PUBLICATION:          The Ottawa Citizen

DATE:                         2004.12.09

EDITION:                    Final

SECTION:                  News

PNAME:                      Editorial

PAGE:                         A16

SOURCE:                   The Ottawa Citizen

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It's time to scrap the gun registry

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It's too bad Roger Gallaway dropped his motion to end funding for the gun registry. But the Liberals can't erase the writing on the wall as easily as they can silence one of their own MPs.

In fact, while Mr. Gallaway's motion probably would have failed in any vote today, support seemed likely to come from some New Democrats and Liberals as well as Conservatives. Indeed, Conservative MP Peter MacKay has put forward an identical motion to Mr. Gallaway's, but it, too, will likely fail today. Such wide-spectrum opposition to the registry is a sign that its problems go beyond ideology. It is a wasteful, poorly run program.

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and others have questioned Mr. Gallaway's timing, as his motion was to come a few days after the 15th anniversary of the gun murder of 14 women in Montreal by Marc Lepine. But if the registry is flawed -- and it is -- it is flawed every day of the year.

No one can say with any certainty whether the gun registry, or any gun- control program, would have prevented Marc Lepine's crime, or any crime. Neither can anyone be certain about what is behind the decrease in gun-related deaths in Canada . It's possible the registry is to thank for that, but it's also possible it isn't. The truth is not served by assumptions and unproven claims. What is clear, however, is that the wastefulness, complexity and unforeseen costs of the registry have not prevented any crimes.

The implementation of the firearms program has come at a price for taxpayers of more than $1 billion. The registry portion itself is currently costing $33 million a year; the government says it will cap the annual cost at $25 million starting next fiscal year. We'll believe it when we see it. In the meantime, the Liberals' blind support for this program is beginning to smack of desperation.