PUBLICATION:
The
Toronto Sun
DATE:
2004.12.08
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
Editorial/Opinion
PAGE:
18
COLUMN:
Editorial
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REGISTRY
SHOULD BE SHOT DOWN
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TORONTONIANS
DON'T need politicians in Ottawa to tell them the federal gun registry is
useless -- we see the evidence every day on our streets.
Did
the gun registry protect 11-year-old Tamara Carter from being shot in the head
when gunfire broke out last week on a TTC bus?
Did
it protect Louise Russo from being paralyzed by a bullet in a drive-by shooting
at a Downsview sandwich shop last April?
Did
it save Derek Wah Yan, who was shot dead while inside his home, watching TV with
his son a year ago?
Not
only did the gun registry not stop these crimes, it has been of no help in
solving them either.
No
surprise there: Criminals don't register their guns.
The
evidence is everywhere in this gun-plagued city, to the point where Police Chief
Julian Fantino has loudly called for the registry to be scrapped and more severe
sentences for actual gun crimes enforced in its place.
This
week, for once, someone in Ottawa is listening.
Tomorrow,
MPs will have the chance to admit the registry -- the proposed $2-million
program whose costs have ballooned to $1 billion (and some critics say more than
that) -- has been a failure. A motion launched by Sarnia Liberal MP Roger
Gallaway -- yes, we said Liberal -- asks MPs to slash the budget of the Canadian
Firearms Centre by 85% (or $96 million), effectively closing it down.
Just
think: Passing this motion would put an end to nine years of wasted efforts to
get duck hunters and farmers to register their guns and clear the way for
"gun control" that actually protects citizens. Real, hard jail time
for anyone caught smuggling firearms, carrying a gun illegally or using one in a
crime, for instance. Simple.
Alas,
that's not likely to happen. While Gallaway and a few other Grit backbenchers
will be joined by the Conservatives, the Liberal cabinet (led by registry
proponent Anne McLellan) will back it, and they'll have more votes.
In
a shocking display of arrogance that was shameful even for them, McLellan and
colleague Jean LaPierre insisted Monday the registry must stay in honour of the
14 victims of the Montreal massacre (15 years ago this week).
"If
we destroy the arms registry, those women will have died in vain," said
LaPierre. How crass can you get?
A
registry that does nothing to prevent crime is a monument to no one -- except
wasteful Liberals.
Any MP who truly cares
about protecting crime victims should show it tomorrow: Scrap the registry. Now.