Printed transgression.(Mike Hargreaves a gun collector arrested, when his collection was stolen )

The January 7 issue of the Toronto Star (Canada) paints a bleak picture of guns and crime in Canada--where guns are already regulated tightly--vilifying guns and gun owners.

The Star's main article on this subject was about Mike Hargreaves, a gun collector and respected expert on firearms training whose entire gun collection was stolen sometime around New Year's Day in 2004. "Police issued a warrant for Hargreaves arrest, claiming the firearms were unsafely stored and improperly imported," even though he had a permit to purchase each one (including his submachine guns), regularly used the guns to train police officers, and stored the guns in a 1,700-pound safe that took the thieves two days to break into using sledgehammers and a blowtorch. Hargreaves has not yet been arrested because he has been residing in Florida.

Despite Hargreaves' security precautions concerning his guns and his impeccable background as a police firearms instructor, the Star portrays Hargreaves as the bad guy. On page one, instead of headlines designed to vindicate Hargreaves--such as "Police Gun Instructor Made Scapegoat" or "Going Overboard With Gun Control"--the Star led off with "GUNS AND GANGS: One break-in put 30 weapons on the street and started a bloodbath" and "Fugitive in paradise." Of course, the Star remembered to demonize Hargreaves' guns as well, calling them "his dangerous stash." By the Star's description, it seemed that the guns had a mind of their own and might somehow escape and hurt someone: "Housing officials were unaware that [Hargreaves] was storing firearms near families with children."

Near the end of the article, readers are left to believe that Hargreaves is not only in the wrong, but that he is too obstinate to acknowledge the error of his ways: "[Hargreaves] defiantly refuses to accept responsibility for the Gilder Dr. break-in." Finally, the Star wraps up the article by listing some of the ...