November 8, 1995 For Immediate Release
POLICE MAGAZINE EDITORIALS QUESTION LOGIC OF GUN REGISTRATION
"What will police do when they face people who believe this law is both unnecessary and unfair?"
Ottawa - Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, read a couple of interesting editorials from Canadian police magazines, which he thinks shows the tensions developing between police-on-the-street, most of whom oppose gun registration, and the elites who publish and edit the police magazines, who say they support Rock's ridiculous registration scheme.
The fall 1995 issue of CPA EXPRESS (Issue 33), published by The Canadian Police Association, had this to say about Bill C-68: "The bill passed the House with less than predicted turmoil [the Liberals invoked closure three times] and is now before the Senate [the Liberals appointed 4 more Senators to help ram it through]. The CPA was able to secure its major desired amendment so that future regulatory non-compliance can be under the Firearms Act and not the Criminal Code [although it will still result in a criminal record]. The enforcement objections put forward were not acted on and the Justice Department candidly admitted that this was because our proposals would result in more gun-toting criminals going to jail more often and for longer periods of time which would cost too much money. Sort of the point we thought."
The January 1995 issue of BLUE LINE - Canada's National Law Enforcement Magazine said this about Bill C-68: "Although Blue Line solidly supports gun registration we do not delude ourselves into believing it will really change anything in any major way. The suggested gun control legislation appears to be a knee-jerk reaction by a government trying to play catch-up over night. Many people have invested a great deal of time and money in a legitimate hobby of using guns safely and responsibly. They appear to be the people who must pay the greatest price for this legislation. The sad part of the legislation is the reasons espoused for bringing it in. The Solicitor General advised the House that every six days a person is killed by a firearm in Canada at the hands of a spouse. This sounds like a terrible figure until you tell it another way. That is 60 cases per year. Are we really focusing on good crime control legislation based on solid figures? At what peril are we if the other millions of crimes are placed at a lower priority than these 60 cases. A sobering thought indeed!"
Breitkreuz agreed, "Yes, it is indeed very sobering. Blue Line makes a convincing argument supporting the view of responsible firearm owners that the government has targeted the wrong people and asks if there are not better "crime control" measures on which to spend scarce police resources and money. CPA Express suggests the government would get a better bang for their buck by implementing their proposed "enforcement" measures - exactly what Reformers and responsible firearm owners have been saying all along. "It begs the question: Why do these magazines continue to support Allan Rock's bogus bill calling for a national firearms registration system?" asked Breitkreuz.
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"Police on the street don't support a national firearm registry," says Breitkreuz.