Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: bigsky on June 24, 2005, 02:08:21 AM
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cries foul
Claims border harassment
By ROCHELLE SQUIRES, STAFF REPORTER
An American man says he was held captive, terrorized and interrogated for nine hours at a Canadian border for having nothing more than a few non-prohibited antique gun pieces in his car.
"I'm a strong man, but what they put me through, I felt suicide might be my only way out," said Barry Borum of Cullman, Ala., who was detained June 13 by customs officers at the Emerson border crossing while enroute to visit a friend in Manitou. "It breaks my heart to admit that.
"They were like a pack of dogs. They seized my car and tore it apart, ruined the air conditioner, pulled leather off the seats and left door panels loose," said Borum, noting the repair costs later added up to more than $1,500.
Borum was told he was facing arrest for smuggling prohibited weapons into Canada.
"I was scared to death," said the 51-year-old, who is a licensed gun manufacturer and weapons collector and inadvertently left the parts in his trunk.
"I forgot those pieces were even there, that's how insignificant they are. They're harmless and could be washing machine parts for all it mattered."
The pieces included a rubber shoulder pad, a securing pin, a partial bipod mount, a harmonica muzzle-brake, a magazine holder, gas tube and a rectangular steel channel with "for display only" engraved on it.
The parts were not restricted in either Canada or the United States and did not constitute a weapon, he said.
However, a spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency said patrol officers have authority to detain and investigate anything suspicious.
"When people present themselves at the border, they must respond to the questions truthfully and declare all firearms and weapons," said agency spokeswoman Lisa White. "We have strict procedures and take border protection very seriously."
'HIGHLY TRAINED'
White said officers are "highly trained professionals who don't do anything unless they have a reason to believe there is contraband or prohibited goods."
Borum understands the need for border protection, but was disturbed by the rationale for his detention and the alleged abuse he endured.
He said one officer had a "MacGyver complex" by insisting a gun barrel could be made with the parts found in his car.
He claims he was threatened and denied his medication, even after insisting the pills were essential to his well-being.
Charges were not laid and Borum was released the following day. But in order to retrieve his seized car, he needed to pay an $1,125 fine.
His pieces were not returned to him, even though officers admitted the pieces were not restricted.
He is now making the 4,800 km round-trip in hopes of retrieving his antiques and plans to appeal the fine.
i just thought they harassed you at the border for having long hair.:eek:
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2005/06/22/1099308-sun.html
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dear oh dear imagine that ,being held without charge ...tut tut
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Canadian Gitmo!
..only the food was worse.
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lol hang
A liftime diet of leftover fish bits!!!!!!!
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Since I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama I'm pretty familiar with that part of the state. Let me tell ya something about Cullman, Alabama: Cullman is, or used to be, the "Home" of The Ku Klux Klan. Most of the rednecks (and I don't use that term lightly) who live there are pretty ornery and tough characters. Now, in the last 10 years or so, some of the rather affluent folk from the Birmingham area have been "moving out to the country", and that includes the area around Cullman. But for the past 150 years, or so, that area has been known primarily as a haven for ...shall we say, those who don't like people of color. Doesn't surprise me one bit that this fellow had firearms in his possession, albeit "antique" firearms. Most of the folk who live in that area are rather disdainful of authority figures, shall we say, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was rather beligerant from the git-go. It was prolly his mouth what got him detained in the first place, rahter than a few unrestricted rifle parts.
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Originally posted by slimm50
Doesn't surprise me one bit that this fellow had firearms in his possession, albeit "antique" firearms.
He DIDN'T have firearms in his possession, at least according to that article.
Doesn't seem like they should be able to trash your car without paying to fix it if they don't find anything. And what's the fine for? What did he have that was illegal?
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Originally posted by Toad
What did he have that was illegal?
common sense?
:aok
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Originally posted by Toad
He DIDN'T have firearms in his possession, at least according to that article.
Doesn't seem like they should be able to trash your car without paying to fix it if they don't find anything. And what's the fine for? What did he have that was illegal?
OK, I realize he didn't have a whole, working gun, and "firearms" was poor wording. I agree with you: from the way the article reads he didn't deserve detention. However, one clue might be this: "When people present themselves at the border, they must respond to the questions truthfully..." As I said before, it was prolly his mouth (and attitude) that got their attention.
Not defending teh border guards. but when an anarchy type meets with a pin-head on a power trip, watchout.
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The pieces included a rubber shoulder pad, a securing pin, a partial bipod mount, a harmonica muzzle-brake, a magazine holder, gas tube and a rectangular steel channel with "for display only" engraved on it.
He didn't even have anything close to a gun and none of these parts are restricted by Canada.
Why would they care in the least?
Now if they asked him if he had ANY gun parts with him and he deliberately lied, there's the faint whif of reason for the inspection.
I'm sure there will be more info out on this sooner or later but it's a pretty minor incident in any event.
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Originally posted by Toad
"...it's a pretty minor incident in any event.
Or it should have been, anyway.
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Given my experiance with Canadian Customs, I'm not surprised.
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My experiance with the canadian and American guards at the border has ranged from slightly annoying to downright unpleasant.
lazs
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oh how i long to watch south park the movie right now ; )
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"follow the only one road.. but watch out for Scott; he's a dick!"
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hmmm... alls quiet from the north so far.
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i once tried to enter canada with a FULL CARTON OF CIGARETTES, they held me up for 1/2 hour, then made me open the carton , open 1 pack and take out one cigarette, before they let me enter canada.