DATE:
2002.09.23
SECTION:
Opinion
PAGE:
D5
COLUMN:
Editorials
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gun
registry confusion high
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
firearms in Canada must be, by law, registered by the end of this year and the
deadline is fast approaching. It, of course, isn't going to happen by all
reports, with many thousands, of firearms still unregistered. And time is
rapidly running out. The federal government, which this week issued a news
release saying there will be assistance available for those needing help filling
out the forms, has only itself to blame. The system has been mired in public
confusion and bureaucratic bungling from the beginning.
And
it is widespread. The reports of gun owners facing lengthy, unexplained delays
to obtain licences when the application is trouble-free, and numerous foul-ups
with licenses issued with wrong information on them, are far too numerous to be
dismissed or indicative of anything but a seriously flawed system.
There
are other concerns as well, including the fact the government switched from a
reasonably secure and long-lasting credit card type of licence that would be
hard to forge to issuing non-descript paper cards that just about anybody with a
computer could forge. It makes a mockery of the idea that all this is being done
in the name of public safety.
Now,
there is great concern that many gun owners who are in possession of
already-registered guns under a 1934 law will miss the year-end deadline under
the logical assumption they do not need to register because their guns already
have been. But that is wrong. They will have to register again these restricted
and prohibited weapons that were grandfathered under the legislation when it
first came in. This includes often heirloom weapons that are passed down through
families, for display rather than use. If they don't, they risk losing them
and/or harsh other penalties all for an innocent mistaken belief that is
entirely logical.
It
appears obvious that as soon as the New Year arrives, what the government will
have really achieved is not full gun registration, but rather the creation of
thousands of "law-breakers" out of otherwise law abiding citizens
that's ineptness.
The
entire system is on the verge of proving just how much of a failure it has
become. If the country is to have it, then it is time to fix it and make sure it
is fair. And if that can't be done, and quickly, it is time to rethink the whole
approach which is costing millions of dollars and achieving very little. From
the start, it has not been clear that the system will achieve what the
government claims it will. Why have it, then, when the end result is endless
frustration and aggravation for innocent citizens?