In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Gun laws prompt re-enactors' boycott
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Gun laws prompt re-enactors' boycott
By BARRY BROWN
News Toronto Bureau
8/18/2002
TORONTO - Several hundred American Civil War re-enactors - including some from Western New York - are refusing to fight in Canada because of its musket-
control laws.
For 12 years, descendants of the estimated 50,000 Canadians who fought in the Civil War and others have gathered at a historical village to stage some of the most famous clashes between the Union and Confederate armies.
But this year's re-enactment of Virginia's Battle of Malvern Hill will take place without the usual contingent of about 300 Americans, said Robert Winninger, program officer at Westfield Heritage Village, about 60 miles southwest of Toronto.
"The problem is, under (Canada's national) gun control laws, most historical guns are not exempt, and American re-enactors who want to bring them up have to fill out a number of forms" and pay a $32 (U.S. funds) registration fee, he said.
Canada's 3-year-old law requires gun-carrying visitors - typically hunters - to register their firearms and pay the fee.
For Americans such as re-enactor Mike Lavis of Hamburg, boycotting the Westfield festival causes him pain, because he and members of his D Company, 49th New York Volunteer Infantry, enjoyed the spirit and the company of their Canadian friends.
But Lavis said registering guns "goes against what we believe is American with our gun ownership rights. Why should we pay someone for the right we have guaranteed in our Constitution?"
The unit's single-loading, black powder muskets are little more than firecrackers, he added.
Re-enactments "preserve our heritage and the memory of our ancestors," he said, including the right to carry a gun - even in a foreign country.
While the law restricts firearms, it does not cover cannons. "Since the Battle of Malvern Hill was a big cannon battle, we'll still have a good show," Winninger said.
Four of the 50,000 Canadian-born men and women who fought in the U.S. Civil War - including Jacob D. Cox and Elon John Farnsworth - attained the rank of brigadier general, and 29 were awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry.
Perhaps the most interesting Canadian was Sarah Emma Edmonds, one of about 400 women who disguised themselves as men and served in battle.
"She enlisted in the Union army in 1861," said Mark Vinet, president of the Canada Civil War Association and author of "Canada and the American Civil War - Prelude to War."
Edmonds, dressed as a man, fought on the front lines and served as a spy, at times passing as a male and female black slave, Winninger said. She was also part of Union Gen. George McClellan's inner circle, he added.
After the war, at a reunion of her regiment - Michigan's 2nd Infantry - "Pvt. Franklin Tompson" arrived in a dress and revealed that he actually was a she, much to the astonishment of her brothers-in-arms, Winninger said.
Vinet said only about 1,000 Canadian-born men enlisted in the Confederate ranks.
Many joined the regiments raised from Canadian border states such as New York and Michigan where they already lived and worked, he said. Others, such as the thousands of Europeans who also volunteered, joined to escape the drudgery of farm work or to seek adventure and glory.
Some joined for the army pay and signing bonuses of up to $1,000, he said.
"Then there were those with strong moral and religious convictions who really believed in the abolition of slavery," he added.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020818/1036787.asp
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By BARRY BROWN
News Toronto Bureau
8/18/2002
TORONTO - Several hundred American Civil War re-enactors - including some from Western New York - are refusing to fight in Canada because of its musket-
control laws.
For 12 years, descendants of the estimated 50,000 Canadians who fought in the Civil War and others have gathered at a historical village to stage some of the most famous clashes between the Union and Confederate armies.
But this year's re-enactment of Virginia's Battle of Malvern Hill will take place without the usual contingent of about 300 Americans, said Robert Winninger, program officer at Westfield Heritage Village, about 60 miles southwest of Toronto.
"The problem is, under (Canada's national) gun control laws, most historical guns are not exempt, and American re-enactors who want to bring them up have to fill out a number of forms" and pay a $32 (U.S. funds) registration fee, he said.
Canada's 3-year-old law requires gun-carrying visitors - typically hunters - to register their firearms and pay the fee.
For Americans such as re-enactor Mike Lavis of Hamburg, boycotting the Westfield festival causes him pain, because he and members of his D Company, 49th New York Volunteer Infantry, enjoyed the spirit and the company of their Canadian friends.
But Lavis said registering guns "goes against what we believe is American with our gun ownership rights. Why should we pay someone for the right we have guaranteed in our Constitution?"
The unit's single-loading, black powder muskets are little more than firecrackers, he added.
Re-enactments "preserve our heritage and the memory of our ancestors," he said, including the right to carry a gun - even in a foreign country.
While the law restricts firearms, it does not cover cannons. "Since the Battle of Malvern Hill was a big cannon battle, we'll still have a good show," Winninger said.
Four of the 50,000 Canadian-born men and women who fought in the U.S. Civil War - including Jacob D. Cox and Elon John Farnsworth - attained the rank of brigadier general, and 29 were awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry.
Perhaps the most interesting Canadian was Sarah Emma Edmonds, one of about 400 women who disguised themselves as men and served in battle.
"She enlisted in the Union army in 1861," said Mark Vinet, president of the Canada Civil War Association and author of "Canada and the American Civil War - Prelude to War."
Edmonds, dressed as a man, fought on the front lines and served as a spy, at times passing as a male and female black slave, Winninger said. She was also part of Union Gen. George McClellan's inner circle, he added.
After the war, at a reunion of her regiment - Michigan's 2nd Infantry - "Pvt. Franklin Tompson" arrived in a dress and revealed that he actually was a she, much to the astonishment of her brothers-in-arms, Winninger said.
Vinet said only about 1,000 Canadian-born men enlisted in the Confederate ranks.
Many joined the regiments raised from Canadian border states such as New York and Michigan where they already lived and worked, he said. Others, such as the thousands of Europeans who also volunteered, joined to escape the drudgery of farm work or to seek adventure and glory.
Some joined for the army pay and signing bonuses of up to $1,000, he said.
"Then there were those with strong moral and religious convictions who really believed in the abolition of slavery," he added.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020818/1036787.asp
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878