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Federal gun registry has not improved public safety despite costing taxpayers more than $2 billion

VANCOUVER, July 5 /CNW/ - Canada's homicide rate and number of
gang-related murders has increased since the federal government's firearms
registry and licensing program was implemented, an indication that the program
has failed to improve public safety, according to Hubris in the North, The
Canadian Firearms Registry, a new report from independent research
organization The Fraser Institute.
"In 1995, the government promised Canadians that the gun registry would
reduce total criminal violence, suicide and domestic abuse, not just gun
violence," said Gary Mauser, author of the report, senior fellow with The
Fraser Institute, and a professor at Simon Fraser University.
"But the legislation has failed to do that, primarily because it relies
upon public-health research to justify a moralistic approach to firearms that
exaggerates the danger of citizens owning firearms through pseudoscientific
research methods."
Hubris in the North, The Canadian Firearms Registry details the history
of Canadian gun legislation and examines the trends in criminal violence and
suicide to see if the gun registry has been effective in accomplishing its
stated goals.
The gun registry and its supporting legislation were introduced in 1995
by the Liberal government. Justice Minister Allan Rock said at the time that
registering guns and licensing their owners would save lives by reducing
criminal violence, domestic violence, suicide, and firearm accidents.
But Mauser's analysis shows that public safety has not improved. He finds
that overall criminal violence and suicide rates have continued their
long-term decline with the violent crime rate falling by about four per cent.
Yet the homicide rate has actually increased by nine per cent since the
registry was implemented. No persuasive link could be found between the
firearm registry and these changes.
"I don't think you can credit the gun registry for the decline in
criminal violence because the data indicate the drop began well before
firearms registration was introduced," Mauser said. "Moreover, homicide and
criminal violence in general have fallen more in the United States during the
same time period than in Canada, so it's hard to imagine the gun registry
having a measurable impact in this environment."
One of the most striking findings is that gang-related homicides and
homicides involving handguns have increased substantially.
"Gang violence typically involves handguns and although handguns have
been registered since the 1930s, this has not reduced the level of their
criminal misuse," Mauser said. "The gun registry had no effect on homicide
rates and was particularly ineffective against gang activity."
The report suggests that the rational for the registry program is based
on faulty research.
"The government's approach to public safety relied on an analysis of
firearms and violence that greatly exaggerated the dangers of firearm
ownership," Mauser said.
"This misrepresentation stemmed from public-health researchers who
ignored basic scientific principles in favour of advocacy. These activists
drew conclusions that were not supported by their research studies and they
compounded their errors by recommending legislative solutions that fell
outside the boundaries of their research. Such studies are not properly
scientific but use the scientific trappings of research to prove claims rather
than testing hypotheses."
The report points out that research to date has not shown that sweeping
gun laws are effective at reducing general homicide or suicide rates. These
research findings remain largely unacknowledged in the public-health
community. The low incidence rate of firearms misuse means that there are
large numbers of false positives with substantial attendant financial costs,
as well as important implications for democratic society.
"We lose much of our inherited democratic freedoms if we treat mature
citizens as if they were helpless patients rather than responsible adults,"
Mauser said.
Despite its estimated $2 billion cost to date, the firearms registry
remains notably incomplete and has an error rate that remains embarrassingly
high. As a result of its many failures, particularly its failure to reduce
gang violence or stop senseless killings such as the recent occurrences at
Dawson College and Mayerthorpe, Alberta, the firearms registry has not been
able to win the trust of either the public or the police.
Mauser pointed out that Auditor General Sheila Fraser complained that she
could not get all of the necessary financial information during an audit of
the registry and summarized her review of the books by saying the registry had
one of the largest cost overruns her office had ever seen.
"Clearly, the evidence shows that the registry has failed Canadians. It
has failed to reduce gang violence or stop senseless killings. So why then,
should we trust it, and why should we continue to fund it?" Mauser said.

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