“So
why don’t the Liberals finally heed the Statistics Canada numbers and put an
end to this charade?”
Ottawa
– Every
year, Statistics Canada publishes a report on homicides in Canada and every year
the statistics prove what the Liberals don’t want to admit – gun
registration doesn’t work. “Why
don’t they put an end to this soon-to-be billion dollar charade perpetrated on
the Canadian taxpayers?” asked Garry Breitkreuz, the Official Opposition’s
gun control critic. “Is the truth
that hard to swallow or is it that the Liberals just hate admitting they made
such a huge mistake?” The
Saskatchewan MP continued, “These Stats Can numbers were just as obvious in
1994 and 1995 as they are today except the data now show the situation is
getting worse. Instead of relying
on independent statistics the Liberals decided to fabricate some of their own to
fit their ill-conceived beliefs and to perpetrate this firearms fiasco.”
Here are some of the more revealing facts from the
Statistics Canada report, Homicide in Canada, 2000:
1. Of the 542 homicides in Canada in 2000, stabbing,
beating and strangulation accounted for 58% and firearms for 34% (Page 7).
Obviously, violent individuals are the problem and registering a person’s
firearms doesn’t prevent someone from killing another person.
2. Of the 183 firearms homicides in 2000, 58% were
committed with handguns (The law has required all handguns to be registered
since 1934), 8% were committed with firearms that are completely prohibited
(sawed-off rifles or shotguns and fully automatic firearms), and 31% were
committed with a rifle or shotgun (Page 8).
Obviously, 67 years of registering handguns demonstrates that registration is a
fatal flop as a way to prevent the criminal use of firearms.
The statistical evidence also indicates that the total banning of guns
doesn’t work any better.
3. Despite 67 years of mandatory handgun registration,
the use of handguns in firearms homicides has been steadily increasing since
1974, from 26.9% to 58.5% in 2000. Conversely,
firearms homicides with rifles and shotguns that weren’t registered dropped
steadily over the same 27-year period, from 63.6% to 30.6% (Table 6 – Page 9).
Makes a sane person wonder why the Liberals employ 1,800 staff and have
wasted more than $680 million trying to register millions of rifles and
shotguns, doesn’t it?
4. Of 110 handgun homicides committed between 1997 and
2000, 69% of the handguns were not registered (Page 9) -
This despite the fact that the law has required handguns to be registered since
1934. Does the failure of gun
registration as an effective government policy get any more obvious than this?
Read on.
5. In 2000, 67% of persons accused of homicide had a
Canadian criminal record, and 69% of these had previously been convicted of
violent crimes. At the same time,
52% of homicide victims also had a criminal record (Page 15).
Obviously, the Liberals have hit the wrong target by requiring completely
innocent farmers, hunters and recreational shooters to register their firearms.
Obviously, criminals are the real targets – not duck hunters!
The government had a choice six years ago and it made
the wrong one. On September 21,
1995, the Ontario Solicitor General, Bob Runciman, told the Senate Standing
Committee, “In national terms, 85 million dollars would put another 1,000
customs agents on the border; 500 million dollars would put an extra 5,900
police officers on the street. The federal alternative is to use the money to
register every shotgun and bolt-action .22 in Canada. No great brilliance is
required to figure out which would have a greater impact on crime."
Breitkreuz concluded, “The September 11th terrorist
attacks have shown us all what a real security threat is.
With few exceptions everyone in Canada now knows that the threat is not
the three million “completely innocent” firearms owners.”
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