“If law abiding gun owners have to register with
the government, why not convicted sex offenders?”
Ottawa – Today in
the House of Commons, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, made a shocking
comparison. “Will the government please
explain to victims of sexual assault why they force law abiding gun owners to
carry a photo ID but not convicted sex offenders?” asked Breitkreuz.
“The Liberals, by their actions, demonstrate quite clearly that
protecting women and children is not one of their priorities.”
He made the comments while speaking in support of a Canadian Alliance
motion calling on the government to implement a national sex offender registry.
Referring to a government document
titled: “Report to Federal, Provincial and
Territorial Ministers on Information Systems on Sex Offenders Against Children
and Other Vulnerable Groups,” Breitkreuz outlined a number
of inconsistencies with respect to the Liberal’s refusal to implement a sex
offender registry.
Liberal Excuse #1: A Sex Offender Registry would
duplicate information that is already on CPIC.
Breitkreuz’s Response: Convicted sex offenders don’t have to
tell the government where they live. Law
abiding gun owners can go to jail for up to two years if they don’t report
their address change.
Liberal Excuse #2: A Sex Offender Registry would
be expensive and difficult to administer. Breitkreuz’s
Response: The government has spent $600 million keeping track of law-abiding
gun owners and ZERO dollars keeping track of convicted sex offenders.
Liberal Excuse #3: A Sex Offender Registry
raises serious privacy concerns. Breitkreuz’s
Response: On February 16th, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
has raised three pages of privacy concerns about the gun registry.
Why are the Liberals more concerned about the protecting the privacy of
convicted sex offenders than they are about protecting the privacy of law
abiding gun owners?
Liberal Excuse #4: A Sex Offender Registry would
be difficult to administer with regard to verification of identity.
Breitkreuz’s Response: The Liberals force every law abiding
firearm owner to carry a photo ID card to verify their identity to police.
Why not photo IDs for convicted sex offenders?
Liberal Excuse #5: A Sex Offender Registry would be of limited value
unless supported by a comprehensive screening process.
Breitkreuz’s Response: Every law abiding firearm owner in the
country has to submit themselves to comprehensive screening of their marital
problems, common law relationships, financial difficulties, etc, etc - and these
are people who haven’t broken any law! Will
the government please explain to victims of sexual assault, why comprehensive
screening of convicted sex offenders is off limits?
Liberal Excuse #6: Sex offenders are unlikely to
comply with compulsory registration. Breitkreuz’s
Response: Law abiding gun owners were threatened with a number of Criminal
Code offences and up ten years in jail for not complying with the gun registry.
Why not threaten convicted sex offenders with ten years in jail for not
complying and see how they respond?
“The gun registry does
nothing to protect women and children. It
is simply a futile bureaucratic exercise to lay a piece of plastic beside some
of the firearms in Canada – millions of guns will never be registered.
Breitkreuz concluded, “In 1998, the Liberal government had a choice of
implementing a National Sex Offender Registry targeted at convicted criminals or
proceeding with a gun registry targeted at law abiding citizens.
Sadly for our children and the most vulnerable in society, they made the
wrong choice!”
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