ERRORS KEEP PILING UP IN THE GUN REGISTRY
By
Garry Breitkreuz, MP – Updated: April 9, 2002
“The
old gun registry was riddled with errors and so is the new one.”
NOTE
#1: All errors
in firearms licences and registration certificates should be reported to the
Minister of Justice and the Auditor General of Canada.
All errors that either violate your privacy rights or have the potential
to do so should be reported to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Contact information is provided at the end of this document.
NOTE
#2: The
original list of errors was released on February 28, 2002:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/GunControl57.htm
1.
RCMP ADMIT THERE ARE 49,000 UNLICENCED OWNERS OF REGISTERED WEAPONS IN
BC: Sources inside the RCMP advise that during
"Violence and Relationships" courses delivered recently in British
Columbia, the RCMP instructor told police officers that there are 49,000
individuals from BC in the Restricted Weapons Registration System (RWRS) that do
not hold a valid Firearms Acquisition Certificate (FAC) and that they had also
failed to apply for Possession and Acquisition Licences (PAL) as required by the
Criminal Code of Canada. Despite
being in unlawful possession of restricted and/or prohibited firearms, the RCMP
officers were also told it was at the discretion of each officer whether or not
to proceed with charges against these individuals. If they encounter one of these 49,000 owners of these
registered, restricted and/or prohibited weapons, they have been instructed that
the preferred course of action is: (1) Seize the firearm(s), (2) Advise the
person to obtain a PAL at which time their firearm would be returned to them.
2.
JUSTICE DEPT. DOCUMENTS SHOW ERROR RATES OF 71%
TO 91% IN GUN REGISTRY: On March 19, 2002, the Department of Justice sent
documents to Garry Breitkreuz, MP, in response to an Access to Information Act
request (DoJ File: A-2000-0209. In “Background
material to assist the Canadian Firearms Program Advisory Committee to advise
Minister McLellan for the purpose of Submissions to Treasury Board or Social
Union Committee” dated April 28, 2000 (page 3) titled, STATISTICS
– LICENCES: 71% ERROR RATE – REGISTRATIONS 91% ERROR RATE.
Click here
to see a copy of this document:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/ErrorRatesLicencingRegistration.pdf
3.
RCMP ADMIT THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE BUT ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF GUN
REGISTRATION PROCESSING: On March 15, 2002, in response to an Access to Information Act
request, the RCMP advised they don’t have information on error rates in the
gun registry and provided this explanation: “While final approval of an
application rests with the Canadian Firearms Registry (CFR), much of the work
associated with clarifying information is done prior to the data input, a task
which falls outside of the RCMP and is under the control of the Canadian
Firearms Centre.” This is a
surprising development considering the RCMP has had 68-years of experience
running the gun registry.
How can the RCMP be responsible for issuing registration certificates
that they don’t process?
Click here
to see a copy of the RCMP letter:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/RCMPATIResponse2002-03-15.pdf
4.
ALBERTA
MP’s FIREARMS LICENCE SAYS HE’S A MORON FROM OKATOKS, ONTARIO:
On April 4, 2002, Winnipeg Sun columnist Tom Brodbeck wrote: Canadian
Alliance MP Grant Hill is no moron -- unless you listen to the pointy-headed
bureaucrats at Ottawa's beleaguered firearm registry office. Hill, an Alberta
MP, is a firearm owner. And he got the shock of his life recently when the gun
registration people issued him a firearm licence. Hill's full name is Norman Grant Hill. But his newly issued
gun licence read "Moron Grant Hill."
But
Hill's troubles didn't end there. Not only was he a moron in the eyes of
firearms officials, he also found out that, much to his surprise, he no longer
lives in Alberta. Apparently he moved to Ontario and didn't even know it. Hill
lives in Okotoks, Alta. But the bozos in Ottawa issued him a licence with an
address in Okotoks, Ont. So the
next time some moron holds up a bank, accidentally drops his firearm in the
commission of the crime and leaves it behind, they can go looking for him in
Okotoks, Ont.
5.
AFTER 3 TRIES THE FIREARMS CENTRE STILL CAN’T GET HIS
NAME RIGHT:
On April 4, 2002, The Winnipeg Sun (Page 5) reported: Canada's
new gun registration centre can't seem to get it right. Wolfram Fuhr, a
59-year-old retired electrician from Birds Hill, owns a .22-calibre rifle that
he has tried to properly register three times -- each time unsuccessfully.
"I've done everything I can to rectify the problem, but they don't
seem interested or to care," said Fuhr. The problem for Fuhr is a spelling
mistake in his name on the gun licence. "This
registration system was a makeshift program for people who can't pass
kindergarten," said Fuhr. "Can't these people read?"
Fuhr said he spelled his name correctly on the registration form, which
was compared for accuracy with his driver's licence, but was sent a gun licence
with the last name "Fuhtr." When
told of Fuhr's situation Canadian Firearms Centre spokesman David Austin said he
would forward Fuhr's problem on to a customer service representative personally.
"It should be right on his licence and right in our computer,"
said Austin. "We have customer service people here who can sort this out
for him just like they did for the last guy." The last guy Austin is
referring to is Paul Krawchuck. Last
week, The Sun reported Krawchuk was having problems removing guns registered to
his name that he didn't own. Like
Fuhr, Krawchuk called the Canadian Firearms Centre two times before contacting
The Sun. Both problems were looked into, after Austin was informed. Minutes after The Sun notified Austin yesterday of Fuhr's
problem, Fuhr received a phone call from the centre offering to correct the
problem at his convenience. "I've
never seen anyone bend over backwards so fast. I can't believe it," said
Fuhr. "For 1 1/2 years I've been arguing with them. It's crazy."
6.
RCMP
REGISTER FIVE GUNS TO A MAN WHO DOESN’T OWN THEM: On March 30, 2002, the Winnipeg Sun (Page 5) reported: The people in charge of registering Canada's firearms are under fire once
again this month -- this time for registering guns that don't exist.
"What kind of dummies are looking after gun registration?"
asked Garden Grove resident Paul Krawchuk. "First they register a heating
gun, then they register guns that I don't even own." Krawchuk received a
letter from the federal government this week confirming the registration of four
rifles and a .22-calibre handgun. The
34-year-old city recycling employee owns four black powder hunting rifles, but
none is registered and they aren't the same kind as the ones that Ottawa has
registered for him. "Why can't
they get it right?" asked Krawchuk. "How many other guys out there are
having messes like this?" Last
week, Oak Lake resident Bill Buckley registered his soldering iron as a firearm
to highlight glitches in the registration system.
7.
RCMP
REGISTER A BLACK & DECKER SOLDERING GUN:
On March 1, 2002, Brian Buckley of Manitoba was issued with a Registration
Certificate for his Black & Decker/Weller, 110 Volt AC soldering gun.
The gurus in the gun registry identified it as a “Non-Restricted”
firearm and gave it a “Firearm Identification Number”.
This proves beyond any doubt that the government has completely abandoned
any hope of keeping the Justice Minister’s promise to the Canadian Police
Association that they would “verify” the accuracy of the information in the
gun registration system.
Click
here to see a copy of the Registration Certificate: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/SolderingGunRegistrationCertificate.pdf
8.
BC
MAN DISCOVERS RCMP REGISTERED SOMEONE ELSE’S GUNS TO HIM: On February 29, 2002, he
wrote to the gurus in the gun registry, “Please be advised that the gun
shown on the attached forms are NOT the ones I have or ever have had in my
possession, and certainly not those I attempted to register some time ago.
My original application form listed the following two rifles: 1.
Lee-Enfield .303 calibre, Serial No. Dxxxxxx and 2. Cooey Model 39, Single Shot,
.22 calibre, Serial No. unknown. Would
you please correct your records and forward the proper registration
certificates.”
9.
GUN
REGISTRY SYSTEM CAN’T IDENTIFY FIREARMS:
On March 8, 2002, in a letter to the editor of the Alliston Herald, Peter
E. Sticklee of Thornton, Ontario, wrote describing his call to the Canadian
Firearms Centre to find out if he had to register one of his firearms: “On
the first call, I waited for 20 minutes and then gave up.
Later in the morning, I called again.
After another 20 minutes, I hang up.
On my third call of the day and after a 25-minute wait a person who
identified herself as firearms officer took my call.
When I described my firearm as a CO2 gas powered .380 shotgun, she
didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.
When I told her that it was a Model 1100 that was manufactured by Crosman
(the famous pellet gun maker), she insisted that I was talking about a Remington
Model 1100, Wingmaster 12-gauge shotgun. While
the criminal misuse of firearms runs rampant in Canada’s major cities, law
abiding gun owners either can’t get a call through to Ottawa, or at least find
someone who knows what they are talking about, when it comes to something as
simple as an air gun.”
10.
RCMP
REGISTER PROHIBITED AK47 AS A RESTRICTED FIREARM: On March 15, 2002, an Ontario firearms owner wrote: What happened to me was exactly the same than Mr. Charles Schafer i.e. I
received a registration for my prohibited AK47 incorrectly (according to the
CFC) classified as restricted. I am sure that this happened to hundreds of AK
owners in Canada.
11.
FIREARMS
CENTRE HAS NO RECORD OF OVER HALF OF THE HANDGUNS IN NB MANS POSSESSION:
On March 20, 2002, in the Moncton
Times and Transcript, Columnist Everett Mosher wrote: Federal law requires all handgun
owners to re-register their handgun or handguns by Dec. 31 of this year. If they
do not, they will be considered a criminal and could face up to five years in
prison. This, despite the fact that handgun owners have previously registered
their firearms at the time of purchase, and have the registration certificate to
prove it. So why is the federal
government requiring that all handguns be re-registered?
The truth is that the federal system of handgun registration that has
been in place since 1934 is a mess, to the point that the government has decided
to start all over again, from square one. Hence the requirement that current
handgun owners are required to re-register their handguns.
One owner of over 20 handguns, all legally registered at the time of
purchase, found that the Canadian Firearm Centre had no record at all of over
half of the handguns in his possession. Of those that the CFC had records of,
and were listed in his name, several of these had never been in his possession,
while others on the list had been sold some years previous. This is not an
isolated case.
12.
BC
HANDGUN OWNER RECEIVED REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES WITHOUT EVEN APPLYING:
On March 20, 2002, a respected
firearm owner from British Columbia wrote: One fellow in our local club
received new registrations for his pistols without even applying for them.
I wonder how prevalent that is and the point being is that since the
purpose of re-registration is to clean up
the mess in the old registration, if they go sending out new forms based on the
old forms they are perpetuating the old problems.
13.
OTTAWA
GUN OWNER EXPOSES CFC MISTAKES ON ALL SEVEN OF HIS REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES: On
March 18, 2002, an Ottawa gun owner wrote: Between
my wife and I, the firearms registry has data on seven firearms, including one
since 1978. Every single
registration certificate has at least one major error.
Wrong type, wrong model, wrong maker, strange cartridge names, variable
dimensions, spelling mistakes and so on. How
the barrel of one gun "grew" from one certificate to another is a
miracle indeed. All certificates
have entries that cannot be found on the
firearm itself. How will a false or
fictitious record serve any purpose?
14.
GUN
WITH NO SERIAL NUMBER CAN’T BE IDENTIFIED BY $700 MILLION GUN REGISTRY:
On April 8, 2002 a Calgary gun owner wrote: “You
may be interested to know that I recently registered an unserialized Hiawatha
.22 rimfire bolt rifle passed down by my grandfather. It was his farm pest gun,
and was purchased some time in the 1950s or 60s. The CFC issued a certificate
with the serial number designated as "unknown", but at the same time
failed to issue an FIN sticker or any other identifying designation of any sort.
Aside from its sentimental value, the gun is rather unremarkable
"utility grade" piece, and I understand that up to several thousand of
them were produced over the years, including numerous variants. My registration
certificate can apply to any one of these firearms.
As you have said, what a mess.”
CONTACT
INFORMATION
The
Honourable Martin Cauchon, P.C., M.P.
Minister
of Justice
Room
312, West Block
House
of Commons
Ottawa,
Ontario
K1A
0A6
Telephone:
(613) 995-7691
Facsimile:
(613) 995-0114
E-mail :
Cauchon.M@parl.gc.ca
Mrs.
Sheila Fraser
240
Sparks Street
Ottawa,
Ontario
K1A 0G6
Telephone: (613) 995-3708
Facsimile: (613) 957-0474
E-mail: communications@oag-bvg.gc.ca
Mr.
George Radwanski
The
Privacy Commissioner of Canada
112
Kent Street
Ottawa,
Ontario
K1A
1H3
Phone (613) 995-8210
Toll-free 1-800-282-1376
Fax (613) 947-6850
E-mail:
info@privcom.gc.ca