake started texting Stephanie repeatedly (he had texted her 40 times the day before). She didn’t respond; he came to their house. Ms. Passa met him at the door to say Stephanie wouldn’t see him. He said, “Not even for two minutes?” and Ms. Passa told him, “No, not even for two minutes, Jake. I’m sorry, I can’t make her.” She shut the door.

“I liked him,” Ms. Passa says. She feels nobody who knew him would have predicted what happened next, insisting there had been no warning signs. But he did lie on the Possession and Acquisition License (PAL), the form that's completed and (supposedly) assessed before a person is permitted to buy a gun. Ms. Passa says the PAL asks several significant questions. “Guess what?” she says, “the murderer lied on his application.” Jake Ferrier’s parents were in the midst of a divorce, and he had also recently broken up with Stephanie, facts the form asked for but Jake declined to note. “People are lying on these forms,” she says.

Ms. Passa went to her daughter’s room—Stephanie was packing for Toronto where she’d just started working at U of T. Her long-term plan was to attend vet school. Ms. Passa asked if Jake had made any threats. Stephanie said the problem was only that he was texting her incessantly. They finally decided Ms. Passa would call the young man’s mother to discuss the situation. Ms. Passa went to shower first. While in the shower, she heard two loud bangs.

By the time she threw on her pyjamas and ran to her daughter’s room, Stephanie was face down on the bed and Ms. Passa’s boyfriend was speaking with 911. She kept calling Stephanie’s name: no answer. Turning the girl over revealed she’d been shot in the head. The 911 technician told Ms. Passa to start CPR. “I blew in her mouth--blood was coming out of her neck and the top of her head. My daughter died in my arms, to the sound of my screaming." The 911 crew arrived to find her covered in her daughter’s blood.

Ms. Passa is clearly devastated. She has nightmares, she cries everyday. She says she herself would legally be permitted to purchase a handgun immediately, asking, “Do you think I am in any state of mind to own a handgun?”

Ms. Pass intends to do everything in her power to toughen the gun laws. She is convinced keeping guns at shooting ranges would be workable and effective. “Fighting this is the only thing keeping my will to live, that's the only thing I have left now. Stephanie is not dying for nothing.”

Prime Minister, Ms. Passa wants to know, can you help? Or does your concern—your compassion--extend only to possible problems with the pardon system?

A Facebook page set up by Stephanie’s cousin Tyler Hoddinott, “RIP Stephanie Hoddinott,” has over 4000 members. And counting.

(This article, originally published in The Toronto Star under the title, "Woman's murder exposes need to raise age for gun ownership," was named a Finalist for the Short Article Award Writing Award from the Professional Writers Association of Canada. Winner to be announced June 18, 2011. See the press release HERE.)

A vibrant young Canadian with everything to live for...

I received this note in response to the posting below on one of my other blogs, The Gun Control Yenta. It's from the uncle of one of the victims of a "legal" handgun owner. His niece, Stephanie Hoddinott, lived and died in Midland ON, shot to death by a former boyfriend with his legally purchased and registered handgun. The young man, apparently a target shooter, killed himself after (allegedly? do I still have to say this??) shooting Stephanie.

"Thank you for this article. I am the uncle of Stephanie Hoddinott. She was a beautiful girl. The police said the murderer was emotionally immature. Hand guns should be left at the shooting range and not transported or banned all together.You should not be allowed to buy a weapon before the age of 25. My sister is so heart broken."

Stephanie had just started a full-time job as a veterinary technician at the University of Toronto in the division of comparative medicine. She died just shy of her 21st birthday.

The thing the gun lobby forgets is that its victims are real people, people who hurt, bleed, and remember. And vote, let's not forget that they vote...

May Stephanie's family--may all victims' families--find comfort in the days and years ahead. We will not forget this beautiful, vibrant young woman who had everything to live for. As we say in my community, "May her memory be for a blessing."

(Photo from The Toronto Star)



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My original post:

The most recent spate of gun violence, including the shooting of 3 women near Belleville, and 3 men in an Edmonton car dealership almost 2 weeks ago, remind us that, although Stephen Harper and the gun lobby pretends otherwise, the boundary between “law-abiding gun owner” and “criminal” is easily crossed. It only takes a second, one pull of a trigger, to get to the other side. Many lives have been lost at the hands of "legal" gun owners. In January, Stephanie Hoddinott was shot dead by a former partner with his legally owned handgun. He later turned the gun on himself. Joan Hanson, her daughter, and granddaughter, were also shot dead in July 2009 by her estranged hunter husband with his legally owned rifle, which he also later turned on himself. Last week, Const. Vu Pham was shot and killed by a hunter despondent about the break up of his marriage.

The risk factors associated with gun violence are well known. To reduce the chances dangerous people will have access to guns, we need to maintain and strengthen rigorous licensing and registration procedures, not undermine them by abolishing the long-gun registry, as Mr. Harper is attempting to do.

We need to remember all guns are dangerous. We need to lose the fallacious rhetoric and ensure that citizens understand the risks, so they can take appropriate action when friends, neighbors, or loved ones with depression or anger issues have access to guns.