Gun Control: Canadian politicians are forgetting rural women

Outcry and national poll suggests Canadians, and women in particular, support gun registry

(a press release from the Coalition for Gun Control)



TORONTO, April 26, 2010 -

Citing letters from rural women’s groups across the country and just released polling results, the Coalition for Gun Control is calling on federal politicians to remember that the vocal opponents to gun control do not speak for Canadians, for rural women nor even for all gun owners.

“We hear repeatedly that gun control is an urban issue that “punishes” rural gun owners,” said Wendy Cukier, Coalition for Gun Control president. “The terrible irony is that where there are more guns, there are also higher rates of gun death and injury. Most police officers killed with guns are murdered with rifles and shotguns but suicides with firearms and domestic violence in rural communities seldom make the front page. Rural women’s groups, psychiatrists and health care professionals along with police have all documented these problems and why the registry is important to help keep guns from people who are a danger to themselves or others. Rifles and shotguns are the guns most often used in violence against women because those are the firearms most readily available.”



Citing a just released Leger and Leger poll, Cukier added: “Twice as many Canadians (59 per cent) say the registration of rifles and shotguns should be maintained compared to those who say it should be scrapped (27 per cent). In every province but Manitoba and Saskatchewan more people support the registry than oppose it. The poll also shows that women support the gun registry (66 per cent) compared to men (51 per cent). More people living with gun owners (47 per cent) support the registry than oppose it (36 per cent) and a substantial proportion of gun owners (36 per cent) actually support the registry (versus 59 per cent opposed). The opponents may be louder and better financed, but among households with guns in Canada, votes are almost evenly split. Many politicians from rural areas seem to forget that women vote too.”



Poll Highlights

1. Overall, supporters of the registry outnumber opponents by 2:1
- 59 per cent said registration is useful and should be maintained compared to 27 per cent who thought it was useless and should be scrapped and 14 per cent who said undecided or preferred not to say.



2. In every province across Canada, except Manitoba/Saskatchewan more people support the registry than oppose it.

Quebec 74 per cent to 12 per cent, Ontario 58 per cent versus 27 per cent, MB/SK 39 per cent versus 45 per cent, ALB 48 per cent versus 37 per cent, BC 57 per cent versus 31per cent



3. Women are more likely to support the registry (66 per cent) than men (51 per cent)



4. Parents also support the registration of firearms with 61 per cent for and 26 per cent against.



The omnibus poll conducted by Leger and Leger for the Coalition for Gun Control had 1506 respondents (margin of error ± 2,53%, 19 times out of 20) n December 21 to 23, 2009 and asked:



Recently, new legislation was introduced to eliminate the need to register rifles and shotguns. While licenses to own are renewed periodically, registration is a one time only procedure that occurs when a gun is purchased. A lot of money was spent setting up the system, but the current cost of registering rifles and shotguns is three million dollars a year. Some people say that registration ensures gun owners are accountable for their firearms and that the registry is an important tool used daily by police to prevent and investigate crime. Others say that registering guns unduly burdens gun owners, is of no use and should be eliminated. Which represents your position?



Response:

The concept of registering guns is useful and should be maintained; or

The concept of registering guns is useless and should be eliminated



Among the groups which have formally opposed the Government proposal to end the registration of rifles and shotguns are: the Coalition of Provincial and Territorial Advisory Councils on the Status of Women; Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan; Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters; The Grande Cache Transition House Society; Manitoba Association of Women's Shelters (Nova House Inc.); Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres; The Federation des femmes du Quebec; Association feminine d’éducation et d’action sociale, Women’s Sexual Assault Centre of Renfrew Council; Manitoba Action Committee on the Status of Women; Kenora Sexual Assault Centre; as well as National Associations such as Canadian Federation of University Women; National Council of Women of Canada; YWCA Canada; The Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs; and National Association of Women and the Law.



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For more information, please visit www.guncontrol.ca

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)



------------------

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.

Guest Post: Charles Fajgenbaum Eulogizes Bluma Akerman, z"l: "The power of simple acts of kindness"

Bluma Akerman came from a large, close family, and I know that Issie, her brother living in Israel would have been here if he could be, but circumstances have made that impossible. He did however send an email with perhaps the most important thing anybody can say today: May her memory be a blessing for all of us.

In no particular order then, here are a few of the memories I have of Bluma. If each of us made our own list of 5 memories, we would undoubtedly have quite the interesting book.

The first job I ever had was given to me by Bluma. Vacuum the carpets, get paid 10 cents. That was a job for Sunday afternoons, rain or shine. Living only one block away made it hard to escape. I am not sure how well the carpets were done, so I also learned that it is a good thing to have a lenient boss.

Bluma was also the person who introduced me to pizza, and countless slice vendors in every city I have ever been in thank her for that. Pouring rain and a soaking walk to Pendelli's on Van Horne, I did not know what I was in for. I don’t recall particularly liking it, but I enjoyed being taken out, and jumped at the opportunity a couple of weeks later to visit Pronto Pizza, also on Van Horne, for round two. The rest, as they say, is history. After that, Lester's Deli was no longer the favourite place to be taken.

I also learned from her to keep the first car you ever buy. Now, at the time, I heard people question why she would buy a car, especially a red Mustang sports car. "Why is she driving any car at all, let alone the most popular sports car of the day?" For someone who never really went out of her way to attract attention, and above all else was very practical in her day to day life, that car sure seemed, at the very least, like an unusual choice. Driving it, though, stressed her out so much that she gave the car to her brother Harry. Let’s be honest, though: who among us would now not want to have a 40 year old Mustang convertible in their garage?

Keep every possible scrap of paper, especially the ones that are important. While assisting Max in helping empty Bluma's apartment and move her to the King David, we came across letters written 20 years ago, bank books from long closed accounts, clothes that hadn't been worn in 30 years, and other items I am not sure even a museum could love. But we also came across a drawer where the important stuff was kept--Harry and Beth's wedding announcement, birth announcements of various nieces and nephews, an article Aviva had written about the joy of motherhood, family photos, and other keepsakes that told a great story of those people and events that really are worth remembering.

Simple acts of kindness are very powerful, far more than thinking of big acts done rarely. For many years , Bluma would make the walk to the Cote St Luc shopping center, visit the Halmark store, and buy a bunch of cards--Valentine’s Day cards, Hanukah and birthday cards, and others. Magically, ever so often, one would appear in our mail box addressed to Alexandra, with a short note to say hi, and a crisp $5.00 bill, along with instructions to go buy some candy. It always brought great joy to our house, and taught me an important lesson of economics and inflation--in my day, all I got was a dime, and I had to work for it.

Perhaps I can add one more to the list: Bluma's tremendous sense of independence and determination. When Bluma first got cancer many years ago, the survival rate was far lower than today. She beat that back, then had a relapse, which was beaten back as well, allowing her to continue with her life. A few years ago, again a relapse, and again she rallied. Then again almost two years ago, a major relapse, with very severe pain as tumours showed up in her spine. Several months in the hospital, then rehab, and the most unbelievable smile on her face, when once again living independently in her apartment, she showed me how she could dance without her walker.

However many friends you have, there will always be one who is more special than others. So thank you, Charlotte Lawy, for your infinite acts of kindness and friendship. And an even greater thank you to her brother, Max for being her assistant, companion, shopper, chauffeur, care giver and best possible brother. We all owe him a great deal for his endless commitment to Bluma.

(Please send us your own memories of Bluma!)

Grabbin' a piece a "Pie": new doings & feeling the love

This morning, cellstories.net, a nifty cellphone/electronic device only publisher, sent my award-winning and Pushcart nominated story "Pie" out to subscribers (it's free, look for them on Twitter!). Daniel Sinker, the man behind this brave new medium, who describes himself as "the founding editor of Punk Planet magazine in another life," thought it was "great."

And on Valentine's Day (who can keep these goyische holidays straight anyway?), my story, "NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: THE HARDBOILED STRESS OF BEING SANTA (WHEREIN YOUR INTREPID REPORTER UNCOVERS THE TENUOUS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN BABY BOOMERS, RANDY GOATS, THE HARPER CONSERVATIVES, THE GUESS WHO REUNION TOUR, BRIAN MULRONEY’S GRANDKIDS, AND SANTA CLAUS’S UNFORTUNATE 2007 NERVOUS BREAKDOWN…)" went live on Joyland.ca. Montreal-Atlantic Editor David McGimpsey called it "hilarious," adding he "love[d] it."

Joyland.ca made CBC's Top 100 of 2008 and has been called "the go-to spot for readers seeking the best voices in short fiction."

Quill and Quire proclaimed Joyland.ca, “A savvy, sleek publication, devoted entirely to new short fiction...[that] has published marquee names such as Jonathan Lethem and Lydia Millet...The future of literary magazines is already here.”

According to Montreal's Hour, "Joyland.ca is an innovative, online publication devoted to new fiction," while Time Out Chicago has called Joyland "a lovely literary site that has a preoccupation with location...And so far, the work speaks for itself." So I'm proud to be part of Joyland (and of all the literary journals and reviews that'll have me. Not for me that Groucho Marx disdain for clubs that'd have me as a member!)

Karl Jirgens over at Rampike just accepted (in record time--1.5 hours!) my short creative non-fiction piece, "Aversion Conditioning, or Why I am Somewhat Conflicted about Poetry," telling me "Well, it's about time you got published in a gen-u-wine arty-farty rag like Rampike!...I think the piece is solid and very funny. Great stuff!" Rampike has been in business for over 30 years, Jirgens says, publishing the likes of Kathy Acker, Paul Auster, William Burroughs, Jacques Derrida, Umberto Eco, and Julia Kristeva.

And on or about March 9th, please drop by On The Premises where my short story "Father's Day," written from a prompt provided by Nancy Zafris at The Kenyon Review's 2008 writers' workshop, is due to appear, an honourable mention for their "Delicate" contest ("One or more characters have to handle an object, person, or situation that they consider 'delicate' (whether it really is or not). How well these characters handle things is up to you."). "I loved this story," co-publisher Tarl Roger Kudrick told me.

So it's been a busy couple of weeks around here, basking in the glow of all this love. And there's lots more to come, with new stories due out this year in The Binnacle, EarLit Shorts 5 (mp3 stories) The Nashwaak Review, The New Quarterly and Windsor Review. Not to mention my short fiction collection, The Meaning of Children...which I'm hoping to have good news about very, very soon...

Dayenu: In Loving Memory of Meir Ifergan z"l

Samedi le 5 décembre 2009

Nous avons le regret de vous faire part du décès de Meir Ifergan.

Il laisse dans le deuil son épouse Jacqueline, ses enfants, Ariel (Karyne) et Shalva, sa petite-fille Elia, ses frères et soeurs, Jacques, Nonu, Armand, Rachel et Marie, ses nièces et neveux, sa famille et ses amis…

"Quand tu es heureux, la vie passe vite."
- Ariel Ifergan, eulogizing his father Meir Ben Yosef v' Fibi, a great teacher, a tzaddik, someone who was blessed and was himself a blessing, and was happy. (Glen Rotchin, http://therentcollector.blogspot.com/)

Meir Ifergan guided my entire family through our bar and bat mitzvahs—not just our three children, but my husband Russell and myself, as neither of us had ever read from the Torah before. As my community's Rabbi, Ron Aigen, said during his eulogy for Meir and again at the Sheloshim memorial service, one of Meir’s many gifts was his ability to connect with each person individually. He used his pets, his herbal ointments and concoctions, his knowledge, his love and compassion, his “you can do it” philosophy…in short, he did whatever it took to reach each of his students. And, make no mistake, at Dorshei Emet, we were, all of us, his students…

Our children did not go to parochial elementary or high schools, and as the time drew nearer for our oldest to start his bar mitzvah lessons, Russ and I worried about how he would take them. We remembered how the kids we had known growing up had suffered and complained through theirs. What a blessing it was for me, on picking Alex up at Meir and Jacqueline’s each week, to have him pull the car door closed, turn to face me and say, “You know Mom, I may complain about going sometimes but I have to say, that was the best part of my week.”

This, from a twelve-year-old--perfectly miraculous.

Meir’s love and pride in his family were/are also legendary. He never missed an opportunity to describe Ariel’s most recent endeavour, be it performing and producing his latest play or educational video, or to talk of his granddaughter Elia. No one who had the privilege of hearing Meir and Ariel chant together at Rosh Hashanah services will ever forget the experience. His love and concern for Shalva also came through loud and clear as he spoke of her. I had the privilege of chatting briefly with Meir by phone several weeks before his death, and he told me how Jacqueline was his rock, that words alone could not convey the magnitude of her help and support in his illness, or the depths of his gratitude.

The extent of Meir’s knowledge of Torah and the Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions and musical heritage were also breath-taking. I remember commenting on this on one of our children’s final “dress rehearsals,” whereupon Meir looked up and, eyes sparkling, allowed, “Well, when I was young, there was no Nintendo. This,” he said, gesturing to the sanctuary, the open scroll set on the Bimah, “this was my Nintendo!”

I hadn’t known of Meir’s having lost his parents and brother in the devastating earthquake in Agadir in 1960 before his funeral. As we daily follow the sequelae of the earthquake in Haiti, it is comforting to think that despite such tragic early experiences, Meir’s life is a testament of the good that can still be nurtured to accomplishment with the necessary love and community support. Meir’s life is proof that living well is the best revenge.

Meir’s infectious good humour, his enthusiasm, sense of mission and pride in our accomplishments, his vigour and positive energy—in short, his blessings to us--are evident in every one of the eloquent comments posted on the online memorials to his passing. I wish we could have included them all and invite everyone to read and perhaps add to the personal tributes on our Facebook page, “In Loving Memory of Meir Ifergan z"l” or at www.legacy.com.

If Meir had only been a devoted son and brother, it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been a loving husband, it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been a proud father and grandfather, it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been a nurturing teacher, it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been a learned teacher of Hebrew, the holidays and traditions, it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been the wind beneath our bar and bat mitzvahs wings, it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been the creator of his unforgettable "mi-shebeirakhs," it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been a caring fellow congregant, it would have been enough for us.

If Meir had only been a mensch, it would have been enough for us.

And so, how much more grateful should we be for all of Meir’s gifts?

It was as if Meir Ifergan guided each one of us through our bar and bat mitzvahs, as though his calling and greatest pleasure was to help each of us see in ourselves all the good he saw in us, and in the world. May his memory be for a blessing.

Do no freakin' WOMEN work at Apple?!

Oh man, is Eve ever gonna be pissed!

Okay, we're supposed to believe that the whole freakin' WORLD's been waiting for Apple's latest tablet/computer/e-reader gizmo...like, yawn, as if...and then, when it finally arrives it's called the--wait for it girls--

iPad

Well WTF²!

Which begs the question: is it possible there isn't a single WOMAN working at friggin' Apple? I mean come ON girls, you know you were all thinkin' the same damn thing when you heard what they called it--

The iPad...isn't that something made by Kotex?

How many HUNDREDS of people had to sign off on the creation and promotion of this product? The mind boggles. And considering that the most committed Mac-heads I know are women, sounds like Apple's hit a major homer on this one--that is, a HOMER SIMPSON!

Like, what a bonerhead decision!

And what about their ad agencies? Full of Mad MEN, I'm guessin'.

It'd be funny if it wasn't so frustratingly pathetic...oh, what the hell, let's not hold a grudge. I'll stick with funny...

The vjj jokes write themselves...and if you don't believe me, watch this:

Of course, there is one other explanation: REVENGE.

Like, maybe too many of Apple's women employees concussed themselves on that glass ceiling...so they got together in secret and decided to keep mum on this one...Well, if that's the case, enjoy it you vixens, and remember, as Julia Child used to say, revenge is a dish best served cold.

And, may I suggest, with a pinot grigio?

And Apple? You're gonna have to do a better Job next time--we're not that easily tempted.