Steven Mace
02-28-2002, 05:33 AM
Feb. 27, 2002. 07:25 PM
Gun registry has backfired, say critics
OTTAWA (CP) — Opposition critics say statistics continue to show the gun registry is not working and the percentage of violent crimes involving firearms has actually increased since Ottawa passed its gun control laws.
The Progressive Conservative Democratic Representative Coalition said today that Statistics Canada figures show the percentage of attempted murders that involved a firearm increased from 31 per cent in 1995 to 37 per cent in 2000 — a jump of 20 per cent.
The number of homicides that involved a gun also increased over the same time period.
"What that shows is the firearms registry isn't working. It's having no effect on deterring the use of firearms to commit violent crimes, and at a huge cost," said PCDRC MP Jim Pankiw, who raised the issue in the House of Commons today.
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon defended the much-maligned program, which was first introduced in 1994 and requires gun owners to obtain a license for their firearms.
"We do believe in what we're doing," Cauchon told the House.
By law, all firearms must be registered by Jan. 1, 2003. Penalities for not acquiring a license can result in up to five years in jail and seizure of any guns.
However, Canadians have not been quick to comply.
That forced Ottawa to waive the registration fees last October in an attempt to get more guns registered.
Cost overruns, pegged by critics at over $600 million, have the federal government considering an outside agency to administer the program.
Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz said crime statistics continue to stack up against the gun registry program, which he said is a waste of money that does nothing to prevent the misuse of guns.
"We need to really examine what we're doing because it's having the opposite effect," he said.
"We need to put those resources where they are best spent and that's putting more police on the street and going after the criminals because this is simply a bureaucratic paper-pushing exercise."
"I would hope that the public would take notice of this soon."
But Neil Boyd, professor of criminology at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University, said singling out a couple of years of crime statistics is misleading.
"I think it's very difficult to use the statistics either for support of the gun registry or for arguing the gun registry isn't working," he said.
"I don't think the statistics are dramatic enough or significant enough to draw anyone to any kind of cause-effect relationship."
Wendy Cukier, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Gun Control and a professor of justice studies at Ryerson University in Toronto, said overall crime rates involving firearms have declined over the past 30 years.
She dismissed criticism about the effectiveness of the registry, noting that it's not yet completely up and running.
"You can't evaluate the impact of the firearms registry until it's been implemented," she said.
"It will take a few years before we can really assess the impact."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1014851161088&call_page=TS_Canada&call_pageid=968332188774&call_pagepath=News/Canada&col=968350116467
Steve Mace
Gun registry has backfired, say critics
OTTAWA (CP) — Opposition critics say statistics continue to show the gun registry is not working and the percentage of violent crimes involving firearms has actually increased since Ottawa passed its gun control laws.
The Progressive Conservative Democratic Representative Coalition said today that Statistics Canada figures show the percentage of attempted murders that involved a firearm increased from 31 per cent in 1995 to 37 per cent in 2000 — a jump of 20 per cent.
The number of homicides that involved a gun also increased over the same time period.
"What that shows is the firearms registry isn't working. It's having no effect on deterring the use of firearms to commit violent crimes, and at a huge cost," said PCDRC MP Jim Pankiw, who raised the issue in the House of Commons today.
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon defended the much-maligned program, which was first introduced in 1994 and requires gun owners to obtain a license for their firearms.
"We do believe in what we're doing," Cauchon told the House.
By law, all firearms must be registered by Jan. 1, 2003. Penalities for not acquiring a license can result in up to five years in jail and seizure of any guns.
However, Canadians have not been quick to comply.
That forced Ottawa to waive the registration fees last October in an attempt to get more guns registered.
Cost overruns, pegged by critics at over $600 million, have the federal government considering an outside agency to administer the program.
Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz said crime statistics continue to stack up against the gun registry program, which he said is a waste of money that does nothing to prevent the misuse of guns.
"We need to really examine what we're doing because it's having the opposite effect," he said.
"We need to put those resources where they are best spent and that's putting more police on the street and going after the criminals because this is simply a bureaucratic paper-pushing exercise."
"I would hope that the public would take notice of this soon."
But Neil Boyd, professor of criminology at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University, said singling out a couple of years of crime statistics is misleading.
"I think it's very difficult to use the statistics either for support of the gun registry or for arguing the gun registry isn't working," he said.
"I don't think the statistics are dramatic enough or significant enough to draw anyone to any kind of cause-effect relationship."
Wendy Cukier, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Gun Control and a professor of justice studies at Ryerson University in Toronto, said overall crime rates involving firearms have declined over the past 30 years.
She dismissed criticism about the effectiveness of the registry, noting that it's not yet completely up and running.
"You can't evaluate the impact of the firearms registry until it's been implemented," she said.
"It will take a few years before we can really assess the impact."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1014851161088&call_page=TS_Canada&call_pageid=968332188774&call_pagepath=News/Canada&col=968350116467
Steve Mace