15:27 on 2012/09/17 Reply  

• Bert 17:39 on 2012/09/17 Permalink

  Th Quebec government paid nothing to build the list, now they want their part of it. Maybe the feds should charge the Québec government on a per-capita or per-firearm basis, and recoup the original costs.

  The registry should be scrapped.

• steph 18:17 on 2012/09/17 Permalink

  @ bert, can Quebec taxpayers get a refund from the feds on the money wasted compiling the list they want to destroy? I understand the privacy arguments, but I don’t think they apply here. I can’t agree with the need for people to own guns to begin with, I would even push for a yearly gun registration fee, like we do for automobiles.

• Bert 19:02 on 2012/09/17 Permalink

  Steph, why should they? The feds didn’t waste provincial funds, they wasted federal funds. If you want to abolish the federal-provincial relationship, go right ahead and try.

  There is no privacy issue, just because it is a gun?

  Say I am driving through the eastern townships, the Laurentians or other rural hunting area, during hunting season. Say I was speeding. I light my dome (reading) light, open the window, all before the officer gets anywhere close to my car. Should I be greeted at gunpoint and questioned about anything and everything except speeding? Should I get visited at home by the police, after a day of hunting, all because a neighbour reported me with a gun case?

  The point is that the list does little, except allow the government and the police to further judge, divide and conquer the populace. The lists goal is to intimidate gun owners and potential gun owners. It offers no security.

  Did it prevent deaths in Toronto? Winipeg? Montreal? No. Does the gun registry work?

• Kate 19:07 on 2012/09/17 Permalink

  Yes, if you’re carrying devices that can easily be fatal to other human beings, yes you should be questioned. Isn’t it simpler to hand over a licence attesting to your legal possession of your guns than to get into an argument or debate with the police?

  Both the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have spoken in support of the gun registry. They say it reduces the misuse of guns and makes it easier for police to track illegal guns. Police officers check the gun registry database about 6500 times a day, and use it to check whether they might expect to be met by a gun when responding to a domestic disturbance or break-in, to keep recreational guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, and to apply for search warrants and wire-taps.

  – From about.com’s page on the gun registry issue.

  Between 1991, when the registry was introduced, and 2007, the murder rate of women by firearms dropped 67%. And it isn’t just about women, the total murder rate by rifles and shotguns declined 76%.

  • From this women’s centre page found via google.

  I find you make no case for guns not being registered, except that it’s convenient. Sometimes convenience has to give way to vigilance and in this case I think it should. But I’m not going to host a lengthy debate on the subject.

• walkerp 20:15 on 2012/09/17 Permalink

  You want to own a dangerous tool that requires training and skill to properly use? Then you have to pay a bit and suffer some paperwork. That’s the price of living in a society with other people.

  Bert, you may be a responsible firearm owner, but there are many people who aren’t and I want them to have to make an effort to be able to own a gun and I want the authorities to know about that gun, who has it and where it is supposed to be. I think we can do that without violating individual rights too much.

• JaneyB 12:22 on 2012/09/18 Permalink

  Long before the registry project, people have had to register their guns in Canada. People have had to get a federal permit to own or carry a gun (even in the trunk of the car) for decades – and still will, regardless of the status of this registry. When you buy a gun at a store, the store has to do paperwork for the registration – again this has been the case for decades. All cops assume there could be a gun in the picture whenever they answer domestic calls.

  Sure, why not keep the new registry – we’ve paid for it – but…there were plenty of records of gun ownership before it (and they’re still around as well). The (new) gun registry project was more theatre than anything else to soothe the GTA after several dramatic shooting deaths. If it disappears as a result of legal battles, no need to worry, there are lots of additional and current records on gun ownership and access. And that’s a good thing!

Reply Cancel reply

Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website