February 28, 2002
For Immediate Release
“Justice
Dept. has lost track of 300,000 registered guns and more than 38,000 licenced
firearm owners.”
Ottawa – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, the
Official Opposition’s gun control critic, released a summary of recent
bureaucratic blunders in the government’s $700 million gun registry called: ERRORS, ERRORS AND MORE ERRORS. On
February 7, 2001, the Edmonton Sun reported: Canadian
Police Association president Const. Grant Obst said yesterday a lot of Canadian
cops who believe in the “concept” of a gun registry have profound doubts
that the one being run by CFC [Canadian Firearms Centre] will ever offer police the information they need to fight crime.
“They’re not happy with the information-gathering,” he said.
“They’re asking themselves, will the information be accurate.” Breitkreuz’s paper has answered
Const. Obst’s question, “If the information in the registry isn’t accurate
what possible use can the registry be to police?”
“Whether
it’s the estimated 300,000 unclaimed guns in the old handgun registry; losing
track of 38,629 licenced firearm owners in the last year; issuing 832 duplicate
firearms licences; issuing dozens of licences with the wrong photographs, or the
issuing of 57 registration certificates for 16 guns owned by one man, the
Justice Department bureaucrats have proven themselves incapable of implementing
Bill C-68 and have no hope of fulfilling the Minister’s promises,” commented
Breitkreuz. “The gun registry
is the biggest garbage collection system in Canada.
No wonder the Liberals want to privatize this mess.”
A
front-page story in Monday’s Moncton Times and Transcript illustrated
how important accuracy in the gun registry is to police.
The article said: The database is supposed to allow police officers the ability to check,
when responding to a call, if there are guns in a household. That way an officer
will know if there is the potential for grave danger when they answer a call.
But some front-line officers argue they would be idiots to rely on a
registry that nobody can guarantee is complete, and that officers who don't
realize that all calls must be treated with the utmost caution are playing with
their very lives. "At first
glance it was an excellent, excellent selling feature," says Sackville
police officer Ted Doncaster. "A
lot of time has passed since then," he adds, chuckling at the irony of a
safety feature that police can rely on only at their own peril.
"I will say the words. I think we were sucked in.” Ted
Doncaster is also President of the New Brunswick Police Association.
“Despite
all this evidence to the contrary, some will still argue that spending a billion
dollars on the gun registry will somehow improve public safety.
The sad fact is that the gun registry actually puts people more at
risk,” predicted Breitkreuz. “As
noted above, police officers may be lulled into a false sense of security if the
gun registry computers show a home supposedly has no guns.
Alternatively, when gun registry computers show guns are present when
none actually exist, the occupants of the home are at risk because police
officers enter with firearms drawn. Errors
in the system undermine the whole premise on which the gun registry was
based,” noted Breitkreuz.
“In
1995, Joe Jordan, MP for Leeds-Grenville, commented on national television that
the gun registry was no more complicated than the income tax system.
I guess it’s just coincidence that the Prime Minister appointed a new
Justice Minister that has some experience running the Canada Customs and Revenue
Agency,” observed Breitkreuz. On
Monday, the new Minister of Justice proudly proclaimed in Parliament,
“We are pleased with what we have done. The
gun registry works well.” (Hansard page 9201)
“Look again Mr. Minister, your own department’s documents prove
otherwise,” concluded Breitkreuz.
The
report ERRORS, ERRORS AND MORE ERRORS is available here.
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