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Facts support dismantling of gun registry

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It has been a long time coming, but finally a poll shows a majority of people supports the scrapping of the former Liberal government's controversial national gun registry.

That the poll was conducted only in Ontario, and that it found only a slim majority of 55 per cent either strongly, or somewhat, support Prime Minister Stephen Harper's campaign promise to end the registry, in no way diminishes its significance. Finally, facts and logic have won out over rhetoric and spin.

Now, whether Harper will be able to follow through on his election promise is another issue. His slim minority government will need the support of one of the other parties, and it's unlikely to come from the Liberals and the New Democrats, who have been spewing the rhetoric for so long -- it will cut down on gun-related crime, they say -- it's doubtful they know the difference between spin and fact.

Gun registry opponents have argued since the beginning that forcing legal, licensed gun owners to register their long guns -- hand guns have been registered for decades -- would do little, if nothing, to deter gun crime because the guns used in crimes are almost exclusively illegal guns imported from the U.S. by criminals and organized crime groups.

To be sure, Canadians want to see a reduction in gun-related crime, and most bought the Liberal spin that the registry would help reduce crime when the idea was introduced about a decade ago.

But while most were fooled into believing the registry was a step in the right direction, the poll by SES Research/Osprey Media doesn't make clear whether the turnaround in public opinion was a result of growing awareness of the facts.

More likely, it was because many have come around to the realization that the registry has been grossly mismanaged and plagued with cost overruns since its inception. In that regard, there is no debate. The national registry was originally supposed to cost $2 million but has ballooned to a scandal-inducing $2 billion -- plus $90 million a year in ongoing maintenance costs.

And now comes news that an Orillia-area computer consultant who worked as a webmaster for the Canadian Firearms Centre is warning that the registry database has a security system vulnerable not only to hackers, but to anyone with a home computer.

The consultant cracked the registry's security in half an hour and said he has worked with "13-year-old kids" who could break into the system which contains the names and addresses of firearms owners and detailed information on the number and type of weapons they own.

In light of such security concerns, opponents have reiterated their calls for the registry to be shut down. Gun thieves would have a field day if they were to get access to the addresses of registered gun owners.

In place of the registry, and the funding it demands to continue operating, the Conservative government proposes to put more police officers on the streets. Other options include exempting long-gun owners from having to register and an amnesty for those who have failed to register.

For now, the government has struck a committee to figure out what to do with the registry. Facts and logic may have won the day in this poll, but a bigger battle lays ahead.

Here's hoping facts and logic win out in the end.