senseless vandalism wrought by young thieves on Sunday dur- ing an n erratic ride through West t Vancouver. IN A nod to’ the power of public 0} opinion, ~North Vancouver Reform MP Ted White a a_contentious: federal. gun bill intro- duced Feb. 14, 7 A “White has: mailed out 41 000 pamphlets out- ‘ lining what the federal Liberal’s Bill C-68 is all . about to North Vancouver residents. “The pamphlet. also ‘contains arguments for. | and ‘against the bill’s passage by two non-parti san volunteer committees, said White... “But he!.is keeping his’ opinion of the 124- “page bill to himself for now, -“] havea very strong opinion and I ‘will express it as soon as the poll results are “out,” he told the News. . :.“[ want the community to decide,” , White said, adding that he does. not want his opinion to influence the vote. . “A; polling: firm: began surveying * residents. Wednesday night. White. - “said the:‘poll’s results: will. be made = public Tuesday, after, pollsters receive 300 answers.’ The $2, 700 bill for'the poll: wili come out of axpayers’ wallets, said White," ... '. That-hurts, he said, but he added that the” "community wants its say.on the. bill and the only way to get an accurate read on the Public's s. ind is a scientific poll. : wos “That Costs money,” said White. _ Even if the résidents vote against the Reform party. line, which, is. solidly ‘against the bill, will follow ‘his constituents’. “EWS photo Mike Watetlald” ‘DAMAGE TO the: roof of ‘this: Dodge. Caravan was part of the Names entered in organizer lead to culprits PATRICK ELDON decided to get connected with the parents of six teenagers who were caught in his trashed van on Sunday. * By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter The teenagers entered their names and phone aumbers into Eldon’s electronic organizer while cruising in West Vancouver in the stolen van. Eldon, « novice victim of crime, decided to phone up the teens’ parents and give them his side of the story. “T got the satisfaction of informing the parents of the _ severity of the event, whereas the children were down- playing it.” said Eldon, 39, of West Vancouver, “One of the parents was very shocked that] had invad- wt his home space, in effect, with this information because *s the fast thing a parent expects,” said Eldon. He said all the teens appeared to be * “pleading inno- cent” to their parents concerning the incident. Tae parents* natural instinct is to believe their children, said Eldon. Eldon’s: 1993 Dodge Caravan was parked in Park -Royal shopping centre's south mall in the early afternoon when it was stolen. Three teenage boys — two ‘16. year-olds from Delta and Langley and a'15-year-old Vancouverite — drove the ‘van to the nearby bowling alley where three West Vancouver girls got in, according to Eldon. All three boys . are known to police. The 15-year-old was driving the van, according to a West Vancouver Police (WVP) spokesman. Eldon had his wallet, cellular phone and organizer in a. “Usaide"Ob, TF understa and, 1 had a cell phone stolen once ‘locked box under a seat in the vehicle. . He took a taxi home and called up the cellular phone company, eventually persuading them to tell him when the ‘latest cell call had been made from his phone. Me “TE said, Don’ t phone the phone, just find out-if it’s being used,” said Eldon, She phoned back and said i i. was used three minutes ago.” Eldon phoned the police and said hé was going to go look for the'van in the area where the cellular call ws made, To his amazement, Eldon spotted his van tuminz “There they were, six people in the van." said Bidon. He trailed his vehicle along the highway and pulled up beside it to get'a good look at the kids inside. ‘Then he pulled back behind them. “TL thought, they are all young, should 1 just ram the vehicle off the road? PE thought. no. PI just play it out.” said Eldon. Eldon said the van was all over the highway going Fast and then dramatically slow. “don't think the driver knew how to drive properly.” suid Eldon. “The girls in the back were all bouncing around and having a great time.” When the van pulled off to Cypress Bowl, Eldon phoned the WYP ata public phone. - The teenagers were stopped and arrested as Eldon watched from a safe distance. “When the police officer held up the evidence bag with my organizer in it. { said it was mine and the kid that had ~had it turned to me and said, ‘The other guy just gave it to me,’ " said Eldon. Al the police station, Eldon said he heard a lot of laughing, joking and teenage bravado. During their hour or so jaunt in the van, the thieves sarved up its-interior, punched holes in the seats and slashed the roof, Eldon estimated the damage into the thousands of dollars. His wallet and cell phone are still missing. : “I felt it was necessary for me to at least find out why these parents let this happen,” said Eidon. “One of the parents I spoke to and explained that his son had been there and that my cell phone had been stolen a The boys face charges of possessing’ stolen property over $5,000 and committing mischief. The 15-year-old ‘ faces an additional charge of possessing stolen property : under $5,000. . ‘The 15-year-old was remanded in custody, while the Gther two were released until a June 7 court appearance. Said Eldon, “It’s Breat that they were caught. It's great that they were put in jail. The sad thing is.is that there’ too. wishes when voting c onthe bili, . In explaining Reform's position, White said most Reform MPs are from rural areas while White is one of the few urban MPs. The rural ote drives the Reform party position, White said. phoning and writing to White's office since the “pamphlet was mailed show 119 residents sup- | port the bill, while 88 oppose it. ° That response is more muted than expected, “said White. Usually when a controversial j issue is raised, the phones ring off the: hook, said "White. “That - hasn’t 1 happened with gun control,” he said. ©. He added, however, that over the past. few months his office has received a couple of thou- sand letters and calls ‘on gun control, with the . majority ‘against the bill. Many. of those’ were ’ postcards and letters from ‘ “special. -interest groups, he said. White said-he. would like to compare ‘the * polling. firm’s results:with his informal ‘poll's . results:and a North Shore News poll to ‘deter-. Results | from fan: informal poll of people . mine if calls to his constitucticy accurately reflect the riding asa whole. The householder points out that the-ambi- tious bill includes much more than gun comrol. Under the bill, gun owners must be licensed. People involved in a criminal offence involving.’ ‘violence, drug trafficking ’or criminal harass- . “ment, and those who have demonstrated violent behavior in the previous five - years, would be. disqualified. Guns must. be registered under the legisla- tion before Jan.'1, 1998," The bill also extends some police inspection powers, ii : Sales. of many military and ‘paramilitary: weapons would be prohibited. Civilians other than target shooters or collectors will not. be able to own handguns, storage. regulations would be modified, new penalties for. traffick- ing, smuggling weapons or committing crimes with weapons would be imposed | and ammu-: nition sales regulated: °. : . Supporters of the bill said it includes a régistration system that will 'be no more time consuming than registering a. car, boat or pet. Safe storage would help reduce | gun theft and legislation’: would . provide Canada Customs with greater authority to ‘intercept and deal with illegal firearms at . the border. Bill C-68 will also help distinguish legal and illegal firearm owners, supporters say. Opponents say the bill will result in revenue losses to government and hurt t tourism and busi- “nesses, =~ . They added Bill C-68 will n not réduce smug- gling or address the problem of gun crime. The cost of registration, say estimates quot-" -ed by opponents in the houscholder, could run “higher than $500 million. . . . right or on n th Trans-Canada Highway near Taylor Way. " appears to be no feeling of guilt from any of. the parties.”. A HIGH-SPEED chase in? . the British. Properties on’ § “Wednesday saw some hard _ | “driving on the fairway ‘at [.,. the Capilano, Golf . and Country. Club.. oe ‘| By Anna Marie D ‘Angelo - News Reporter me - A West: Vancouver Police 7 cruiser was chasing an alleged- :- ly «stolen 1994':.-Nissan: » Pathfinder at ‘about., 1 am. when it! drove. ‘into: the golf., club's parking fot and onto the 13th: green, according, to as police spokesman. -:: Two passengers in the truck ' jumped out and ran into some... bushes while the driver made a “U-turn ‘and. continued ‘up’ the f “golf: hill, according to- the: - Police. ane “The driver passed the f pursu-; _ing police car, which was stuck: A See West Van page 4