Gun registry proven worthless (yet again)

Lorne Gunter has long been a worthy writer of common sense articles when it comes to crime, gun laws and effects of dubious regulation. This article is an excellent example, simple, to the point and loaded with checkable facts.

Gun registry proven worthless
Statistics Canada report comes to defence of Canada’s sport shooters, hunters and collectors
By Lorne Gunter ,QMI Agency
First posted: Saturday, December 08, 2012 07:00 PM CST



As soon as I saw the news releases this week from Statistics Canada announcing the annual publication of national murder figures, I readied my arguments about why the increase had nothing to do with the Harper government’s dismantling of the gun registry.

I knew the gun-banning groups would be all over the new numbers, which show a 7% increase from 2010 — a year in which Canada saw its lowest murder rate in four decades.

And I “knew” the anti-gunners would insist the rise was due to the Harper government’s dismantling of the gun registry, even though StatsCan’s latest numbers were from 2011 and the registry was not shut down until this year.

I knew the gun-controllers would jump on the increase in yet another attempt to reinstate the registry and make criminals of Canada’s law-abiding gun owners.

I needn’t have worried, though. StatsCan did my work for me. The national number-crunchers came (indirectly) to the defence of this country’s beleaguered sport shooters, hunters and gun collectors by stating very clearly that nearly all of the increase between 2010 and 2011 was due to knives. Guns weren’t to blame for the increased number of murders, nor were changes to federal gun laws.

And the last time I checked, knives weren’t included in the GUN registry.

Not only was the end of the registry not responsible for the uptick in homicides, StatsCan went further. Gun murders are at their lowest level in 50 years — half a century!

Indeed, StatsCan’s annual report was full of numbers that prove the uselessness of gun control.

For instance, some anti-gun activists will no doubt try to stretch the truth a little and claim the fact that gun crimes are so low is proof the registry worked to make the public safer.

Not so. As StatsCan points out, all murders — but especially firearms murders — have been on the decline since the mid-1970s, long before Ottawa began imposing draconian gun laws. The reason for the decline is demographics. There are simply fewer young men in the population now. And since men between the ages or 16 and 30 are the most likely to commit crime, if there are fewer of them on the street, there will be less crime.

Please read the rest here: http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/12/07/gun-registry-proven-worthless

A moment of silence

This video sums up what we think of the LGR nicely.

Royal assent has been given to bill C-19, the bill that dismantles the Long Gun Registry. This is a great moment for democracy and for common sense. While much of the work was done by a small number of individuals both within and outside of the government, it was the combined will of millions of Canadians that gave them the power to be able to defeat the gun registry and it's entrenched and well funded supporters. The number of people who truly were for the gun registry and were willing to work at protecting it has always been a tiny number. But they held influential positions and had the ears of Ministers and decision makers to whisper in. This gave them power far beyond their numbers. But something changed that they could not cope with and that is the internet.
 Hunters, shooter, collectors, firearm enthusiasts, soldiers and even police officers came together in internet forums and found that they were not alone. Soon we realized how many we were and with the help of the web we organized, we wrote letters, talked to politicians, shooters, police and anyone else we could. Only the Conservatives listened though and realized just how powerful an issue it was, (to be fair there was a small group of brave Liberals and NDPers who also listened) with shooters willing to volunteer and donate based on this issue, our influence as a group grew. There are more shooters than there are people in some Provinces and territories, that's a lot of votes. Although we had the support also of many non-shooters, people who were smart enough to know that the registry is nothing more than a pacifier for the public and a black hole sucking up money and resources. Combined we are a force to be reckoned with and let's be clear this is not a rural vs urban issue. There are many shooters that live in the cities and big towns and they are just as pissed as the farmer out in the country. So yes today is a good day for democracy, because it worked and we intend to keep pushing to change the law so people are not criminalized for paperwork crimes. 

From the CFC webpage:

Changes to business requirements: elimination of the requirement to register non-restricted firearms Special Bulletin for Businesses No. 79
April 5, 2012

Snapshot
Implementation of Bill C-19, the Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act.

Implications
The Government of Canada has changed the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act to eliminate the requirement to register non-restricted firearms effective April 5, 2012. Until further notice, due to a Court Order issued by the Quebec Superior Court, residents of Quebec are still required to register non-restricted firearms with the RCMP Canadian Firearms Program.

Beginning on April 5, 2012, firearms businesses are no longer required to obtain a Registration Certificate for non-restricted firearms from the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP). This does not impact registration requirements for restricted or prohibited firearms.

Businesses that use Business Web Services, available from the CFP website, are advised that the registration and transfer of non-restricted firearms is no longer required or supported.

Individuals and businesses buying or otherwise acquiring firearms must still have a firearms licence, and businesses are still responsible for checking the buyer’s licence. Businesses may continue to call the CFP at the toll-free number to confirm the buyer’s licence prior to completing a sale.


Now I have a confession to make, I was a criminal until Midnight Apr 5th , because I had 2 unregistered long guns. I had bought them both from some old timers who were giving up shooting, they didn't want them registered and I agreed. Owning them was a risk, a risk that I shared with millions of other Canadians because most firearm owners had a number of rifles that they did not register, I would hazard a guess that at least 2 million owners did not register their firearms. I am saying this to show people just how big a failure the LGR was. Almost 3 billion spent and almost no compliance from otherwise law abiding people.

To celebrate this day I went to the range a free man no longer worried about being arrested. I took one of those never registered guns with me and I proceeded to shoot my gun registration papers. It was a great way to tell people like Allan Rock and Wendy Cukier to go pound sand. It was a beautiful day and I felt damm good!

My unregistered firearm

Finally a good use for a firearms registration certificate

As for this blog, while the LGR is gone, the registry for restricted and prohibited firearms remain and no doubt so shall truly epic failures of those registries. Just think the handguns have been registered since 1934 and they are increasingly being used by bad guys to carry out their crimes. I guess we are just slow learners eh? but that's a battle for tomorrow, today we enjoy the fruits of victory and how sweet it is.