Letter: Gun registry program has failed
Date: Apr 24, 2006 7:36 AM
PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2006.04.24
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PNAME: Letters
PAGE: A11
BYLINE: Tom McAuley
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen
WORD COUNT: 199

————————————————————————
——–

Gun registry program has failed

————————————————————————
——–

Despite the overwhelming support of the Canadian public for killing the
long-gun registry, it seems there’s still some core support for it out
there, notably among left-leaning newspapers and the blame-the-weapons
crowd. To make the case that the program should be continued, they
generally refer to some nebulous benefits, or tell us it’s no big deal
to keep it.

If the registry is so effective, where is the hard evidence that it has
worked? It should be abundant if it’s working, shouldn’t it? Who was
arrested BEFORE the crime was committed? Which criminals were caught by
ONLY using the registry after the fact? The answer is nobody. No crimes
were prevented, and criminals are still caught by old-fashioned police
work.

Duck hunters and target shooters aren’t the problem in this country. Why
does the gun-hating crowd want to continue the persecution of innocent
people who’ve harmed no one? Simple, ultimately they want all guns in
Canada confiscated, and the registry is the only means to do it. Paul
Martin exposed this goal during the election. And gun owners will never
forget it.

Tom McAuley, Winnipeg