Gun
registry better than nothing
Jim Bender - Woodstock
Wednesday May 31, 2006
Ingersoll Times — I
watched the news the other day to see Sheila Fraser, the auditor-general
chastising the former Liberal government for the discrepancies in spending on
the federal gun registry program.
Mismanagement, flagrant misuse and the hiding of cash due to odd, not legally
acceptable accounting practices, later described as reprehensible by the
governing party, the CONservatives.
To me, this harkened Stockwell Days’ run up to the dismantling of the thing.
(Was it a timed announcement or what?)
Sadly, our local MP, supporting this dismantling,(through the cutoff of funds
and related fee amnesty programs[which in themselves will cost money]) is at
odds with him being a former police officer, but then again, these guys are not
permitted to speak their minds, unless they’ve been given permission to from
"big daddy" Harper, and even then, the words spoken are just being
parroted, and not designed by our local guy.
I find it difficult to believe that Dave Mackenzie(as Stockwell Day’s
parliamentary secretary) actually supports this. I tend to believe he is
mimicking the words of his boss. Even his former counterparts are stunned that
he would do this to them (the Canadian Chiefs of Police Association).
There are several gross flaws in what our government is about to do.
1. The Canadian taxpayer has already financed the setup of the operation to the
tune of around $1 billion. If we thought it was a waste of money to spend it
already, it is a much larger waste to throw it away. It’s like building a new
county office, spending too much, and bulldozing it because we spent so much
money. Why burn the house when it’s already built? Hey, remember that saying
"don’t throw the baby out with the bath water?"
2. The Canadian Police Association favours the registry as a tool for providing
information services, accessed some 6,700 times daily for the protection of our
communities and officers. I couldn’t see Mr. Day, or Mr. Mackenzie entering
into a situation blindfolded like they are doing to our police, but it would
appear that’s what they’d do! Or is this a political brownie point thing?
3. Mr. Day claims that "citizens are not abiding by the law, and that
there’s no way to enforce the law, so there’s no point in having the
law." If we apply that logic to all things evenly across the board, I would
say that the mass majority of laws are being flouted on a daily level, by a
large portion of the population, and there are not enough police to arrest
everyone. So why not just get rid of the criminal code (the big red book of
criminal laws in Canada), dissolve the courts and move freely into a state of
anarchy? The laws on marijuana are a fine example of this: hundreds of thousands
of Canadians are smoking pot, growing pot, generally flouting the law everyday,
but we’re not afraid to pee away the farm on that one! I guess it all depends
on who’s making the money on this deal? Why hasn’t this group of people been
given an amnesty against all future arrests?
4. I would assume that Mr. Day has never had a gun pointed at him, been robbed,
beaten or subject to any violent crime, or he would see the benefit to this
registry, and the folly of this decision. The utopian view that he and the
CONservative movement have, that this registry is bad, and that guns are good
and every person has a right to have as many of the tools of murder and mayhem
as they wish is sickening. For any cop on the street, even the smallest amount
of information that could help in solving a crime, or saving a life is useful.
5. You buy a car, you register it. The police know what you have, what colour it
is and how big the motor is.
6. You want to drive, you get a licence to do so.
7. You want to get married? You get a licence and register. You have a baby, you
do the same thing.
The generosity of our government to the violent minded criminals is
overwhelming. The lack of support for the murdered is overwhelming, and the
destruction of an important tool for police in combating violence on our
streets, and in our homes is dismal and lacks insight and reeks of a lack of
intellectual wealth.
The dissolution of this registry by failing to fund its’ existence is a
failure for all Canadians. Yes, the Liberals may have wasted some money, but
they understood the necessity of trying to provide protection in light of the
horrible plight of gun violence.
The correct measure would be to streamline the system, cut redundant staff and
ensure the survival of it by financing it, and perhaps have a monthly fee for
police to access it. This could recover some of the costs, but still it will
ultimately be financed by the taxpayer, as we finance the police.
If our aim is to save some money, then what our government is saying is that
lives are really not worth anything. We’ve had six or seven police murdered in
recent memory from shots fired from rifles. Ask their widows, husbands, friends
and family what their lives were worth to them, and you will get a different
response.
The registry may not necessarily have changed any of that, but it was a start,
and better than the nothing we are about to get for all the money we’ve spent.
And that is a real crime, perpetrated against the people of Canada by the
government.
"Men will pay for anything; except wisdom. Each convinced he intuitively
possesses all necessary."
Godivas
Marijuana
Party Oxford
