"Either
it shows the most massive open defiance of the Criminal
Code
in Canadian history,
Ottawa
– Today,
Garry Breitkreuz, Official Opposition Critic on Firearms and Property Rights,
released one of the most amazing and damning documents yet released by the
Department of Justice. “I can’t
believe they released such an embarrassing document.
Either it shows the most massive open defiance of the Criminal
Code
in Canadian history, or it’s absolute proof that the Liberal’s gun
registration scheme can never work. I
tend to think the latter, but whatever answer the Justice Minister selects, it
spells another huge blow to the credibility of the government’s gun
registry,” predicted Breitkreuz.
The
documents obtained by Breitkreuz from the Justice Department state:
ATIP
A2002-0063 – Numbers provided are as of May 27, 2002
(1)
The
total number of individuals in the Restricted
Weapons Registration System (RWRS) that own
(2)
The total number that hold valid firearms licences authorizing them to own the
firearms
registered to them
(3)
The total number of individuals that have re-registered their firearms: 96,237.
“This
shoots a big hole in the Justice Minister’s claim of a 90% compliance rate.
If these statistics are to be believed, it means that 304,375 owners of
registered restricted and prohibited firearms are subject to a penalty of up to
ten years in jail for knowingly being in unauthorized possession of their
firearms. I don’t think very many
people that own a gun already registered with the RCMP would run such a risk,”
said Breitkreuz. This is why I
think these statistics reveal a fatal flaw in the entire gun registry. A more realistic explanation is that over the last 68 years
of registering guns, the RCMP have simply lost track of the vast majority of
these 300,000 owners of registered weapons.
Gun owners move, or die or sell their firearms, but the RCMP has
obviously failed to keep their records up to date. Over the years, the errors have accumulated making the gun
registry practically useless for effective law enforcement.
How will the executive of the Canadian Police Association defend their
continued support for the gun registry now?” asked Breitkreuz.
Earlier
this year, the Justice Department provided statistics that prove that the same
errors are creeping into the government’s new gun registry.
As of February 21, 2002, they had mailed out 1,625,915 envelopes to
licenced firearms owners as part of their “Free” Registration Program.
So far 38,629 envelopes have been “Returned to Sender” by Canada
Post. So
only a year after the licencing deadline, the Department of Justice has already
lost track of more than 38,000 licenced gun owners.
“This number will only increase as time goes on,” predicted
Breitkreuz. “Responsible firearms owners across Canada have
accurately characterized the gun registry as the Titanic.
This new evidence surely puts the bow of Bill C-68 under water.”
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