How many combat shotguns are there under my bed? Thanks to new laws, none of your beeswax.

This article originally appeared at TheTyee.ca

“Six, seven, eight, nine … where’s number ten? Jesus Christ.” Tony, our bearded Italian-Canadian instructor, stomps past us and out the door. Through the mangled venetian blinds, we see him yelling across the parking lot. He stomps back inside. “Smoking in his car. Unreal.”

Colin, early 50s, thinning hair, in red lumberjack flannel, wanders in with glazed eyes. He’s been baked for two days. “Gosh, sorry fellas. I uh … didn’t … well, sorry.” He’s holding a 1-litre fruit smoothie. Tony is on the other side of the room, holding the door to the range open. “Come on guys, let’s go!” On the bench is a row of shiny black handguns, waiting for us.

Welcome to gun school.

What’s your name and why do you want a firearms license?

That’s the first question they ask at the Canadian Firearms Academy (“Academy” is somewhat grandiose for a two-room rental unit in a central Surrey strip mall, but hey, that’s what it says on the printout taped to the door). Why are we here?

One guy has a police officer son, and would like to bond more as a family.

Another guy has an uncontrollable jitter and a strong desire to go hunting.

Another guy, having stepped out of a brand-new black BMW, expresses in precise, Korean-accented English his interest in target practice.

Another guy (yes, it’s all guys) says from under his white toothbrush moustache: “My name is Bob. Because it’s my right!”

My own reasons are a blend of the above. Certainly I want to harvest my own meat. I’d rather shoot an animal and watch it die on the ground than eat drive-thru burgers. Of course it’s fun to shoot targets, too. But keep asking and you might get an answer like Bob’s. It’s my right. Why shouldn’t I? Luckily, there’s never been a better time to be a Canadian gun owner.

Click here to continue reading at TheTyee.ca

Evan, Candice and I are very pleased to present the concluding chapter of our film about the wild quest of Matthew Wadsworth and Micky Dymond, available exclusively on Reelhouse.org (more on the new platform below):

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I met Matt a year and two days ago, at the Quebec City airport. Now I’m sitting at my kitchen table in East Van, having followed his story from the Mojave Desert to Montreal and Manchester. In the end, we produced a 40-minute film in three parts, got tens of thousands of people to watch a no-budget Canadian documentary, and were invited to present the project at the DOXA festival.

None of this would have been possible without the support of a core community of filmmakers and film-lovers that funded and distributed this project. I think it’s very exciting to be at the point where an audience and a film team can make a movie without any studio involvement, government grants, or advertising.

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who gave us gear, advice, and cash.

On the subject of collaboration and crowdfunding, you really ought to click here to visit the Renaissance Man project page at Reelhouse.org …

This is a brand-new (as in, the Beta went live last night) video-sharing service based in Vancouver, BC. It’s been built over the course of the last year by a tiny, tireless team toiling in an office in Gastown. We like them a lot and we’re proud to say that Part 3 is the first piece of original content to be uploaded exclusively to Reelhouse.

What makes Reelhouse different from YouTube or Vimeo is not just the lovely staging and design, or the way we can put our whole project on one page, like you’re watching a DVD, with a nice clean URL.

This platform also integrates crowdfunding from the very beginning, with controls that allow the filmmaker to design their own funding campaigns — be they time-limited, like Kickstarter, or ongoing, like a tip jar. You can install pay gates to lock off specific content or offer creative incentives and merch to encourage donation. Sort of like Bandcamp.com, except for filmmakers. We think it’s got a lot of potential.

Our film will always be free to watch — as per our promise to our funders — but we may play with some of these functions later on, and for future projects.

Happy video-watching!