PUBLICATION:        The London Free Press 

DATE:                         2004.01.08

EDITION:                    Final 

SECTION:                  Opinion Pages 

PAGE:                         A8 

COLUMN:                  Our view 

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GUN REGISTRY TEST FOR MARTIN

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Paul Martin's handling of the ill-fated long-gun registry will be a big test of the leadership abilities of Canada's new prime minister.

Martin should cut his losses and kill the registry, a $2-million plan that soared to $1 billion.

This is not to say gun control isn't necessary. But the registry is not the way to do it, as it fails to address the real problem -- criminals who use guns to kill, rob and intimidate. The long-gun registry targets hunters and farmers, who use their rifles and shotguns for sport hunting and pest control, respectively. They pose few threats.

It is a difficult political issue for Martin because the registry has polarized the country, largely along rural and urban lines.

A rural Saskatchewan farmer who goes to bed with his doors unlocked doesn't understand the concerns of a resident of Toronto, where gun crimes are in the news almost daily. Similarly, city residents don't understand that long guns are often among a farmer's necessary tools.

The challenge for the gun-registry review, headed by Minister of State for Civil Preparedness Albina Guarnieri, is to find a way to mollify both sets of constituents. With Guarnieri an advocate of gun control and two local Liberal MPs representing rural ridings, Paul Steckle (Huron-Bruce) and Rose-Marie Ur (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex), expected to join her team, a compromise may be possible.

That won't be easy. But the focus must be on the real source of gun crimes -- smuggled weapons. Instead of spending $1 billion on registering long guns of law-abiding citizens, some of that money would go a long way to improving security at our borders to stem the flow of contraband handguns.

And with reports of some guns arriving via postal services, surveillance of mail coming into Canada must be greatly expanded from the five per cent currently X-rayed or inspected.

When a viable alternative is outlined, it should be implemented and the registry scrapped. Getting public buy-in to both actions is Martin's job.

With good legislation, it's do-able. With bad, it's impossible. To determine which category the registry falls into, consider that eight of 10 provinces refuse to charge gun owners who do not comply.