Canadians are dying in the streets of Toronto
while the Liberals continue to fiddle

"Either that," Hinter states, "or someone in the Canadian Firearms Centre is issuing firearm licences, handgun registrations and authorizations to carry to those criminals!" Hinter continued.

"The problem with the government's expensive boondoggle is that is misses the target. You do not solve street violence in Toronto by spending a billion dollars registering the shotguns of Saskatchewan farmers." Hinter continued.

"Worse than that, is the growing evidence that the firearm registry is so flawed that it is effectively useless to police," said Hinter.

"Canada's Police officers have been misled," charged Hinter. "The promises made by the Liberal government to front line police officers to secure their support - no front-line police sent off to do paper work, effective identification of firearms and firearms owners -- are not being honoured," Hinter continued.

A letter from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police published in the Toronto Star on July 26, 1999, stated: "Finally, licencing and registration combined will help curb the illegal gun trade by allowing us to trace guns to their original owners and enforce the requirement that guns only be sold to licenced individuals."

It is now becoming clear just how wrong the Chiefs were. Hinter charges, "The Liberals promised them the moon, and delivered a moldy slice of Swiss cheese. Their firearms control system is full of holes."

Here are just some of the failures now becoming evident in the Liberals billion dollar boondoogle:

1. Police will not know where the guns are because the government does not require the 131,000 most dangerous persons who are already prohibited from owning firearms to report a change of their address to the police.

That should be a fairly obvious thing to fix. Sadly, this is not a part of Bill C-10, the latest attempts to fix flaws in the C-68 Titanic firearms control system, now before the Senate.

2. Police will not know where the guns are because there is no legal requirement for gun owners to store their rifles and shotguns at their home addresses, or to tell the system where they are stored.

Firearm owners with multiple residences may store firearms at any residence, or even in a mobile home or trailer. The federal government does not offer sufficient training materials to law enforcement officers and firearms control bureaucrats to ensure that they are aware of that information.

3. Police will not know where the guns are because the government has no system track registered firearms that are loaned by one licenced firearms owner to another. Any firearm can legally be in the hands of any person licenced to have a firearm of that class.

You must read Firearms Act sections 33 and 59, and Criminal Code section 84(4)(b)(ii) to understand that.

4. Police will not know where the guns are because between half-a-million and 1.3 million gun owners failed or refused to apply for a firearms licence - and they can't register their guns unless they have a licence.

The National Firearms Association received telephone calls from Canadians everyday in this very situation. The federal minister of justice prefers to play "ostrich" on this and ignore this problem.

5. Police will not know where the guns are because the government admitted, on 09 Jan 2001, that it has lost track of 650,000 of the 1,250,000 firearms in the old handgun registration system.

Personal Experience: I moved in 1999, when I contacted the Canadian Firearms Centre for an 'Authorization to Transport', I was told that I didn't need one, as I did not own any restricted firearms. Four days later, after an extensive search, using serial numbers and registration certificate numbers, they proudly reported that they had located my firearms.

If you were a police officer, would you "bet your life" on the accuracy of the firearm registry?

6. Police will not know where the guns are because the government still has to register between 3.4 and 12 million guns before the government-imposed registration deadline, 31 December 2002. They cannot do it.

Right now, countless Canadians cannot even get through to the Canadian Firearms Centre to order forms.

Personal Experience: I called three times a day from the beginning of September 2002 to 03 October 2002 - never once getting through - to try and order the necessary application forms. I have written the CEO of the Canadian Firearms Centre, my Member of Parliament, the Minister of Justice and Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz. So far, my MP, Rahim Jaffer and Mr. Breitkreuz have responded - but I still have no forms.

7. Even if police do find the guns, there are so few identifying characteristics on the registration certificates that it is impossible to connect a real firearm to a registration certificate. The two may go together, or may not.

Personal Experience: I have a firearm that the Chief Firearm Officer of Alberta directed be classed as an antique. It is a rusty Winchester Model 94 lever action, in 30-30 calibre. It was made in 1905.

Is it an antique? Not according to the laws and the Regulations.

The Winchester 94 is one of the world's most easily recognized rifles - any one who has ever watched a John Wayne movie can likely recognize it. Why can't the Canadian Firearms Centre recognize mine?

"All we have in our current firearm legislation is missed targets," states Hinter.

"The government has ignored public safety in their zeal to be 'politically correct'" charged Hinter "Canadians are dying in the streets of Toronto, while the Liberals continue to fiddle," concluded Hinter.

For more information, contact the National Firearms
Association at (780) 439-1394

Back to Gun Control