PUBLICATION:  National Post

DATE:  2003.01.06

EDITION:  National

SECTION:  Editorials

PAGE:  A15

SOURCE:  National Post Canada 

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Anti-gun posturing

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Aboriginals account for just 3% of Canada's population, yet commit 25% of this country's murders. It wouldn't be illogical, then, for any federal gun control effort to focus on this small group of people. Instead, our Liberal government has done all it can to exempt natives from the standard provisions of the Firearms Act. Ottawa even gives away free ammunition to natives without valid firearms owners' licences, a transaction that could land a non-aboriginal Canadian in jail for up to six months.

Native elders need not take the standard safety test required of all other Canadians seeking a firearm owner's licence. Elder natives may also recommend that any member of their band be exempted, too. These exempted natives must still pass an "alternative certification" exam. But such tests often consist of a dozen oral questions -- the test for non-natives runs to 50 written questions -- and natives need not answer all or even most of the questions correctly. The decision to award a licence is made at the discretion of the examiner. On one reserve in Alberta, volunteer non-native examiners refused to administer these bogus exams and were promptly replaced by federal government examiners who certified as many reserve residents as they could.

The double standard is stunning. Non-natives convicted of violent crimes or whose spouses have complained to police that they may become violent are prohibited from owning guns. Not so natives with similar records. So much for Ottawa taking seriously the epidemic of domestic violence on native reserves.

Access to information requests filed by Saskatchewan Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz also reveal that Ottawa has spent millions over the past three years on "aboriginal outreach agreements" -- under which federal officials work with native gun owners to help find ways around gun control regulations and to devise native-friendly "community gun safety programs." If only the Liberals were so concerned about the feelings and needs of law-abiding, non-native gun owners.

But the topper, also revealed by Mr. Breitkreuz, is that Ottawa gives natives free ammunition -- whether they have valid firearms licences or not. Under treaties, some two centuries old, "the Crown" is obliged to give native bands ammunition for hunting or nets for fishing. Most bands opt for cash in lieu, but some continue to request ammo. To comply, Ottawa dispenses thousands of high-calibre bullets and shotgun shells to native bands, no questions asked. Outside the reserves, on the other hand, even attempting to buy ammunition without a licence is a criminal offence.

By now, all of Canada knows that Ottawa's $1-billion gun registry is an intrusive, ineffectual, profligate farce. But the gun licensing exemptions given to natives also show us something else -- that the true purpose of Ottawa's gun control policies has more to do with Liberal anti-gun posturing than with preventing actual violence. If the registry were really about ending gun deaths, why would Ottawa go soft on the one segment of the Canadian population most likely to commit violent crime?