PUBLICATION:
The
Province
DATE:
2004.12.09
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
Editorial
PAGE:
A20
SOURCE:
The Province
ILLUSTRATION:
Photo:
(A person shooting a gun)
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There's
better uses for our money, Paul Martin
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It's
a $1 billion taxpayer-funded snafu, courtesy of the federal government -- but
the good news is there's still time to cut our losses and scrap the ineffective
National Firearms Program which became law in 1995.
Frankly,
if the evidence showed that the registry licensing gun owners and cataloguing
every firearm led to a reduction or elimination in the number of crimes
involving firearms, we might look upon this extravagant exercise differently.
But
study after study has failed to buoy claims that forcing people to enlist their
rifles, handguns and other weapons saves lives and leads to fewer gun-related
crimes.
Saskatchewan
Conservative MP Gary Breitkreuz summed it up best: "It is totally focused
on tracking millions of law-abiding gun owners instead of individuals who have
proven themselves to be too dangerous to have guns."
It's
not too late to cut our loses. While you are reading this, the Liberal minority
government is likely debating a private member's bill that, if passed, would
effectively shut down the computerized registry. Liberal MP Roger Gallaway has
strayed from party favour with his bid to block a $97-million support payment to
the program. Gallaway is a realist; where once he supported the registry, he
does so no longer -- for one undeniable reason; its costs far exceed its
benefits.
About
those costs; originally estimated to run about $2 million, the price tag to get
the program operating yearly has multiplied to $1 billion.
Imagine
the crime prevention programs, security strategies and law-enforcement expertise
a purse that size could buy. Al Koenig, who runs the Calgary Police Association
did just that recently: "The amount of money . . . could have put 5,000
officers on the streets across
There's
better uses for our money, Paul Martin.
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What do you
think? Leave a brief comment, name and town at: 604-605-2029, fax: 604-605-2099
or e-mail: provletters@png.canwest.com