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THE PROBLEM IS CRIMINALS, NOT GUNS

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All last week in the United States, comedians went wild with the bizarre story of Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a friend during a hunting trip.

Maybe it's our Canadian sensibility, but we don't think there's anything funny about someone getting shot. And the ensuing revelations about how long it took Cheney to disclose the incident, how close the birdshot pellets came to his 78-year-old friend's heart, and whether he had a proper hunting licence are troubling.

In any case, we have more than enough gun problems to worry about up here, where some of our leaders' attitudes towards firearms are a joke.

Consider: Less than a month after Stephen Harper's Conservatives were elected on a clear promise to abolish the wasteful, useless long gun registry that has already eaten up nearly $2 billion of our tax dollars, complaints have arisen from Miramichi, N.B., home of the registry's main processing centre, that the decision could cost the town a whopping 200 jobs.

Mayor John McKay insists "the money wasn't spent in Miramichi" and blames the "bureaucratic sinkhole" in Ottawa. We sympathize, but let's face it, the sooner this massive waste ends and the money is redirected to meaningful crimefighting, the better for all of us, including those in Miramichi.

Meanwhile, as the Sun's Mark Bonokoski revealed Friday, the registry will soon be used by the OPP to target thousands of legally registered gun owners as criminals if they fail to renew their $60 five-year firearms permits. More waste.

And it doesn't end there. Ontario's Liberal Attorney General Michael Bryant is pushing PM Harper to let him implement the same goofy handgun "ban" promised by Paul Martin during the election campaign -- even though handguns have been effectively "banned" in this country since the 1930s. Earth to Bryant: Your side lost. Give it up.

Not to be outdone, GTA politicians like Toronto Mayor David Miller are now talking about banning the sale of toy guns -- not just replicas, which are already restricted, but toys like cap guns and water pistols. The town of Scugog has already passed such a law, Durham region endorses it and Toronto and Hamilton are expressing interest.

Good grief. Do our politicians not have enough real guns and real shootings to deal with on our streets?

To paraphrase that memorable Liberal election ad, the problem is criminals. With guns. In our cities. In Canada. Not law-abiding farmers with rifles, not target shooters and collectors with legally registered handguns, not children with toys.

Criminals. Shooting people. On our streets.

What part of that don't these politicians understand?

Look, we're not here to defend Cheney or U.S. gun laws. All we're saying is, we wouldn't laugh too loudly at the VP's story.

Not just because shootings are no laughing matter -- ever. But because there's plenty of evidence here that our leaders are the gang that can't shoot straight.