PUBLICATION:
Edmonton Journal
DATE:
2004.05.02
EDITION:
Final
SECTION: Editorial
PAGE:
A14
SOURCE:
The Edmonton Journal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gun-Registry
muddle frustrating
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
federal government is doing itself no favours in trying to win support in
Western Canada for the national gun registry.
While
some Liberals in Ottawa are talking about making the registry voluntary in order
to appease western voters, bureaucrats at the registry in New Brunswick seem to
be doing everything they can to thwart Albertans' attempts to register guns.
D.T.
Anderson outlined his frustration in a letter to The Journal published on
Friday. Anderson has spent the last three years trying to register a .32-calibre
handgun. During that time he has been told several times -- alternately -- that
he is/is not allowed to own the gun. Then he was told the gun was not registered
and he could be prosecuted. Finally, he was informed that, yes, the gun had been
registered, but that the owner -- Anderson, himself -- had died in May 2007 --
three years from now.
It's
nice to know that some federal bureaucrats have the ability to see clearly into
the future. But it's unfortunate their clairvoyance renders them unable to deal
with the present.
PUBLICATION:
Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2004.04.30
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
Letters
PAGE:
A17
BYLINE:
D.T. Anderson
SOURCE:
The Edmonton Journal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Firearms
registry is thinking ahead -- way ahead: Three-year struggle to obtain
registration certificate brings ominous news
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's
the kind of insanity that's just too crazy to be made up. (Read this to the end,
you won't believe it.)
For
almost three years I've been dealing with the federal firearms registry to try
to get them to issue a registration certificate for the one
"prohibited" firearm I own, a .32 calibre handgun.
The
apparent problem was that there was some legal confusion over whether or not I
could keep the firearm in question, based on the date I first acquired
it.
That date problem was resolved with the passing of Bill C-10-A in May of 2003.
Among other things, the bill specified an acquisition deadline requirement that
I clearly complied with.
As
a result, the government became obligated to provide the registration
certificate immediately. But they didn't.
After
running out of patience, I called the firearms registration centre several times
in the last two months. During that time, I've heard innumerable excuses:
-
Until Bill C-10-A becomes law, you can't own that firearm;
-
Bill C-10-A is law, but we're waiting for instruction from the minister;
-
Bill C-10-A isn't law;
-
Bill C-10-A is law;
-
Is;
-
Isn't.
Then
on Thursday morning I was told that I never applied to have the firearm
registered under the new registry system, so the gun is subject to confiscation
and I could be found guilty of a criminal offence. So I faxed them a copy of the
receipt proving I registered the firearm via their website nearly three years
ago, well in advance of the deadline.
I
called the Canadian Firearms Centre again on Thursday morning, and this time I
finally managed to reach someone who could explain what was going on. She told
me that the firearm was registered, but that the registration had expired
because the owner had died.
Really?
Someone
with my name, residing at my address in the city of Edmonton, died -- get this
-- in May of 2007. The person informing me of that date did so in a very
matter-of-fact way, as if nothing could possibly be wrong.
"You're
based in New Brunswick, right?" I asked.
"Yes,"
said the voice on the phone.
"What
year is it there?" I inquired.
I
spent the next several minutes relating the entire chain of events to the person
on the end of the phone. I concluded with the observation that clearly there was
no way I was ever going to get the firearm's registration certificate now that
I'm dead so I would simply stop trying to register the firearm that I've owned
for the last seven years.
Twenty
minutes later, I got a call from an information officer at the firearms centre,
assuring me that the registration certificate will be issued within 10 days.
We'll
see if it actually happens. After all, when he said "10 days," I
forgot to ask "in what year?"
D.T.
Anderson,
Edmonton