Gun Registry in Canada

There is great debate lately about the Canadian Federal Government's long-gun registry. There is a private member's bill that has been tabled by Candice Hoeppner in the House of Commons which seeks to abolish the registry. It is quickly becoming a Liberals vs Conservatives talking point, with the Chiefs of Police nationwide weighing in with their opinions.

The best discussion I have heard so far relates this back to simple roots: Urban Canada vs Rural Canada. The urbanites make the argument that long guns have no place in society. Anybody who owns or uses one must be interested or involved in the perpetration of a crime. As such, those that already exist need to be registered and licensed. Anyone failing to register a long gun in their possession is subject to a fine.

There is a huge outcry from the Chiefs of Police, who defend the gun registry stating that they are provided a modicum of safety by having prior knowledge that a gun is present in a household when they are called to an incident, such as domestic violence. Interestingly, Chief Hanson of Calgary has called the value of the registry into question, and doesn't stand with his brethren Chiefs.

The people in rural areas believe that owning a gun is as much a part of their way of life as owning pants. It is protection from the natural elements that exist in their environment. Living in areas of our nation where there is very little population density means sharing your environment with all manner of fauna - bears, coyotes, cougars and wolves.

What make the Registry so irrelevant  is that it seeks only to control "long guns",  rifles and the like. I suspect that the violent crimes the Registry seeks to manage are perpetrated with pistols and other forms of hand-guns, not covered by the Registry. Further, I would wager that the very same criminals who would perpetrate violent crimes using handguns are just as unlikely to want to register such a firearm. As such, I can't see much protection being offered by the Registry.

So where does the value of the Long Gun Registry come into play ? Was it worth the initial $2billion is purportedly cost to set up, and then the further millions required to maintain it ? Are we ANY safer with it than without it ?

I for one would like to see the figures. Show me cold, hard statistics which irrefutably prove that the establishment of the Federal Gun Registry has been DIRECTLY linked to the lowering of the number of violent crimes perpetrated in Canada. Frankly, I don't think it is possible that statistics could show that. As such, I question the value of the long gun registry.


The opinions expressed are purely those of the author. Opinions are like noses - everyone has one, and they are entitled to it !