FIREARMS FACTS UPDATE
CANADA FIREARMS CENTRE STILL CLAIMS THEY HAVE
“NO RECORDS” ON TRACING OF FIREARMS - BUT?
October 26, 2004 –
BREITKREUZ’S ATI REQUEST TO THE CFC
On July 23, 2004, the RCMP issued a news release announcing: “On
June 29, 2004, the DNA Data Bank recorded its 2,000th successful DNA match
linking crime scenes to convicted offenders.” Please provide
copies of reports and correspondence showing how many successful firearms
traces the Canada Firearms Centre has made and how many of these traces
linked crime scenes to the accused?
December 13, 2004 – BREITKREUZ’S ATI REQUEST
TO THE CFC
The Hon. Roy Cullen, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness sent an e-mail to all Members of Parliament on December 6, 2004 stating: “Moreover, about 6,000 firearms have been traced in gun-crime and firearm-trafficking cases within Canada and internationally.”
Please provide
copies of documents, reports and correspondence that show:
(1) How many of the 6,000 firearms traced were actually found in the old
Restricted Weapon Registration System; (2) How many of the 6000 firearms
traced were found in the new Canadian Firearms Registry; (3) How many
of the 6000 traces led police investigators to the registered owner of
the firearm; (4) How many of the registered owners identified were charged
with the original crime in which their registered firearm was involved;
and (5) How many of the registered owners identified were charged with
providing their registered firearm to the criminal or criminals involved
in the original crime being investigated.
August 30,
2005 – REPLY FROM CFC – Files: A-2004-0037 and A-2004-0050
This letter is further to your requests numbered MP files 495 and
513, submitted on October 26, 2004 and December 16, 2004, respectively.
Those requests sought reports and statistics on the tracing of firearms.
After discussions with the Office of the Information Commissioner, we
wish to inform you that we have no records which respond to your requests.
September 20, 2005 – COMPLAINT TO INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Please find attached copies of our original ATI request dated October 26, 2004 and December 13, 2004 the Canada Firearms Centre’s “no records” response dated August 30, 2005. Reference is also being made to our complaint letter dated June 23, 2005 with respect to CFC File A-2005-0012/vk.
We wish to dispute
the CFC’s claim that they have no records with respect to the tracing
of firearms. Evidence to support our position was provided in the CFC’s
August 10, 2005 response (CFC File: A-2005-0023/vk) to our request dated
July 7, 2005 (MP File: 551) asking for copies of all speeches and talking
points that were made available to Liberal backbench Members of Parliament.
A complete copy of the CFC response is enclosed for your easy reference.
Please note that on page 000014 in a set of “Speaking Notes” dated February 2004 it states: “Furthermore, nearly 6,000 firearms traces have been conducted through the Canadian Firearms Registry.” If the CFC has “no records” as they claim, then where did this statistic come from? On the same page the CFC states that they are “working closely…with Canada’s international partners to deter the illegal movement and trafficking of firearms across international borders.” One of the primary functions of this activity must involve tracing of firearms. But still the CFC claims they have “no records” on tracing?
On page 000031 in another set of “Speaking Notes” dated February 2004, the CFC states that one of the benefits of Firearms Registration is: “The ability to trace firearms back to their owners also facilitates police investigations and helps crack down on smuggling.” Are Parliamentarians to believe the CFC has “no records” with respect to how effective the gun registry is at achieving these stated benefits?
On page 000053 another set of “Speaking Notes” dated February 28, 2004 states: “The system also helps police officers trace the owners of found, recovered or seized firearms.” On page 000054 they add: “The objective of NWEST is to strengthen Canadian law enforcement’s capability to address the smuggling and trafficking of illegal weapons; strengthen Canada’s expertise in criminal intelligence gathering with respect to the illegal movement of firearms and to strengthen Canada’s capability to trace illegal weapons.” The CFC continues on page 000055: “Since its creation in January 2001, NWEST has provided assistance to more than 7,500 police investigations, conducted more than 3,400 firearms traces and provided more than 800 information sessions to the policing community.” How can the CFC write speeches intended for the House of Commons about the number of firearms traces and the benefits of tracing firearms and still claim they have “no records” about tracing?
On page 000192-93 of a “Firearms Debate Speech – CAFC Progress Report” it states: “This includes using the Firearms Program information to help identify and track smuggling networks and investigate firearms crimes. On October 22, 2004, the Canadian and American Governments announced agreements, currently under development, will enable law enforcement agencies to share specific firearms related information. The use of a new –web-based software will facilitate mutual assistance in tracing firearms confiscated at crime scenes and help identify smuggling networks.” Additional references to the tracing of firearms in these CFC prepared speeches were also made on the following pages: 000065, 000066, 000088, 000098, 000099, 000107, 000132, 000157, 000170, 000171, 000187, and 000188.
After all this bragging by the Canada Firearms Centre about the benefits of the Firearms Program for tracing firearms in speeches drafted for the House of Commons, how can anyone believe that the CFC still has “no records”?
THE ACCESS
TO INFORMATION ACT DANCE: HIDING THE TRUTH ABOUT FIREARMS TRACES
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/issues/guninfo/newguninfo/firearmsfactsupdate_2005_05_10.doc