Reply #36: well, you too, I guess

[iverglas]

If you seriously imagine that many people in Canada give any kind of a shit about the Firearms Registry, or spend a lot of time peering wistfully across the border, you just aren't keeping very current.

There was a federal election in the summer of 2004. There were several televised debates among the leaders of the three major parties. There was not one mention of the Firearms Registry, not even by the leader of the whacko right-wing West-based party.

Lots of talk about health care funding, same-sex marriage, the other usual stuff. Opposition to the Firearms Registry was very obviously a losing issue for Mr. Harper, and he knew it.

Some links in my other post. And these:

http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/media/reports/Commissioner-Report/HTML_files/toc_e.html

http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/media/reports/Commissioner-Report/HTML_files/sec04_e.html
Interestingly, the obstreperous BC accessed registry data on line about half as many times again as did the more populous Ontario. Guess they don't mind using it, just don't want to pay for it?

http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/publications/news/20040520_e.asp

EDMONTON, May 20, 2004 - The Government of Canada today announced a comprehensive package of improvements aimed at controlling Canadian Firearms Program costs and enhancing the capacity of law enforcement agencies to combat gun crime.

Funding for the Firearms Registry component of the Program will be capped at $25 million per year, starting next fiscal year. The Government of Canada proposes to establish a separate appropriation in law for the Registry starting fiscal year 2005/06 to allow Parliament to monitor and enforce this cap. The annual cost of the Firearms Registry itself is already down to $33 million from a high of $48 million in 2001/02.

Time marches on, and old news just gets older. The start-up costs -- which are now well in the past -- were a boondoggle. Canadians seem to have been sufficiently endowed with common sense not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/publications/news/20040520_e.asp#backgrounder

More than 90 per cent of firearms owners in Canada have complied with licensing requirements. There are an estimated 7.9 million firearms in Canada, 7 million of which are registered with the Canada Firearms Centre. There are almost 2 million licensed owners to date. More than 12,000 licences have been revoked or refused because of public safety concerns.

The "Firearms Registry" is that part of the Canadian Firearms Program responsible for the registration of firearms, including registration when a firearm is transferred to a new owner and registration upon import or manufacture. Police make more than 13,000 queries to the Firearms Information System each week -- over 3 million queries have been made in total since the Program was first implemented in December 1998. About 6,000 firearms have been traced in gun-crime and firearm-trafficking cases within Canada and internationally. More than 900 affidavits are produced each year by the Canada Firearms Centre to support prosecutions of gun-related crimes across the country.