MOTION FOR CONSIDERATION BY

THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE

That the Committee examine the options to effectively deal with the massive non-compliance with the firearms registry and consider what the implications non-compliance with the program and the Charter challenges, currently before the courts, may have on the cost and the effectiveness of the program.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

NON-COMPLIANCE (Government's Estimates)

294,301 licenced individuals still haven't applied to register their guns

            Source: Dept. of Justice ATI File: A-2003-0020 – May 16, 2003

338,121 owners of registered handguns still haven't re-registered their guns

            Source: Dept. of Justice ATI File: A-2003-0020 – May 16, 2003

541,000 gun owners missed the licencing deadline two years ago

            Source: National Post – January 16, 2003 – Page A13

27% of gun owners in Quebec don't have a firearms licence

            Source: Le Devoir – January 20, 2003 – Page A8

NOTE: Only those licenced gun owners that have filed "Letters of Intent" before December 31, 2002 are able to register their firearms.

David Austin, spokesman for the Canadian Firearms Centre, said 70,000 letters of intent were filed. Of that number, 45,000 were electronically filed and have all received return messages on how to register their guns. The "bulk" of 25,000 letters of intent in printed form have received packages informing owners what to do to complete registration, he said. People who have not received packages should contact the centre, he suggested. 

SOURCE: The Chronicle Herald, "Bureaucratic bungling has gun lobby group up in arms" - May 14, 2003, Page D12

CHARTER CHALLENGES CURRENTLY BEFORE THE COURTS

June 19, 2000 – Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. & Government of Nunavut

June 4, 2001   – Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations

July 25, 2002  – Sturgeon Lake Indian Band – Saskatchewan

May 27, 2003  – Michael Martinoff – Provincial Court, Grand Forks, BC