JUST CAN'T GET BUSTED

Gun Law Protesters Want Day In Court, Others Fight Pot
Price

OTTAWA -- Try as they might, these gun-loving law-breakers just can't
get busted.

After a month-long coast-to-coast quest to get arrested, six firearms
owners who are defying the federal registry law arrived to protest on
Parliament Hill yesterday. The group was joined by a handful of local
sign-toting supporters.

"We want our day in court, and so far the government has been
reluctant to give us our day in court," said Bruce Montague of Dryden,
Ont. "We want, sincerely, to get in front of a judge and have the
judge kill this law."

Also protesting on the Hill yesterday was a group of patients who
smoked joints and burned their Health Canada exemptions to demonstrate
dismay over the government's handling of medical marijuana.

Don Appleby of Ottawa, an AIDS patient who lives on a disability
pension, said he won't be able to afford the proposed federal fees for
pot.

'INSULT TO EVERY TAXPAYER'

"Where are people supposed to be coming up with this money? Five
dollars a gram for second-grade medicine is not worth it," he said,
estimating his required supply will would cost him up to $1,500 a month.

Rick Reimer, a retired lawyer who suffers from multiple sclerosis,
slammed the feds for erecting barriers to those who need weed.

"It's an insult to every taxpayer and it's an even bigger insult to
sick people who need marijuana and they're forced to go through
hoops," he said.