70% Of Canadian Handgun owners don't have firearms licenses!
Posted: 2002-10-16 04:01am
http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/breitkre ... trol67.htm
June 18, 2002 For Immediate Release
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENT SHOWS 70% OF THE OWNERS OF REGISTERED HANDGUNS DON’T HAVE A VALID FIREARMS LICENCE
"Either it shows the most massive open defiance of the Criminal Code in Canadian history, or it’s absolute proof that the Liberal’s gun registration scheme can never work."
Ottawa – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, Official Opposition Critic on Firearms and Property Rights, released one of the most amazing and damning documents yet released by the Department of Justice. “I can’t believe they released such an embarrassing document. Either it shows the most massive open defiance of the Criminal Code in Canadian history, or it’s absolute proof that the Liberal’s gun registration scheme can never work. I tend to think the latter, but whatever answer the Justice Minister selects, it spells another huge blow to the credibility of the government’s gun registry,” predicted Breitkreuz.
The documents obtained by Breitkreuz from the Justice Department state:
ATIP A2002-0063 – Numbers provided are 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 total number that hold valid firearms licences authorizing them to own the firearms registered to them in the RWRS. 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.
“This shoots a big hole in the Justice Minister’s claim of a 90% compliance rate. If these statistics are to be believed, it means that 304,375 owners of registered restricted and prohibited firearms are subject to a penalty of up to ten years in jail for knowingly being in unauthorized possession of their firearms. I don’t think very many people that own a gun already registered with the RCMP would run such a risk,” said Breitkreuz. This is why I think these statistics reveal a fatal flaw in the entire gun registry. A more realistic explanation is that over the last 68 years of registering guns, the RCMP have simply lost track of the vast majority of these 300,000 owners of registered weapons. Gun owners move, or die or sell their firearms, but the RCMP has obviously failed to keep their records up to date. Over the years, the errors have accumulated making the gun registry practically useless for effective law enforcement. How will the executive of the Canadian Police Association defend their continued support for the gun registry now?” asked Breitkreuz.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department provided statistics that prove that the same errors are creeping into the government’s new gun registry. As of February 21, 2002, they had mailed out 1,625,915 envelopes to licenced firearms owners as part of their “Free” Registration Program. So far 38,629 envelopes have been “Returned to Sender” by Canada Post. So only a year after the licencing deadline, the Department of Justice has already lost track of more than 38,000 licenced gun owners. “This number will only increase as time goes on,” predicted Breitkreuz. “Responsible firearms owners across Canada have accurately characterized the gun registry as the Titanic. This new evidence surely puts the bow of Bill C-68 under water.”
June 18, 2002 For Immediate Release
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENT SHOWS 70% OF THE OWNERS OF REGISTERED HANDGUNS DON’T HAVE A VALID FIREARMS LICENCE
"Either it shows the most massive open defiance of the Criminal Code in Canadian history, or it’s absolute proof that the Liberal’s gun registration scheme can never work."
Ottawa – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, Official Opposition Critic on Firearms and Property Rights, released one of the most amazing and damning documents yet released by the Department of Justice. “I can’t believe they released such an embarrassing document. Either it shows the most massive open defiance of the Criminal Code in Canadian history, or it’s absolute proof that the Liberal’s gun registration scheme can never work. I tend to think the latter, but whatever answer the Justice Minister selects, it spells another huge blow to the credibility of the government’s gun registry,” predicted Breitkreuz.
The documents obtained by Breitkreuz from the Justice Department state:
ATIP A2002-0063 – Numbers provided are 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 total number that hold valid firearms licences authorizing them to own the firearms registered to them in the RWRS. 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.
“This shoots a big hole in the Justice Minister’s claim of a 90% compliance rate. If these statistics are to be believed, it means that 304,375 owners of registered restricted and prohibited firearms are subject to a penalty of up to ten years in jail for knowingly being in unauthorized possession of their firearms. I don’t think very many people that own a gun already registered with the RCMP would run such a risk,” said Breitkreuz. This is why I think these statistics reveal a fatal flaw in the entire gun registry. A more realistic explanation is that over the last 68 years of registering guns, the RCMP have simply lost track of the vast majority of these 300,000 owners of registered weapons. Gun owners move, or die or sell their firearms, but the RCMP has obviously failed to keep their records up to date. Over the years, the errors have accumulated making the gun registry practically useless for effective law enforcement. How will the executive of the Canadian Police Association defend their continued support for the gun registry now?” asked Breitkreuz.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department provided statistics that prove that the same errors are creeping into the government’s new gun registry. As of February 21, 2002, they had mailed out 1,625,915 envelopes to licenced firearms owners as part of their “Free” Registration Program. So far 38,629 envelopes have been “Returned to Sender” by Canada Post. So only a year after the licencing deadline, the Department of Justice has already lost track of more than 38,000 licenced gun owners. “This number will only increase as time goes on,” predicted Breitkreuz. “Responsible firearms owners across Canada have accurately characterized the gun registry as the Titanic. This new evidence surely puts the bow of Bill C-68 under water.”