Past panelist discounts new police appointees to firearms advisory group

OTTAWA – A former member of the Conservative government’s firearms advisory panel says three new police representatives were appointed to the body for political reasons and are not friends of gun owners.

Gerry Gamble, past president of the Sporting Clubs of Niagara, says he’s personally offended by what he calls the unprofessional way he was dropped from the 12-member panel that advises Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper very publicly rejected the panel’s firearms recommendations last fall — and last week appointed three new members.

Although the three new police appointees were ambivalent about the effectiveness of the now-dismantled long-gun registry, a closer look shows them to be gun control advocates.

Bob Rich, chief constable of the Abbotsford Police Department, is on record saying handguns should be banned and no private citizen should be able to store an assault rifle at home.

A spokeswoman in Toews office says the government has strengthened the panel and looks forward to getting advice on ways to strengthen gun laws with common sense reforms.

Gamble says changing the composition of the panel won’t cause gun control advocates to embrace the Conservatives — but he predicts gun owners who have long viewed the party as a friend will stay home next election in protest.