KILLER USED LEGAL GUNS HAD REGISTERED ARSENAL

KILLER USED LEGAL GUNS HAD REGISTERED ARSENAL
Date: Sep 15, 2006 8:16 AM
PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun
DATE: 2006.09.15
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: 4
BYLINE: NATALIE PONA AND MARCO FORTIER, REUTERS; SUN MEDIA
WORD COUNT: 301

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KILLER USED LEGAL GUNS HAD REGISTERED ARSENAL

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Dawson College killer Kimveer Gill's arsenal was made up of legally
registered firearms, Sun Media has learned.

After police shot him dead, his semi-automatic Beretta CX4 Storm and
Glock 9 mm semi-automatic pistol were found at the Montreal college,
where he gunned down 20 men and women Wednesday, killing one woman.

Retired Montreal Police Det.-Sgt. Roger Granger said Gill's pursuit of
legally registered weapons followed a similar pattern used by Marc
Lepine, who killed 14 women at the city's polytechnical school in 1989.

Granger, who investigated that slaughter, said the federal gun registry,
created by the Liberals under former prime minister Jean Chretien, is
"totally ineffective."

As required, Gill was a member of a shooting club, where he took classes
based on an arms manual.

'HATE IN HIS HEART'

His licence application was signed by relatives, sources said, adding
the future killer had no criminal or psychiatric record barring him from
owning firearms.

"When you have your licence, you can command (order) your weapon by
telephone or by Internet and that arrives in the next week," Granger
said.

Gun control opponents say the shooting shows the weakness of current
restrictions.

"I think it demonstrates that gun control has absolutely no effect. When
you have a person like this, who has hate in his heart, regulations and
registries are not going to stand in his way," said Blair Hagen, a
spokesman for the National Firearms Association.

MORE MEASURES NEEDED

More measures -- beyond gun control -- are necessary to prevent gun
deaths, said Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control.

It's up to members, neighbours, friends and family to report mentally
unstable owners, as Gill appeared to be, she said, adding, "Angry young
men and guns are a lethal combination."

Gill's weapon, the Storm, a product of Italian gun maker Beretta, sells
for around $1,000 in Canada. It's available in 9 mm and .40 and .45
calibres.

Under Canadian gun laws it's treated the same as a handgun, meaning the
owner must have a firearms acquisitions licence and a permit to own a
restricted weapon, both of which require background checks.

Semi-auto carbines like the Storm fall into a legal grey area because,
although restricted like a handgun, it's classified as a rifle by
Ottawa's Canada Firearms Centre.