SECTION: Outdoors

PAGE: B3

COLUMN: Wilderness Views

BYLINE: Gord Follett

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Getting gun registered is a long shot

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Although I work with computers on a fairly regular basis, I am certainly not your typical computer geek. Far from it. My knowledge in this field of technology is relatively basic, which is probably why I remain somewhat suspicious of e-mails I send and receive -- something like the older folks who still don't trust bank machines.

I've often wondered if hackers can "tap in" to my messages, and when I received an e-mail this week from Yorkton-Melville MP Garry Breitkreuz -- which was basically a copy of a column on gun registration by Lloyd Litwin of the Star Phoenix in Saskatoon -- I figured Lloyd had gotten access to my e-mail account. He didn't, of course, but his problems with the Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC) were suspiciously similar to what I've been experiencing in recent months.

Although those still fighting Bill C-68 would probably rather I not state this publicly, I decided back in July to register my firearms, as much as I disagreed with the law. Before I continue, let me assure you this is not intended to discourage anybody from continuing the fight against C-68. My situation is slightly different in that I require guns as part of my job and cannot afford to have them confiscated come Jan. 1, 2003. Families who hunt for their winter's supply of meat are in a similar situation.

There isn't nearly enough room here to itemize the full story of frustration the Saskatoon writer experienced, much less the catalogue of registration horror stories I've heard over the past couple of years, but here are a few excerpts from his Nov. 12 column:

"I know people who are having trouble with the free Internet registration. It works only with the latest versions of software and sometimes has trouble with the numbers ...

"I phoned the 1-800 number -- 14 times -- until I got through and waited about 10 minutes ... I greeted Denise ... We went around (in a) circle several times ... I said it was obvious she didn't know what a muzzleloader was and she hadn't answered my question. ... After a short tirade about how well she knew her job and that she did too know what a muzzleloader was, she hung up ... "I then thought I would call the chief provincial firearms officer and get an answer. Wrong! The Web site gives only the federal 1-800 number for all provinces."

His is one of literally hundreds -- thousands, perhaps -- of examples of how the federal government was ill-prepared to implement this billion-dollar fiasco. When all is said and done, this will probably top the list of blunders in the sequel to Randy Richmond and Tom Villemaire's new book, Colossal Canadian Failures.

My own frustration began in late July when I first ran into difficulty with the online registration system and decided to e-mail the CFC. ... No, that's not quite correct; my anxiety actually started earlier in the month when I made countless efforts to contact them by phone before finally slamming it down.

Entitled, "I want to register -- help," I informed officials in my e-mail that I had moved residence twice in the mid-to-late '90s and wanted to register my firearms. Perhaps they had my old address in the system. I provided my previous addresses, plus my current one, where I've been living for almost four years.

I sent basically the same e-mail in mid-August, making note that this was my second attempt, and on Sept. 25 I reminded them "This is the third time I've tried through e-mail to gather information from CFC, but I've yet to receive a response." (Those messages were sent from the Newfoundland Sportsman office; I tried twice from home as well, to no avail.)

On Oct. 10, the CFC finally replied and informed me they would send my request on to the Technical Help Desk to provide me with the assistance needed in registering my firearms online. On Oct. 28, I contacted the CFC yet again to inform them I hadn't heard from the technical help people.

As of the writing of this column on Thursday, Nov. 14, they still hadn't made contact.

And to think that at the beginning of this column, some of you readers thought I was suggesting you throw in the towel and register your guns? Not bloody likely! I'd never recommend anyone torture themselves -- not after what I've gone through.

And I haven't even gotten to the tough part yet.

Gord Follett is editor of the Newfoundland Sportsman magazine. He can be reached regarding this column by e-mail at gfollett@thetelegram.com. His column returns in two weeks.