PUBLICATION:
The
DATE:
2005.02.10
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
Editorial/Opinion
PAGE:
A8
SOURCE:
Windsor
Star
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Another registry misfire
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The
bloated and inefficient rifle and shotgun registry now has another claim to fame
-- it has lost track of at least 46,000 licensed gun owners. Renewals sent out
to these licence holders from the Canada Firearms Centre inexplicably came back
from the post office marked as "undelivered" mail.
Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz
has pointed out this information gap could pose a serious risk if police
officers were to approach a house either mistakenly believing a gun was on the
premises based on old information, or incorrectly assuming there was no gun.
Meanwhile,
the Firearms Centre apparently feels losing 46,000 renewal notices is no big
deal.
Spokesman
Jamie Deacon pointed out that the undelivered mail rate was lower than industry
standards, and "more than nine out of 10 were successfully delivered."
That's
not particularly reassuring given that the government has contended that the
registry is so important to the nation's public safety.
More
to the point, the missing licence renewals are just another example of why the
registry has become little more than a billion-dollar sinkhole that has
contributed little, if anything, to the safety of Canadians.