FIREARMS FACTS UPDATE

DNA REGISTRY COST EFFECTIVE - GUN REGISTRY ?

• DNA DATA BANK COSTS $5 MILLION/YEAR (2005-06)
• GUN REGISTRATION COSTS $11 MILLION/YEAR (2005-06)
• DNA REGISTRY LINKS 1,000+ CRIME SCENES TO OFFENDERS/YEAR
• GUN REGISTRY LINKS ? CRIME SCENES TO OFFENDERS/YEAR

On November 10, 2006, Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. asked the Library of Parliament the following questions:

QUESTION #1 Statistics on the number of times that the gun registry has led police to a person suspected of a violent criminal offence?

QUESTION #2 Statistics on the number of times that the national DNA Data Bank has led police to a person suspected of a violent criminal offence?

QUESTION #3 The amount of money spent in the National DNA Data Bank and accompanying infrastructure from its creation to present?

QUESTION #4 The amount of money spent on registering firearms and accompanying infrastructure, 1996-present?

On January 15, 2007, the Library of Parliament provided the following answers:

ANSWER #1 The Canada Firearms Centre cannot provide a response to question 1, as it does not hold these statistics.

ANSWER #2 As of November 24, 2006, the national DNA Data Bank has documented 6,144 Offender Hits (Crime Scene to Offender) and 929 Forensic Hits (Crime Scene to Crime Scene)

ANSWER #3 (a) From June 2000 to November 22, 2006 TOTAL = $26.4 Million
(b) Fiscal Year 2005-2006 = $2.25 Million. Direct and indirect costs would account for an annual cost of $5 Million per year.

ANSWER #4 The costs for registration of firearms were not kept separately before May of 2004. However, registration of firearms costs were published for the first time in fiscal year 2005-2006 as: Operating expenditures – Registration activities = $11.4 Million (Actual Spending).

BREITKREUZ WONDERS: WHY WOULD THE GOVERNMENT GO TO SUCH GREAT LENGTHS TO TRACK THE COST-EFFECTIVNESS OF THE DNA DATA BANK AND SUCH A POOR JOB OF TRACKING THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF REGISTERING GUNS?