PUBLICATION:
The
Record (Waterloo Region)
DATE:
2003.10.04
SECTION:
Insight
PAGE:
A19
BYLINE: STEVEN MARTINOVICH
ILLUSTRATION:
Photo: STEVEN
MARTINOVICH
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Gun
registry can't take credit for drop in gun murders
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Figures
released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday proved to be a mixed blessing for
gun-control advocates.
The
number of homicides committed with a firearm fell to 26 per cent in 2002, the
lowest level since statistics were first collected in 1961.
Of
the 149 firearm-related homicides in 2002, 37 were committed with a rifle or
shotgun -- lower than the 10-year average of 67. Knives proved to be the most
popular manner of murdering your fellow Canadian, registering in 31 per cent of
homicides.
Not
surprisingly, anti-firearms advocates on both sides of the border hailed the
numbers.
Wendy
Cukier of the Coalition for Gun Control in Toronto stated that the "numbers
looked encouraging," while Blaine Rummel of the Washington, D.C.-based
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence proclaimed our firearm-related murders were so
low because "Canada has always taken a very responsible approach to
regulating firearms ownership."
Perhaps,
but the numbers don't really support their case. The number of homicides jumped
last year to 582 -- 29 higher than 2001.
Of
firearms-related homicides, handguns -- long one of the most tightly regulated
class of firearm -- accounted for two-thirds of cases, up from about half during
the 1990s and one-third before 1990.
Of
all the handguns used during a homicide, 72 per cent weren't registered.
Finally, the proportion of firearms-related homicides has generally decreased
every year since 1974 -- not an achievement that can be laid on any of the three
major gun control bills passed since 1977.
The
reality is that the firearms used in most of the homicides last year were
already prohibited or restricted. Given that many Canadians waited until the
last minute to register their firearms with the Canadian Firearms Centre (the
first deadline was Jan. 1 of this year), it's hard for anyone to argue that it
played a large role in reducing the use of firearms in homicides. You can't
track what you didn't know about at the time.
Nor
is the registry even fulfilling its promise of tracking stolen weapons.
According to RCMP records, it has managed to match only 4,438 firearms with the
descriptions of more than 100,000 stolen firearms the registry attempted to
trace.
Added
to that is its apparent inability to even track firearms: Serial numbers for
250,305 firearms logged in the registry matched the serial numbers of the
101,835 firearms police reported stolen since 1998.
The
figures that Cukier and Rummel, who admittedly stopped short of crediting the
registry for any improvement, should really focus on are the ones that show a
vast number of firearms haven't been registered -- further weakening the utility
of the registry.
As
of August, Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Institute for
Legislative Action, believed only 50 per cent of Canada's firearms have been
registered, while anti-gun control advocate Canadian Alliance MP Garry
Breitkreuz believes the number could be as low as 34 per cent.
Given
the history of vote pandering with useless government initiatives by the Jean
Chrétien government, none of this should be a surprise.
Rather
than spend needed money on the military or health care -- for example, the $1
billion spent on the registry to date would have financed 10,000 new police
officers -- the government opted for a publicity-friendly initiative it believed
would show it to be tough on crime, by going after legitimate firearms owners,
and fulfil its long-sought-after dream of universal registration and eventual
confiscation.
The
only thing they haven't done is make Canadians safer.
Steven
Martinovich is a freelance writer in Sudbury.