Dryden gunsmith and anti-firearms registry lobbyist Bruce Montague returned to court on Dec. 13 with his wife Donna to face several firearms charges, but their appearance was brief and dealt primarily with the transfer of his case to a new legal representative.

Calvin Martin, a Toronto lawyer, will replace Edward Burlew as the Montagues' council, a move Bruce says he feels good about.

"Martin is a very well known firearms lawyer," he says. "Many people, including the Firearms Association suggested him. Ed Burlew is good, but he's very busy and this seemed like the best thing to do."

He notes that Burlew, a lawyer from Thornhill, takes a great interest in the case and will continue to follow it very closely.

The Montagues recently returned from a Brandon, Manitoba gun show and were surprised at how many gun owners there were not aware of what was happening in his fight against the federal government.

"We set up a booth with videos and newspaper clippings so that people could hear all about the Canadian Unregistered Firearms Owners Association (CUFOA) and everything that's happened to me, and we got a great response," says Bruce.

In fact, response was so good that the booth brought in another $1,700 for the Bruce Montague Scrap C-68 fund, money to be used to fight his case all the way to the Supreme Court as a challenge based on the Charter of Rights.

Now, says Bruce, it's obvious they'll have to get the word out to more people, by making frequent public appearances and talking to a few more politicians.

"The way things are going, we may even have a few Liberals on our side," he says.

The couple is still frustrated by a number of rumours they say have been circulating concerning their charges, and would like to know the source.

"Every week that goes by, we hear another rumour that's come out 'unofficially' and it's infuriating," he says.

The pair will be back in court on Jan. 24, 2005.

Link: http://www.drydenobserver.ca/topnews.html