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National Post DATE: 2006.02.03 EDITION: National SECTION: Editorials PAGE: A16 SOURCE: National Post CANADA WORD COUNT: 452 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ditch the gun registry -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The federal long-gun registry got little attention in the run-up to last month's election. But that has not stopped the debate over its future from coming to the fore even before Stephen Harper has taken office. Last weekend, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police president Jack Ewatski told an interviewer that he intends to give the new government "some history relative to why we supported the gun registry and gun control, including the registry, over the years." Mr. Ewatski added that he thinks "it's imperative that we also provide some information to this government relative to the value of gun control programs within this country, including the registry." While opinion among police as to the registry's usefulness is mixed, we can understand why some officers support it: When making house calls, it is a nice luxury to be able to first check if suspects have registered firearms. But the reality is that most hardened criminals use handguns -- not hunting rifles. And if they do use rifles, there is a decent chance they have not registered them. Simply put, the marginal safety benefits that a gun registry could theoretically provide simply do not merit the associated costs. Despite a supposed $2-million price tag when it was implemented by the Liberals a decade ago, the registry has instead cost taxpayers well in excess of $1-billion -- even as governments have neglected to sufficiently invest in law enforcement and other measures to reduce gun violence in cities. Opposition to the gun registry has long been a uniting force among Canadian conservatives -- especially in the West, where it is seen as a pretext to harass hunters and other legitimate gun users. Yet Mr. Harper may be tempted to put the issue on the backburner for the time-being. The registry, after all, is still supported by most of the urbanite voters the Conservatives are wooing. And given his relatively narrow plurality of seats, Mr. Harper may not want to risk losing a vote on one of his party's core policies so early in its mandate. Waiting, however, would be a mistake. Already, far too many dollars that could be much better spent elsewhere have been poured into the registry; there is no point in wasting even more. Mr. Harper should work diligently to bring the Bloc Quebecois -- rarely a fan of unnecessary federal bureaucracy -- and perhaps even some Liberals or New Democrats onside. It is difficult to believe that, deep down, any federal politician wants to keep throwing good money after bad. ----------------------------------------------------------------- TEN YEARS OF GUN REGISTRY
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