NOTE:
Versions of this article were also published in: The Ottawa Citizen,
Times Colonist (Victoria), The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon), Edmonton Journal,
Calgary Herald
PUBLICATION: Montreal
Gazette
DATE: 2003.01.25
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A10
BYLINE: TIM
NAUMETZ
SOURCE: Southam
News
DATELINE: OTTAWA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ottawa's estimate of Quebec gun owners off by 230,000:
MP: Firearms may total twice what officials think. Criminology professor says 6
million to 9 million guns remain unregistered across the country
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quebec
government records on hunter certificates suggest the federal Justice Department
underestimated the number of firearm owners in the province by almost 230,000,
says Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz.
The
figures may also back up claims by a prominent British Columbia criminologist
that there are likely several million more gun owners and guns across the
country than the Justice Department estimated in 2001.
Gary
Mauser, a professor at Simon Fraser University, said yesterday he estimates
there are between 12 million and 15 million guns in Canada, twice what the
Justice Department claims.
Figures
obtained through Quebec's Access to Information Act show the province had issued
918,585 hunter certificates from 1972 to 2000, Breitkreuz said. The certificates
are permanent and issued to individual hunters who have taken firearms safety
courses.
But
the Justice Department, in a survey done by GPC International in 2000, estimated
there were only 690,000 firearm owners in Quebec.
That
survey, based on telephone interviews with households across the country, led to
an estimate of 2.46 million gun owners across Canada. A subsequent survey in
2001 led to an estimate of 7.92 million firearms in the country, including
rifles, shotguns and handguns.
Breitkreuz,
however, said yesterday the Quebec figures indicate many gun owners were
reluctant to admit they owned firearms when they were contacted in 2000.
Although pollsters completed interviews with 6,145 individuals, a further 6,753
refused to take part.
The
Justice Department's estimate of gun owners has come under closer scrutiny
following the department's disclosure last week that 204,800 gun owners in
Alberta have been licensed under the new Firearms Act.
The
2000 federal survey led to an estimate of 220,000 gun owners in Alberta, which
would suggest only seven per cent remain to be licensed in the province that has
seen some of the most vocal opposition to the Firearms Act.
Chantal
Breton, a spokesperson for the Canadian Firearms Centre, said the number of
hunter certificates issued in Quebec cannot be reliably used to indicate the
number of gun owners, because ownership is not a requirement to obtain a hunter
certificate.
"It
does not mean an individual has a firearm," said Breton, adding that
spouses and minors sometimes acquire hunter certificates to permit them to
accompany their spouse or parents.
Breitkreuz
called that explanation "ridiculous." "It's absurd to say that
somebody with a lifetime hunter certificate doesn't have a gun," he said.
The
Justice Department said last week 5.9 million firearms have been registered
under the new program.
But
Mauser said past surveys and firearm-sales and import figures suggest between
six million and nine million firearms remain unregistered. "Those guns are
underground, in some way or another," he said.