Gun show in school no big deal, participants, school board say

Gun show in school no big deal, participants, school board say
Date: Sep 25, 2006 11:32 AM
PUBLICATION: The Daily News (Halifax)
DATE: 2006.09.25
SECTION: Local News
PAGE: 6
BYLINE: Stephen Bornais
WORD COUNT: 225

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Gun show in school no big deal, participants, school board say

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An antique gun show in a Truro-area school is more about community than
weapons, says its organizer.

The Maritimes Arms Collectors Association held its 45th annual Antique
Arms Fair and Sportsmens Show and Sale over the weekend at Bible Hill
Junior High School.

The show featured mostly older military weapons and artifacts -
including 18th century muskets - as well as hunting accessories. It drew
more than 1,000 people from across the province and New Brunswick.

Association president Dana Smith said the fact the show is in a school
is immaterial. The junior high's auditorium is the biggest available
space in the community.

"We rent the auditorium for the weekend. We go in after the school is
out and we're out Sunday night," he said. "When the school goes back
in,
you would never know we were there."

The association's show came less than two weeks after Kimveer Gill went
on a shooting spree in a Montreal college.

You can't compare that to the safe, even educational, show the
association runs, Smith said.

"The guns-in-school thing hasn't become an issue because we are more
rural," he said. "It's not like a city thing. It's not looked
upon the
same way."

Chignecto-Central Regional School Board spokeswoman Terri Mingo said
while the board does not officially endorse the event, it sees nothing
wrong with it either.

"Our regular rental policy applies to them as it would any other
organization," she said. The event is endorsed by the school's student
advisory council.

Mingo said the event has proven to be a very successful fundraiser in
the past.