NEWS
RELEASE
OWNING A GUN AND HUNTING ARE NOT RISKY ACTIVITIES SAY INSURANCE COMPANIES
“The Liberals could have saved taxpayers a billion dollars by checking
with the insurance actuaries.”
Ottawa
– Today, Garry Breitkreuz, Official Opposition Critic for Firearms and
Property Rights, defied the Justice Minister to produce the statistical evidence
that shows that simple possession of a firearm is a risk to public safety.
“Insurance companies make their living by assessing risk, and they
don’t even ask applicants if they own a gun,” observed Breitkreuz.
“The
Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association provided a list of risky
activities for which they require applicants to complete a supplemental form.
Guess what? Owning a gun,
hunting, sport shooting, and gun collecting were not on the list. If actuaries and insurance underwriters don’t think owning
a gun is a public safety risk, why do the Liberals?” asked Breitkreuz.
The
Insurance Bureau of Canada confirmed that the presence of firearms in a
home would only be relevant to insurers if they were considered as valuable
personal property. Firearms
ownership is not a liability issue for obtaining home insurance.
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association said that: “firearms
ownership was not a rated activity and was not considered for underwriting
purposes.”
The
Association also provided a list of risky activities that required insurance
applicants to complete a supplemental form.
They said the following list is of rated activities is common
to all life insurers in both content and scope: parachuting/skydiving;
ballooning; hang gliding; flying ultra lights; motorcycle or automobile racing;
scuba diving; aviation; mountaineering; drug usage; tobacco usage; and alcohol
usage.
“In 1994, the Liberals made a colossal mistake that
no responsible gun owner would ever do. They
started shooting before making sure they were aiming at the right target,”
said Breitkreuz. “Instead of
targeting their gun control laws at the criminals who use firearms, they aimed
95% of their legislative measures at the three-million responsible firearms
owners who insurance companies say aren’t a risk.”
Once their misdirected law was passed, anti-gun paranoia
took over in the Justice Department. In
her December 2002 report, the Auditor General said: “…the Program's
focus had changed from high risk firearms owners to excessive regulation and
enforcement of controls over all owners and their firearms.
The Department said the excessive regulation had occurred because some of
its Program partners believed that the use of firearms is in itself a
"questionable activity" that required strong controls.”
“The Liberal government should start using facts
instead of the personal opinion of a few bureaucrats bolstered by highly
questionable statistics and propaganda.
The Liberals could have saved taxpayers a billion dollars or more just
by checking with the insurance company actuaries before they started down this
trail of wasted Loonies. The
hemorrhaging of tax dollars on the gun registry must stop before another billion
is wasted,” concluded Breitkreuz.
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