NOTE

NOTE: If they don't know how many guns there are left to register, no wonder they can't answer Canadian Alliance questions: "How much it's going to cost to fully implement the registry? How much is it going to cost to maintain?

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen

DATE: 2003.10.26

EDITION: Final

SECTION: News

PAGE: A4

BYLINE: Tim Naumetz

SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen

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One million guns registered since January deadline: New registrations bring total number to 6.6 million

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The Canada Firearms Centre has registered more than one million shotguns and rifles since the registration deadline passed last Jan. 1, the head of the controversial agency says.

Firearms commissioner Bill Baker told a Commons committee that the figure includes roughly 250,000 firearms that have been registered since the end of a six-month grace period last June. About 5.6 million guns were registered prior to the January deadline.

The total, while a significant accomplishment for the beleaguered program, leaves 1.3 million firearms still to be registered, according to the government's previous estimate of 7.9 million privately owned long guns in Canada.

Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz, who has long claimed the government's estimate is too low, dismissed suggestions that the figures show the government is making headway with stubborn gun owners who oppose the registry. "I don't think it makes any difference," he said. "I think a lot of that was because of the backlog, and they're just trying to clean up the backlog."

Despite the high number of guns still unregistered, Mr. Baker told the Commons justice committee the government does not intend to spend even "one dollar" attempting to determine the rate of compliance. Asked how many long guns there are in Canada, Mr. Baker replied: "I really don't know, I don't think anybody in the country knows how many guns there are."

The newly appointed commissioner rejected opposition suggestions that the firearms centre is set to increase spending. The centre froze many activities and slashed expenses following Auditor General Sheila Fraser's revelation last December that the program was expected to cost a total of $1 billion by 2005.

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NUMBER OF GUNS IN CANADA = 16.5 Million

Documented as of: December 13, 2001

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/GunControl50.htm

1976 LIBERAL ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF GUNS IN CANADA = 10.5 Million

Documented as of: March 19, 1976

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/firearms_facts_feb27-03.htm

NUMBER OF GUNS REGISTERED = 6,482,845

Documented as of: July 5, 2003

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/FirearmsRegistered-2003-07-05.xls

# OF LICENCED GUN OWNERS STILL TO REGISTER THEIR GUNS = 428,639

Documented as of: July 5, 2003