Jim Turnbull wants to get arrested. Furthermore, he wants to be charged under federal Bill C-68, the gun registry law. The Jarvie retiree wants it so he can challenge the law in court, where he and his group can “expose C-68 for the garbage that it is.”
Turnbull’s organization is CUOFA, the Canadian Unregistered Firearms Owners Association and Turnbull is its president. CUFOA’s goals are not unlike those of LUFA, the perhaps better-known gun owners’ organization that has been speaking out against C-68 for the past three or four years. The main difference, says Turnbull, is that, “we do something. We use civil disobedience to fight an unjust law.”
Civil disobedience was what nine CUOFA members had in mind when they gathered on federal government property in Ottawa on Jan. 1. With Turnbull broadcasting their agenda on a bullhorn, the members engaged in a number of activities in violation of Bill C-68.
“We burned our firearms licenses in a barrel. We burned our registrations for firearms and invited other people to burn theirs. We burned a copy of Bill C-68 and the stench was horrible. We traded firearms on federal grounds – all unregistered.”
CUFOA’s presence was not unexpected. Turnbull says the members had been writing the prime minister “every day since April,” letting him know they were coming and what they planned to do.
Police granted half of Turnbull’s wish. They arrested him, but declined to charge him under C-68, despite (or perhaps because of) the numerous deliberate violations. Turnbull says police charged him under Section 89 of the Criminal Code and held him in jail for four hours. They set his first appearance in court for Jan. 30 and released him on the condition he not approach parliament hill or other government addresses, including RCMP headquarters.
On Jan. 30 the story took another turn. Another CUOFA member decided to take a stab at getting arrested under C-68. Heading back to Ottawa for Turnbull’s court appearance, he shipped two firearms via Air Canada, with the airline’s permission, Turnbull says. He also informed police in Ontario what he was doing. Upon arriving, the police met him.
“Am I under arrest?” Turnbull says the man asked the police. They said he wasn’t, but as soon as his picked up the package containing the guns they arrested him and charged him under the criminal code for obstruction of justice.
In order to get his friend – an armed forces veteran from Saskatoon – out of jail, Turnbull agreed to change the terms of his own release. He can’t come to Ontario except to attend court and he is forbidden to speak to a firearms rally in Canada.
“They’ve taken my freedom,” he says. “A pedophile can go across Canada until proven guilty. They’ve muzzled me.”
Does he intend to abide by the conditions of his release?
“Absolutely not!”
Turnbull says he’s been invited to speak at the University of Alberta and in Ft. McMurray and plans to honour both invitations as well as others that come in. His goal is still to be charged under Bill C-68 so he can challenge it one court after another.
“I have nine lawyers in Ontario who said they’d take my case all the way to the Supreme Court and charge me nothing,” he says.
Turnbull moved back to Jarvie in recent years to care for his ailing mother. He is a neighbour and “a very good friend” of Athabasca MP Dave Chatters, who is on record as an opponent of Bill C-68. Prior to retirement Turnbull’s varied career included farming, selling real estate and owning a hotel in Ft. McMurray.
For more information on CUFOA, visit the website at cufoa.com.

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