PUBLICATION:          The Windsor Star

DATE:                         2005.02.10

EDITION:                    Final

SECTION:                  Editorial/Opinion

PAGE:                         A8

SOURCE:                   Windsor Star

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Another registry misfire

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The bloated and inefficient rifle and shotgun registry now has another claim to fame -- it has lost track of at least 46,000 licensed gun owners. Renewals sent out to these licence holders from the Canada Firearms Centre inexplicably came back from the post office marked as "undelivered" mail.

Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz has pointed out this information gap could pose a serious risk if police officers were to approach a house either mistakenly believing a gun was on the premises based on old information, or incorrectly assuming there was no gun.

Meanwhile, the Firearms Centre apparently feels losing 46,000 renewal notices is no big deal.

Spokesman Jamie Deacon pointed out that the undelivered mail rate was lower than industry standards, and "more than nine out of 10 were successfully delivered."

That's not particularly reassuring given that the government has contended that the registry is so important to the nation's public safety.

More to the point, the missing licence renewals are just another example of why the registry has become little more than a billion-dollar sinkhole that has contributed little, if anything, to the safety of Canadians.

University of Calgary Prof. Ted Morton made this assessment of the registry two years ago, and it still holds true today: "The purpose of Bill C-68 --to reduce the use of firearms in violent crime --is laudable and shared by all law-abiding Canadians. However, its licensing and registration requirements do nothing to achieve this end. There is no credible evidence that the new licensing or registration requirements will have any effect on the criminal use of firearms or the incidence of firearms in domestic disputes or accidents. Former Justice Minister Allan Rock has conceded the obvious: criminals will never register their guns."