The Gun Registry: What Cops Say
Wish I had time to elaborate on this….
SASKATCHEWAN RCMP OFFICER
I find that I have to deprogram every cadet that I train when it comes to CFRO checks and their reliability in regards to officer safety.It does not matter if a gun is registered, if someone is bent on crime they will use a registered or non-registered gun. If no gun is available, they will use something else.
The gun registry places police officers’ lives at risk. The gun registry offers a false sense of security. The gun registry is making criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens. The gun registry is eating up resources that the RCMP and every other municipal or first nation force desperately need.
Saying that the guns are the problem in this society is like saying pens are the cause of spelling errors, or that cars are the cause of drunk driving, or like saying fast food restaurants are the cause of obesity.
CALGARY POLICE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT AL KOENIG
Calgary Police Association president Al Koenig is skeptical of the Alberta government’s plan to have people willingly hand over unregistered guns. “To presume that gangsters will hand over their guns, somebody is living in wonderland,†Koenig said.RETIRED TORONTO POLICE SGT MICHAEL MAYS
Your statement that it is used 5,000 times a day by police is misleading. A check of the registry is done automatically every time an officer is dispatched to an address, wanted or not. From its inception, I was advised not to depend on it to make decisions. It is outdated, inaccurate and completely unreliable. To make a decision at a call based on registry information would be foolish at best and deadly at worst.SERGEANT BOB COTTINGHAM
Not once, however, during my career do I recall using the gun registry to solve a major crime. Simply put, the vast majority of criminals use firearms which don’t come close to being included in this bureaucratic jumble of information. Letter-writer Wendy Cukier may also be disappointed to know that I observed that most front-line officers have little faith in the gun registry, and see it as another bloated and failed attempt by the former government to appease its constituents.CPL. MARTIN GAUDET
In dangerous situations, city police preferred to rely on their own information rather than call the registry office in Miramichi. Cpl. Martin Gaudet said officers responding to a potentially dangerous situation always assume there’s a firearm involved. “We don’t check with the registry during a gun-related incident,†he said.CALGARY POLICE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
“Wiping the slate clean and not making responsible gun owners into criminals is a good start,†said association president Al Koenig.A.B.J. (BEN) BEATTY: 23-YEAR VETERAN OF THE ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
I have however been involved in the investigation of countless offences such as robbery, where handguns were the weapon of choice and I must point out Sir, that the firearms registry did not assist in solving one, nor obviously in deterring one. The reasons that the firearms registry is so highly ineffectual are, I believe obvious, but basically it affects the wrong people, law abiding citizens and not criminals.LEN GRINNELL, RETIRED RCMP STAFF-SARGEANT
I have grave concerns about the reliance on the registry for data which could result in death or injury of a police officer.My experience has told me that the greatest hazard to police officers is complacence and I found it prudent to continually remind my staff of that fact. Relying on a flawed system for officer safety will eventually lead to a tragedy. It is unfortunate that the CACP did not take the time to consider the consequences of their position and the safety of the men and women they represent.
GILBERT YARD, RETIRED RCMP SUPERINTENDENT
I am appalled at just how much has been spent to date on the firearms registration process. But perhaps even more disturbing is the misplaced focus on legal firearms.During my 37 years of policing I carried a handgun as a tool of my profession. I was also exposed to a wide cross-section of collectors and target shooters who used, stored and transported their weapons in a legal and responsible manner. They are not the problem. The misdirection of time, effort and funding is unforgivable. I believe that Canadians are much too astute to believe that either Bill C-68 or the proposed handgun legislation is anything other than a waste of time, effort and money. Wasting public funds that could really make a difference in acute justice issues, in my view, borders on criminal activity.
ERIC W. FERGUSON, Retired Chief of Police and RCMP Officer
I was 75 years of age on Dec. 31, 2005. Part of my life’s story was serving 24 years with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and four years as Police Chief for the City of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. For the past six or seven years I have stood by and watched the Liberal Government of Canada mishandle gun control and in the process not save one life, but encouraging criminals to commit more offences and yes, help to turn good honest Canadians into criminals. Now Prime Minister your plan to banish all handguns is real “dumbâ€.DENIS COTE, PRESIDENT OF THE QUEBEC MUNICIPAL POLICE FEDERATION:
“How come if you have a ban, you’re not allowed to possess a firearm for 10 years, how come you can allow it for the hunting season?†asked Denis Cote, president of the Quebec municipal police federation. “If you’re a threat for everybody, make sure you’re a threat for all 12 months in a year.â€LEO TONEGUZZI, RETIRED CHIEF OF POLICE:
Mr. Martin, your government promised that the foolhardy gun registration laws you initiated would end the high amount of violence throughout Canada. That plan failed and now to get votes in the greater G.T.A. area you propose an entire ban on all handguns.Name n/a
“I met with an RCMP officer this week who was told by his superiors to stop sending requests to the gun registry before attending domestic disputes because he ‘was putting his life in danger’. The RCMP officer was told the usual ‘no guns’ response to his query ‘creates a false sense of security’. The young officer was also told that if he ever criticized the gun registry publicly his career would be over,â€AL KOENIG, PRESIDENT OF THE CALGARY POLICE ASSOCIATION:
“The ironic thing is after spending $2-billion-plus trying to register them, the best the government can come up with is to outright ban them — it doesn’t solve the problem,†he said.JOHN GAYDER, SERVING POLICE OFFICER IN ONTARIO
The registry is great at telling me what LAW ABIDING people duly registered their guns. These were never the people I needed to worry about. I don’t trust the registry because it will never be able to tell me what I need to know about the riskier anti social [expletive deleted] I may potentially be pulling over at 3am. Criminals and kooks DON’T REGISTER their guns.MURRAY GRISMER, SERVING POLICE OFFICER IN SASKATCHEWAN
As a police officer with 19 years experience, the last thing I am willing to stake my life on is the information contained in the Firearm Registry. Not only is the information unverified and inaccurate, it has little to do with where a firearm is possibly stored or located. Of greater value is the licensing of owners for this at the very least is an indicator of who may potentially have a firearm in their possession; and yet I would still be a fool to risk my life on negative hit to a query of this information. As a police officer who represented the Saskatchewan Association of Police Officers in opposition to the Firearm Registry, I have spoken with police from across Canada who see little or no value in the Registry. Many have gone so far as to question the rational or motive of the Canadian Professional Police association’s continued endorsement of it.Name n/a
When they went to process my registration for the new firearm they were told that the one I traded in was never registered. Another waste of taxpayers’ money. As a police officer that just confirmed my faith in the current gun registry system and that the current government is doing nothing to protect our members and the general public.
There’s a lot more here.
Damn!
I require a good guffaw. You likely could use one, too. Luckily for the both of us, I managed to find one.
This was driving me absolutely batshit. Really, it was.
