Letter: Gun registry a money pit

[WAGCEVP]

Letter: Gun registry a money pit


PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2004.01.10
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Opinion
PAGE: A18
BYLINE: Laurie Harvey
SOURCE: The Edmonton Journal

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Gun registry a money pit

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Defending the billion-dollar dysfunctional gun registry is an expensive mistake. Whether you are pro-gun or anti-gun, or like the majority of Canadians, simply hard working taxpayers, it is quite obvious this is a money pit and a complete waste of Canadian tax dollars.

If this questionable spending was about an unemotional topic such as bridge building and we had a proposal to build one safe bridge for $1 billion or 500 safe bridges for the same $1 billion it would be a simple choice that even Liberal politicians could choose correctly.

But ask them to make the choice between saving possibly one life with the billion-dollar registry or actually saving 500 lives with the same $1 billion by getting more police on the streets and providing stronger border protection to deter the illegal cross-border weapon trade and the federal Liberal leadership needs time to "review and evaluate."

We can continue wasting tax dollars to "review and evaluate" this registry until we've spent $10 billion, or we can use some very simple budgetary logic: Are we Canadian taxpayers getting maximum value for our investment? If yes, spend the $10 billion; if no, scrap it and use the money on higher priorities.

Now on to the next Liberal money pit ...

Laurie Harvey,

Stony Plain

 

[WAGCEVP]

Letter: GUN REGISTRATION SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK

Give 'em hell Canada!
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Letter: GUN REGISTRATION SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK


PUBLICATION: The London Free Press
DATE: 2004.01.10
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Opinion Pages
PAGE: F3
BYLINE: JOHN EVERS, AYLMER ONTARIO
COLUMN: Letters to the Editor

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GUN REGISTRATION SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK

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Kudos on your editorial, Gun registry test for Martin (Jan. 8).

It's refreshing to see that Canadian media and The London Free Press in particular have finally realized the truth that Canadian hunters and sport shooters have been saying since the start of this fiasco, that registration simply does not work.

The big question of course is whether Paul Martin has the political stomach to admit this most heinous error and scrap the program. However, your call to delay this action until a workable solution is in place is without merit.

If the old FAC system had actually been used to its full potential, it would have satisfied the concerns of most Canadians with a working knowledge of firearm issues. It just did not satisfy the agenda of the "gun grabbers." Thus, all the tools can readily be put in place with minimal fuss.

Your editorial does raise one interesting question. You correctly mention that handguns, which have been registered since 1934, are still used in the majority of firearm crimes in Canada's inner cities. However, you indicate that only the long-gun registry should be abandoned. One would think that some 70 years of failure would indicate that indeed both registries should be abandoned and all of these wasted funds be put into solutions that present a realistic chance of tangible positive effects as your editorial suggests.

Canadian hunters, farmers and sport shooters, whom you consistently forget, can be part of this solution and are willing to help if only given the chance to do so.