National Firearms Association

National Firearms Association (NFA)
Motto Canada's Most Effective Firearms Association
Formation 1978
Headquarters Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Official language
 English
Key people
 David A. Tomlinson (Founder) Major R.A. Laycock. Bill Jones
Website www.NFA.ca

The National Firearms Association or NFA is a non-profit association based across Canada. Its main goals are to repeal and replacement of the Firearms Act (Bill C-68), which was introduced into Canadian Parliament in 1995 (Now called “Chapter 39 of the 1995 Statues of Canada”), the promotion of marksmanship and firearm safety and the protection of the right to hunt and self-defence. Annual membership costs are typically $35.00 however, discounts are available for families and seniors. All NFA members are eligible for $5 million in liability insurance that covers all legal hunting, shooting and fishing activities, the cost for this optional insurance is $9.95/yr.

History

FARO (Firearms And Responsible Owners) was founded in 1969 in Ottawa, Ontario, in response to the Trudeau Government's Bill C-51 firearms law. The founder and President was Bill Jones, and it became the national voice for lawful firearms owners, essentially an association of like minded Canadian groups and individuals. This was the vehicle used to bring this issue to the political level and inform lawful firearms owners of what faced them and it was based on two fundamentals: "We recognize the need of law as a prerequisite for an 'orderly' society, but we also recognize that bad laws are a prerequisite for an 'ordered' society. Two letters different, but two worlds apart." Also, "It is not a proper function of the law to place a peaceful person pursuing peaceful activities in jeopardy." FARO did accomplish making this a national and political issue. FARO was the first firearms advocacy organization to appear before the Justice Committee in the House of Commons. In 1979-1980 Bill Jones registered the NFA as national organization but ran out of personal funds used to pursue this issue and had to leave the organization. Reconstituted in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta, in 1984 by David A Tomlinson and Major R.A. (Ray) Laycock and others as "National Phoenix Firearms Information and Communications Association" (National Firearms Association - NFA). Re constituted in 2010 after the passing of National President D.A. Tomlinson (2007) as "Canada's National Firearms Association" (NFA). It currently has membership that is based across Canada with its current executive residing in British Columbia and Quebec (President and Vice President respectively).

Controversy

The NFA was criticized for its media release after the occurrence of a shooting spree that left three RCMP officers dead and two others wounded in Moncton, New Brunswick of June 5, 2014[1] Their statement read, "Incidents like these demonstrate...that none of Canada's firearms control efforts over the past 50 years have had any effect on preventing violence, or otherwise stopping bad people from carrying out their evil deeds... The excessive rules in place do not in any way increase public [sic] safety, but merely contribute to an expensive and unnecessary regime which harms only those of lawful intent."[2] The release was perceived by the general population of Canada to be insensitive and politically motivated. The NFA stood by their statement claiming that they were responding to the calls for tighter gun control that people on social media and in government were making.[3]

In late March of 2015 the NFA pulled out of a committee looking at the Canadian government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation Bill C-51. An article from the CBC and Huffington post (which re-published the CBC article) speculated that the NFA cancelled their committee appearance in order to curry favor with the Harper government without providing any factual information to reinforce back up this unfounded opinion. The NFA has not made any official statement on why it pulled out of the committee.

On February 24, 2015, president Sheldon Clare was removed at a meeting of the Board of Directors. Mr. Clare refused to step down, claiming the the meeting was not valid. In retaliation, Clare "fired" two of the directors, in violation of the group's by-laws. When Clare was questioned on the official NFA Facebook page there was no response, and any posts that were critical or questioning of Clare's actions were deleted. In addition, half of the board of directors and hundreds of members were removed from the page and blocked from viewing it. Members set up several alternate pages in order to communicate. Other individuals who tried to contact directors through the e-mails listed on the NFA's webpage did not receive a response. In one case a member's membership was placed "under review" and his annual dues refunded because he questioned the executive.

As a result of Clare's rogue actions, early in March of 2015 several members of the group's executive filed a claim in Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench seeking access to the organization's records, appointment of an auditor, an order that the auditor report on all of the NFA's financial statements since 2011, and an order restraining Sheldon Clare from disseminating false statements among other remedies. Dozens of NFA members have resigned their membership due to the internal fighting and are demanding their membership fees be returned.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1. Moncton shootings: National Firearms Association response 'premature' http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/moncton-shootings-national-firearms-association-response-premature
  2. ↑ The National Firearms Association (June 5, 2014). "CANADA'S NATIONAL FIREARMS ASSOCIATION MEDIA RELEASE - June 5, 2014". Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  3. ↑ QMI Agency. "National Firearms Association stands by controversial statement on Moncton shootings". Retrieved 8 June 2014.

External links