NEWS RELEASE

March 3, 2004                                                                                          For Immediate Release

CBC’s $2 BILLION DOLLAR COST ESTIMATE FOR THE GUN REGISTRY WAS LOW

“One billion is gone and the only way to stop the waste of another billion is to scrap this useless program.”

Yorkton – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, Deputy House Leader and Official Opposition Justice Critic for Gun Control, released documented proof that the gun registry will cost far more than the $2 billion estimated by CBC’s Zone Libre last month.  “Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan told the House of Commons that the CBC’s estimate was wrong but continually fails to address the discrepancies in her own departmental estimates,” said Breitkreuz.

TWELVE REASONS WHY THE GUN REGISTRY IS GOING TO COST MORE – LOTS MORE!

 

  1. According to the government’s own estimates, as of January 3, 2004, there are still a few hundred thousand gun owners in Canada without a firearms licence.
  2. According to the government’s own estimates, as of January 8, 2004, the Liberals admitted there are still 414,283 firearms licence holders who haven’t registered a gun.
  3. According to the government’s own estimates, as of January 8, 2004, the Liberals admitted there are still 318,846 registered handgun owners who still have to re-register their handguns.
  4. According to the government’s 1998 estimates, as of January 8, 2004, the Liberals still have 1.1 million guns to register.
  5. According to the government’s 1976 estimates (and firearms import and export records), as of January 8, 2004, the Liberals still have 9 million guns to register.
  6. According to RCMP documents, as of January 23, 2003, the Liberals have 5.1 million guns in the registry that still have to be “verified” in accordance with police association demands.
  7. So far, the Liberal’s refuse to provide Parliament with the cost of enforcing the faulty firearms laws as required by the Auditor General’s December 2002 report.  Enforcement costs are projected to be at least a billion dollars based on research reports prepared by the Library of Parliament.
  8. So far, the Liberal’s refuse to provide Parliament with compliance costs as required by the Auditor General’s December 2002 report.  Compliance with the useless legislation has already cost gun owners between $367 and  $764 million dollars based on research reports prepared by the Library of Parliament.
  9. So far, the Liberals refuse to provide Parliament with a copy of their report on the economic impact and cost of their firearms legislation by declaring it a Cabinet secret.
  10. According to provincial government and police sources, provinces are still registering all firearms held as evidence in criminal trials past and present and local police departments and municipalities are not being reimbursed for the full costs of administering the Liberal government’s firearms program.
  11. The government has still not provided Parliament with a full accounting of “indirect costs” incurred by all federal departments and agencies.
  12. According to government documents obtained through the Access to Information Act, the cost of the contract to privatize the gun registry now stands at $371 million.

 

BREITKREUZ’S FIREARMS QUICK FACTS - Updated: February 27, 2004

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/firearmsquickfacts.htm

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