Canadian gun registry
From Free net encyclopedia
The Canadian gun registry is a government-run registry of all legally-owned guns in Canada. It was introduced by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and implemented by successive Justice Ministers Allan Rock and Anne McLellan. It requires every firearm in Canada to be registered or rendered in an unusable state. This was an effort to reduce crime by making every gun traceable.
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Early history
Canada had earlier had a gun registry during World War II, when all people were compelled to register their weapons out of fear of enemy subversion. This registry was discontinued after the war; however, all handguns have been subject to registration since 1934. In addition, fully automatic weapons have been prohibited since 1977. In the mid 90s, short barrelled handguns and those firing .25 ACP and .32 ACP ammunition, with the exception of certain guns used in shooting competitions, were added to the list of prohibited weapons.
Initial Opposition
While initial opposition to the registry came from a minority of Canadians, it was vocal and supported by the American National Rifle Association and local Canadian gun groups. It was argued that the registry would not make Canadians safer and that it was only a step on the way to the confiscation of all guns in Canada. Prime Minister Paul Martin's 2006 election promise of a national ban on handguns seems to have confirmed this fear. The provincial governments of Ontario and Alberta also attacked the bill arguing it exceeded the federal government's mandate, however the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the registry.
The Conservative Party of Canada remains committed to scrapping the registry. Their reasoning is that if the same amount of money was invested in expanding the RCMP police force instead of harassing law abiding gun owners, far more lives would be saved. In fact, a committee made up of Justice Minister Vic Toews, Public Security Minister Stockwell Day, and Tory backbencher Garry Breitkreuz has been formed to work out how to scrap the long gun registry and reinvest the money in RCMP officers.
Cost Overruns
The registry again became a political issue in the early 2000s when massive cost overruns were reported, the project which was meant to cost approximately $119 million ended up costing over a billion dollars to implement. Documents obtained by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation now estimate the program cost at $2 billion.
In December 2002, the Auditor-General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, reported that the project was running vastly above initial cost estimates. The report shows that the implementation of the firearms registry program by the Department of Justice has had significant strategic and management problems throughout. Tax payers were originally expected to pay only $2 million of the budget while registration fees would cover the rest. In 1995, the Department of Justice reported to Parliament that the system would cost $119 million to implement, and that the income generated from licensing fees would be $117 million. This gives a net cost of $2 million. At the time of the 2002 audit, the revised estimates from the Department of Justice were that the cost of the program would be more than $1 billion by 2004/05 and that the income from licence fees in the same period would be $140 million.
The Auditor General's report found other significant problems with the way in which the project had been handled. These include significant questions around the financial management of the project. In particular, the report states that estimated project costs often excluded project costs incurred by other agencies, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and provincial governments, giving a false impression of real cost. Also issues are reported with how funds were requested from parliament, 70% of funds being requested through "supplementary estimates" a method intended for unanticipated expenditures and requiring only a one-line statement to parliament on the purpose of the request. In comparison, only 10% of funds for all other programs in the department were requested in this way in that same period.
The causes of the cost overruns have been blamed on the inexperience of the Justice Department in managing a project of such scale. Especially crucial was that the scope of the project was in continuous flux requiring continuous changes to the basic set-up of the registry.
Corruption Charges
In January 2006, The RCMP has been asked to probe a Liberal consultant over a $380,000 contract, Kim Doran was awarded to lobby Ottawa, Canada for funds for the ailing firearms registry. The five-month contract was awarded by the Justice Department, to Doran in March 2003 to lobby the Federal Solicitor General, Treasury Board and Privy Council, according to a detailed lobbyist report. At the time, Doran was representing the Coalition for Gun Control. The group, which receives both government and private funding, claims to represent anti-firearm groups and municipalities. It is a strong supporter of the gun registry.
Tony Bernardo, of the national Canadian Shooting Sports Association, 12,000 women & men members, wishes the gun registry program funds were used for Canadian law & justice purposes. He said his Canadian organization, should also 'get government funding for a consultant to lobby on behalf of law abiding gun owners'. The group asked the RCMP to probe into the matter. "Isn't it inappropriate for the Federal Government to hire a private lobbyist with taxpayers' dollars to lobby itself?" the organization complained to the RCMP. "Isn't it inappropriate for an employee of the Liberal Party to profit from funds granted by the government of Canada?" Doran is listed as Vice-President of Federal Affairs for the Liberals' Ontario Women's Commission and is also the party's Deputy National Director of Organization and Policy.
Use of the registry
Despite the problems with the registry, police departments commonly use it to allow police officers to check if a residence or property might contain a registered firearm before responding to a call. It has shown no use in preventing the illegal importation of guns from the United States or elsewhere. Nevertheless, it is opposed by the overwhelming majority of provinces, police officers (90% of RCMP officers and 95% of municipal officers), and all but one of Saskatchewan's 17 police chiefs.
Alleged Mis-Use of the Registry
Recently, several gun collectors have had their collections stolen, including antique pistols and rifles. Recently, some are suggesting that the gun registry (both long gun and hand gun registries) have been hacked and are now serving as a hit list giving criminals a road map to all the guns in Canada. Advocates of the registry are saying that street gangs are not computer savy enough to hack the registry, yet they have not addressed the possibility that organized crime may be involved in these recent robberies.
Is the gun registry an easy target for computer hackers?
"It took some $15 million to develop and I broke it in about 30 minutes." - Former CFC webmaster
John Hicks, an Orillia-area computer consultant, has never owned a gun. However, during his three-year tenure as the webmaster for the Canadian Firearms Centre, he was shocked to discover that anyone with a home computer could have easily accessed names, addresses and detailed shopping lists (including make, model and serial number) of literally millions of registered guns belonging to millions of unsuspecting licensed firearms owners.
"During my tenure as the CFC webmaster I duly informed management that the website that interfaced to the firearms registry was flawed. It took some $15 million to develop and I broke it inside of about 30 minutes," said Mr. Hicks who contacted the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters after hearing about our organization's outrage over a map showing gun owners in Ontario that was posted on the Toronto Star's website.
"I have to say that a map of such information isn't quite as useful as what I know for a fact was available for years from the C.F.C. website. Someone out there may very well have your address, " said Mr. Hicks.
In a special interview with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (www.ofah.org), Mr. Hicks explained that, until recently, the Canadian Firearms Centre's online service for firearms registration used a very risky "two-stage authorization process." In other words, it only took a simple process of elimination to find vulnerable user accounts and fool the system into thinking that the computer hacker was the actual licensed gun owner.
"Basically, a 16-year-old could have broken into that system in a heartbeat. So, would it surprise me if it was used for malicious purposes before they (CFC) got around to fixing it? Sadly, no," said Mr. Hicks.Mr. Hicks said he repeatedly warned CFC management to properly protect gun owners' personal information before he filed an official complaint with the Privacy Commissioner.
"The privacy commissioner actually responded that should anyone complain that they were targeted due to information gleaned from the CFRS database that they would investigate further," said Mr. Hicks.
Mr. Hicks continues to check the system to see how the much needed security upgrades are coming along. While Mr. Hicks feels that the CFC has seemed to have completely revamped the login functions, he said, "they haven't made it more difficult, rather just a longer process to effectively break the system."
O.F.A.H. Executive Director Mike Reader said, "The information that Mr. Hicks has provided is shocking, but certainly not surprising to O.F.A.H. members who have always warned that, in the wrong hands, a database detailing the whereabouts of every legally-owned firearm in Canada is a potential shopping list for criminals."
"If we consider what Mr. Hicks has disclosed about the CFC's haphazard approach to privacy protection, and we consider the recent burglary trend that has targeted gun owners, it only reinforces our predictions that a $2 billion program designed to keep Canadians safe is doing the exact opposite," said Mr. Reader.
The O.F.A.H. has brought this matter to the attention of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Has the registry become a shopping list for criminals?
The latest home invasion seems to have targeted another licensed gun collector and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is seriously questioning the security of the computer-based gun registry.
"This and other recent break-ins has us wondering whether computer hackers and violent criminals are using the gun registry more than the police" said O.F.A.H. Executive Director, Mike Reader, adding that the registry's reputation for computer errors, privacy infringements, and security leaks has been widely acknowledged by police and politicians.
"The O.F.A.H. has always warned that, in the wrong hands, a database detailing the whereabouts of every legally-owned firearm in Canada is a potential shopping list for criminals," added Reader.
Despite this apparent trend in recent break-ins, Ontario's Attorney General Michael Bryant appears to be more intent on punishing law-abiding gun collectors who have gone above and beyond the legislated call of duty for safely storing their firearms.
"Instead of focusing on how thieves are discovering the whereabouts of gun collections, the Ontario Attorney General is demonizing law-abiding historic collectors and target shooters who should expect security protection, not confiscation," said Reader.
This concern was echoed by Oshawa Mayor, John Gray, who told the Toronto Star that private gun collectors are not the criminals. He said criminals are the thugs who break into homes and steal safely- stored firearms.
Ottawa's Police Board Chair, Eli El-Chantiry also believes the province's Attorney General is off target, saying that he believes "the focus should be on the illegal handgun, not about the handgun in the hand of a collector."
Role in American Gun Politics
The National Rifle Association and other guns rights groups in the United States have used the Canadian registry as an example of the potential failure such a system would be if implemented in the United States which has far more firearms in private circulation than Canada.
The Violence Policy Center has also argued against such a system being implemented in the United States as well on the grounds that it would not reduce gun violence in America. [http://www.vpc.org/fact_sht/licreg.htm 1