ERRORS,
ERRORS, ERRORS – OH WHAT A MESS!
By Garry Breitkreuz, MP – Updated: July 15, 2002
“There
are approx 49,000 registered firearms in B.C. belonging to people who have not
applied for the new firearms licence. I
inform police of this statistic however also advise no police force has the
manpower to deal with it.”
Cst. Steve Poirier, Course
Coordinator of the RCMP Pacific Region Training Centre – April 16, 2002.
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: Breitkreuz’s original error report was released on February 28, 2002:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/GunControl57.htm
NOTE #3: Breitkreuz’s second error report was released on April 10, 2002:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/GunControl60.htm
NOTE #4: Breitkreuz’s third error report was released on May 30, 2002:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/GunControl65.htm
1. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENT SHOWS 304,375 OWNERS OF REGISTERED WEAPONS DON’T HAVE A VALID FIREARMS LICENCE: Documents obtained by Breitkreuz from the Justice Department [ATIP File: A-2002-0063] show that as of May 27, 2002:
(1)
The total number of individuals in the Restricted Weapons Registration System (RWRS)
that own firearms registered in the RWRS: 429,316.
(2)
The number of confirmed licences in CFRS for firearms owned in the RWRS: 124,941.
(3) The total number of individuals that have re-registered their firearms: 96,237.
2. RCMP CONFIRMS 49,000 REGISTERED FIREARMS IN B.C. WITH UNLICENCED OWNERS: In response to an Access to Information Act request filed on April 3, 2002, and after filing a complaint with the Information Commissioner [RCMP File: 02ATIP-14326], on July 8, 2002, the RCMP provided a copy of an e-mail from Cst. Steve Poirier, Course Coordinator of the RCMP Pacific Region Training Centre dated April 16, 2002, that stated: “The only thing I add to the course is information provided by the firearms centre which changes on a regular basis. I think the information alluded too [sic] is that there are approx 49,000 registered firearms in B.C. belonging to people who have not applied for the new firearms licence. I inform police of this statistic however also advise no police force has the manpower to deal with it.”
3.
RCMP REPORT 409 GUNS LOST AND STOLEN FROM DEPT. OF DEFENCE LISTED ON CPIC:
In response to an
Access to Information Act request filed on January 11, 2002, and after filing a
complaint with the Information Commissioner, the RCMP finally provided a
response to our request on July 4, 2002 – RCMP File: 01ATIP-3631.
RCMP documents show CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre) lists 270
firearms reported lost, 137 firearms reported stolen from the Canadian Forces
since 1962 and only 3 firearms recovered since 1994.
The list of firearms lost or stolen include: 218 Lee Enfield Rifles, 17
Browning 9mm pistols, an FN Browning .50 calibre Heavy Machine Gun, an AK47, an
FN Browning Canadian C9 Service Light Machine Gun 5.56mm, a Colt AR15A2 .223
calibre and many more.
4.
222,911 FIREARMS REGISTERED WITH THE SAME MAKE AND SERIAL NUMBER: In
response to an Access to Information Act requested filed on March 7, 2002
[Justice ATIP File: A-2001-0323], the Department of Justice said:
“The
number of firearms that have the same make and serial number in the Canadian
Firearms Registration System (CFRS) is: 59,600 different combinations for a
total of 151,000 firearms. In the
Restricted Weapon Registration System (RWRS) there are 24,244 different
combinations for a total of 71,991. It
should be pointed out that the request addresses make and serial number only.
Up until approx. 1968 many manufacturers utilized the same serial number
configurations on different “models”. Therefore,
without utilizing “model”, the requested figures are disproportionate to the
firearms that are truly the same. Totals:
83,844 = 222,911 firearms.”
5. RCMP REPORT
718,414 FIREARMS REGISTERED WITHOUT SERIAL NUMBERS: In
response to an Access to Information Act requested filed on May 14, 2002 [RCMP
File: 02ATIP-19490], the RCMP provided a copy of an e-mail that said:
“As of May
27, 2002. In the RWRS [Restricted
Weapons Registration System] we have 14,996 firearms registered with a NIL
serial number. In the CFRS
[Canadian Firearms Registration System] we have 703,418 firearms that were
registered without a serial number, even though they had been assigned a FIN
[Firearm Identification Number] & sticker in place of the serial number.”
YA BUT - NOT ALL GUNS WITHOUT SERIAL NUMBERS GOT STICKERS: On July 11, 2002, Garry Breitkreuz received the following e-mail message from an Ontario firearms owner: “I've obeyed the laws of the land, registering my .22's and getting an F.A.C. Anyway, last month, a STICKER (you may have seen them) arrived for my .22 Hornet, but no stickers for my rim-fires. First, for consistency, why just 1 sticker? Second, upon its loss or illegibility, you are supposed to request a new sticker. When you think of how long these will last (gun-oil makes life difficult for adhesives, and guns that are used must be cleaned), these people belong at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.”
6.
“GHOST GUNS” WILL BE AN EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM IN THE NEW CANADIAN
FIREARMS REGISTRY:
In
a recent Legal Corner Column titled “What Good Are These Expensive
Records” Dave Tomlinson wrote: “A firearms dealer ran a check on this
at my suggestion. He asked Ottawa for a list of all registered firearms that
Ottawa thought were in his store. The
list, when it arrived, included over 200 firearms that were not in his store –
ghost guns. He learned that ghost
guns were accumulating in his store at an average of 26 firearms a year. All the ghost guns had been legally sold and correctly
transferred – but the government’s sloppy firearms control system often
failed to delete the record that the firearm was owned by the dealer and located
in his store. He “had” over 200
guns, shown in Ottawa’s records as being in his store that were not actually
there. He laboriously proved to
Ottawa that every one of them was gone, and settled back, satisfied that he had
solved the problem. He hadn’t.
He ran the same exercise again, a few years later.
This time there were even more ghost guns registered to his store.
The dealer gave up. He keeps
his own records, and has no faith in Ottawa’s records.” Mr. Tomlinson’s full column was published in Canadian
Firearms Journal.
7. RCMP RE-REGISTER RUGER HANDGUN AS “NON-RESTRICTED” FIREARM: On June 7, 2002, Garry Breitkreuz’s office received a call from a serving Ontario police officer who complained that it had taken almost two years for the Canadian Firearm Registry to complete the re-registration of his Ruger handgun that has been accurately registered with the RCMP since June 28, 1988. He was outraged when he received his new Firearm Registration Certificate dated May 31, 2002, and found that it showed “Make – Unknown”, the Serial Number was left blank, and that his restricted handgun had been reclassified as “Non-Restricted” – which of course it is not! The Auditor General was provided with a copy of the supporting documentation.
8.
CANADIAN FIREARMS CENTRE RE-REGISTERS A HANDGUN WITH THE WRONG SERIAL NUMBER
DESPITE BEING ADVISED IN ADVANCE: This
e-mail was sent to the Department of Justice on May 29, 2002: “This
re-registration was done on January 30, 2002.
Despite being advised, the Canadian Firearms Centre still has issued a
certificate with the wrong serial number on it.
I provided the correct serial number since I do not wish to be in
contravention of the Criminal Code. Please
correct the problem and issue a Registration Certificate for this handgun with
the correct serial number on the certificate.”
9.
RCMP TRANSFER PROHIBITED HANDGUNS INTO DEALER’S INVENTORY EVEN THOUGH HIS
DEALER’S LICENCE DOESN’T PERMIT IT: On
May 30, 2002, a firearms dealer called to advise that the RCMP had just
transferred six prohibited handguns into his inventory even though his dealers
licence doesn’t allow it. Odd
isn’t it, considering that the RCMP are the ones that issued his dealers
licence.
10.
RCMP SENT ONTARIO GUN OWNER’S PRIVATE AND PERSONAL DOCUMENTS TO A GUN OWNER IN
WINNIPEG:
On
May 22, 2002 Garry Breitkreuz received the following letter:
“Today I received an acknowledgement from the RCMP.
I am sending the original copy and the envelope.
Both will be of interest to you. Upon
reading this letter, I realized that it was not intended for me but for someone
in Ontario.”
11.
ONTARIO HUNTER LISTS REGISTRATION ERRORS AND WRITES, “IT’S HARD TO
BELIEVE THAT IN AN $800 MILLION SYSTEM THERE CAN BE SO MUCH STUPIDITY”:
On
June 7, 2002, an Ontario man wrote the following to Mr. Paul Macklin,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice: “I
am a 74 year old lifelong hunter who doesn't give a damn any more what the
government is doing in regards to the gun control agenda.
So, in order to avoid the
rush at the end of this year, I registered my hunting arms early last year.
I am still waiting for registration certificates and ones which have to
be corrected.
The
following goofs have been committed by the CFC:
1.)
The same serial number applied to two different guns.
2.)
A new certificate issued for a perfectly good one but completely wrong now.
3.)
Still waiting for a certificate for a hunting gun which the CFC can not find on
their CD.
4.)
Numerous phone calls made without any positive results, etc, etc.
5.)
The make of firearm not entered on the certificates.
(By
the way, I think that these registration certificates are absolutely useless to
identify any firearm)
All the CFC had to do is go to my applications and copy what is on there, it does not have to take almost a full year now and the matter is still not in order yet. This is such a mess and it is hard to believe that in an $800 million system there can be so much stupidity.
12. AFTER 157 PHONE CALLS AND 21 MONTHS THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE SAYS
THEY ARE STILL PROCESSING HIS FIREARMS LICENCE: On June 24, 2002,
Garry Breitkreuz’s office received the following e-mail message from the
President of the Agassiz-Harrison Rod & Gun Club:
“I would like
to bring to your attention about one of our club members who applied for a
firearms POL (Possession Only) licence about 21½ months ago, and still not
received his POL licence. This
member has not even received a temp licence either.
In addition, this member has made 157 phone calls to the Canadian
Firearms Centre, who can only keep telling him that they are still processing
his licence.”
13.
WRITING A LETTER TO THE EDITOR SPEEDS UP PROCESSING OF FIREARMS LICENCES: On
June 6, 2002, the Moncton Times and Transcript provided the following
editorial comment: Larry
Petersen of Campbellton, who had a letter about its slow movement published in
the Times & Transcript on May 29, received a call from Ottawa saying they
had read his letter in the newspaper. The Gun Registry spokesman said his
possession permit would arrive in a matter of days.
It did. It was printed May 30, and he received it June 3.
"I
was quite surprised to hear from the gentleman from Ottawa and asked if all
applicants received a personal call to say when their permit is processed. He
was quick to say no. Anyway, I can't remember his name because I was too shocked
to hear it was on its way." Mr.
Petersen thanked James Foster and Norbert Cunningham of the Times &
Transcript who had been writing about the issue. Interestingly enough, a member
of Mr. Foster's family who had been awaiting a permit for months, also got a
call and her permit.
14.
THE JUSTICE DEPT. HAS ISSUED HUNDREDS OF FIREARMS LICENCES WITH THE WRONG PHOTO
– NOW THEY ISSUE ONE WITHOUT A PHOTO:
On June 11, 2002, Garry Breitkreuz received the following e-mail: “A
buddy of mine applied for a new PAL because his old one was expiring.
He got the replacement one in eight days.
Strangely however, it did not
have his photo on it. In place of
the photo were the words, "Photo exception granted".
He called the CFC and they said
that this was a feature available for "Security personnel"
They also told him to send it
back right away so they could replace it. He
has kept some copies of it.
What is up with this?
How could a PAL without a photo protect anybody?”
15.
HOW MANY GUNS ARE REGISTERED? IT
DEPENDS ON WHETHER YOU ASK THE RCMP OR THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE:
On
June 8, 2002, Garry Breitkreuz received the following letter from a Saskatchewan
gun owner. “I would like to
share with you my recent experience of filing two access to information
requests. The requests were mailed
May 5th to the RCMP and the Department of Justice.
The RCMP response was received May 13th with 17
restricted/prohibited firearms under my name. The Department of Justice response came in May 21st
with only 12 restricted/prohibited firearms under my name.
Missing were the first two I had acquired in 1985 & 1986, and the
last three purchased in 1995 (2) and 1999 (1).”
16.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CLAIMS THEY HAVEN’T REGISTERED THEIR FIREARMS BUT GUN
OWNERS BEG TO DIFFER:
In the last month, Garry
Breitkreuz’s office has received many complaints similar to this one published
in the London Free Press on June 26, 2002.
Mr. C.H. Vanderwolf wrote the Editor:
”During the last year I made use of my firearms possession and
acquisition licence to buy two rifles. Both were duly registered and I received
plastic tags which must be kept with the guns at all times.
A few days ago, I received a letter from the Registrar of Firearms
informing me that according to records, no guns are registered in my name and
reminding me I must register all my guns by January 2003 or face the possibility
of criminal charges. The cost of
the gun registration scheme is now said to be approaching $1 billion, the error
rate is said to be approaching 50 per cent and there is no good reason to think
the entire exercise will reduce the criminal use of guns. Is there a problem
here? It may appear that my
lost registration is a trivial matter, but it is symptomatic of a larger
problem: the incompetent, corrupt, and autocratic nature of the federal
government. Perhaps the time has
arrived for our 10 provinces to renegotiate Confederation. It is clear the
current system is not working.”
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