To Whom It May Concern;
Hi, My name is Mathew Jasman, I live on a farm property in Strathcona County Alberta. I have been charged with 8 counts of breaking Strathcona County noise Bylaw 66-99 (section 3.1a cause a noise in the county). These charges stem from myself and others shooting on my property over the previous couple of years. Several of my neighbors in a subdivision .5 miles north of me kept complaining to the RCMP and BYLAW officers until finally BYLAW decided to lay these charges. I’m very concerned about the precedence a conviction on these charges would set, not only for myself (as a farmer, firearms enthusiast, sport shooter), but for other farmers, Land owners, firearms enthusiasts, sport shooters, both now and in the future.
The Lawyer that I have consulted stated that if I don’t fight this charge both myself and other farmers/Landowners will loose our right to shoot in this county. This deeply concerns me, because today they are attacking farmers, recreation-ally shooting, and next they could be attacking my rights to harvest and protect my animals.
I feel Strathcona County is abusing a by-law that should only apply to towns and hamlets, not to rural farmers. Also, if one chooses to recreation-ally shoot, they will have to pay thousands of dollars in order to fight a by-law that should not apply.
Complaining neighbors(acreage owners not farmers)have called RCMP several times over the past couple years, every time I’ve spoken with the RCMP they stated that I was shooting safely and perfectly within my rights to shoot. An agreement was made, by mediation, with complaining neighbors, but the neighbors reneged on our agreement the very next time I was shooting. As a result of the 8 (noise by-law) tickets I received, I obtained a disclosure and read a statement of one of the complaining neighbors, who is a EPS(Edmonton Police Service) officer, which says quote “ Folks fed up with there nonsense and disrespectful attitude may take matters into there own hands which we all know will not end wellâ€
As a result of the disturbing threats made in the statement, I reported the statement to the CFO ( Canadian Firearms Officer) in Edmonton, AB and to this date, I have not heard from them regarding the statement.
Most recently, I received a call from the CFO to meet. I assumed it was in regards to the statement( threat that was made) from the EPS officer ( complaining neighbor). I agreed to meet, and to my dismay, discovered that the CFO was investigating my eligibility to hold a PAL.
*Of note* I discovered that the CFO was also an Ex-EPS officer. During my conversation, with the CFO, which I recorded, he stated that “ I’m allowed to shoot on my property however, if I continue to shoot, I will be charged under the firearms act even though he knows there’s no chance of conviction, I would then not be able to travel to the US because I would have a firearms charge on my record.†He also unjustly added 3 conditions to my PAL quote “
1-The transport of restricted firearms is authorized to and from a shooting range that has been approved under section 29(2) of the firearms act as indicated on your authorization to transport for the purpose of target practice and target shooting competition.
2-The restricted firearms may only be loaded and/or carried on your person while you are actively engaged in target practice or a target shooting competition at a range approved under the firearms act.
3-The holder shall not possess or consume alcohol or non-prescription drugs while handling, transporting or using firearms.
A couple of weeks after our meeting, I received another call from him, while out of town working, asking if I had been shooting, since I wasn’t the one shooting he concluded it must have been one of the neighboring Farmers. He then stated “since your not allowed to shoot, why should they be.†and that I should try to find out who the neighbors are that are shooting and let him know. I’m sure he would then threaten them in a similar manner.
In conclusion, I believe that my freedom to shoot is being severally threatened, and no local government should be allowed to take this away. This is prejudicial to myself, all farmers/landowners and recreational shooters, this is a part of our culture as Canadians. It seems unreasonable that a few acreage owners who live at least 1/2 mile away (with dense bush in between) can dictate weather I can shoot or not. The longest I have ever shot would be 2 hours shooting clays with Friends but this would be only once or twice a year. I also liked to target shoot with a 22 once a month.
However due to my current financial situation I am unable to fight this on my own.
Therefor I am asking for any help your able to give. Please help me get justice and protect the right to use firearms in our community. I will have a link to my go fund me below.
Concerned Responsible Firearms owner
Mathew Jasman
https://www.gofundme.com/caitlin-ragsdale?sharetype=teams&member=985096&rcid=r01-15410368229-c5e12739f29e4146&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w
Hi, My name is Mathew Jasman, I live on a farm property in Strathcona County Alberta. I have been charged with 8 counts of breaking Strathcona County noise Bylaw 66-99 (section 3.1a cause a noise in the county). These charges stem from myself and others shooting on my property over the previous couple of years. Several of my neighbors in a subdivision .5 miles north of me kept complaining to the RCMP and BYLAW officers until finally BYLAW decided to lay these charges. I’m very concerned about the precedence a conviction on these charges would set, not only for myself (as a farmer, firearms enthusiast, sport shooter), but for other farmers, Land owners, firearms enthusiasts, sport shooters, both now and in the future.
The Lawyer that I have consulted stated that if I don’t fight this charge both myself and other farmers/Landowners will loose our right to shoot in this county. This deeply concerns me, because today they are attacking farmers, recreation-ally shooting, and next they could be attacking my rights to harvest and protect my animals.
I feel Strathcona County is abusing a by-law that should only apply to towns and hamlets, not to rural farmers. Also, if one chooses to recreation-ally shoot, they will have to pay thousands of dollars in order to fight a by-law that should not apply.
Complaining neighbors(acreage owners not farmers)have called RCMP several times over the past couple years, every time I’ve spoken with the RCMP they stated that I was shooting safely and perfectly within my rights to shoot. An agreement was made, by mediation, with complaining neighbors, but the neighbors reneged on our agreement the very next time I was shooting. As a result of the 8 (noise by-law) tickets I received, I obtained a disclosure and read a statement of one of the complaining neighbors, who is a EPS(Edmonton Police Service) officer, which says quote “ Folks fed up with there nonsense and disrespectful attitude may take matters into there own hands which we all know will not end wellâ€
As a result of the disturbing threats made in the statement, I reported the statement to the CFO ( Canadian Firearms Officer) in Edmonton, AB and to this date, I have not heard from them regarding the statement.
Most recently, I received a call from the CFO to meet. I assumed it was in regards to the statement( threat that was made) from the EPS officer ( complaining neighbor). I agreed to meet, and to my dismay, discovered that the CFO was investigating my eligibility to hold a PAL.
*Of note* I discovered that the CFO was also an Ex-EPS officer. During my conversation, with the CFO, which I recorded, he stated that “ I’m allowed to shoot on my property however, if I continue to shoot, I will be charged under the firearms act even though he knows there’s no chance of conviction, I would then not be able to travel to the US because I would have a firearms charge on my record.†He also unjustly added 3 conditions to my PAL quote “
1-The transport of restricted firearms is authorized to and from a shooting range that has been approved under section 29(2) of the firearms act as indicated on your authorization to transport for the purpose of target practice and target shooting competition.
2-The restricted firearms may only be loaded and/or carried on your person while you are actively engaged in target practice or a target shooting competition at a range approved under the firearms act.
3-The holder shall not possess or consume alcohol or non-prescription drugs while handling, transporting or using firearms.
A couple of weeks after our meeting, I received another call from him, while out of town working, asking if I had been shooting, since I wasn’t the one shooting he concluded it must have been one of the neighboring Farmers. He then stated “since your not allowed to shoot, why should they be.†and that I should try to find out who the neighbors are that are shooting and let him know. I’m sure he would then threaten them in a similar manner.
In conclusion, I believe that my freedom to shoot is being severally threatened, and no local government should be allowed to take this away. This is prejudicial to myself, all farmers/landowners and recreational shooters, this is a part of our culture as Canadians. It seems unreasonable that a few acreage owners who live at least 1/2 mile away (with dense bush in between) can dictate weather I can shoot or not. The longest I have ever shot would be 2 hours shooting clays with Friends but this would be only once or twice a year. I also liked to target shoot with a 22 once a month.
However due to my current financial situation I am unable to fight this on my own.
Therefor I am asking for any help your able to give. Please help me get justice and protect the right to use firearms in our community. I will have a link to my go fund me below.
Concerned Responsible Firearms owner
Mathew Jasman
https://www.gofundme.com/caitlin-ragsdale?sharetype=teams&member=985096&rcid=r01-15410368229-c5e12739f29e4146&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w