The “incompetent gun registry” puts police and public at risk

OFAH File: 842
May 17, 2006

For Immediate Release

The “incompetent gun registry” puts police and public at risk

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is in Ottawa this week, front and center of the media storm that is following the Auditor General’s scathing report on the gun registry. An announcement about the future of the ill-fated registry is expected in a few hours.

While the O.F.A.H. is not the least bit surprised that the Auditor General has discovered millions of mismanaged dollars in developing and maintaining the registry, the Federation is shocked that Canadians’ worst nightmares about the registry’s inaccuracies and security infringements are, in fact, true.

“Quite frankly, the Auditor General’s report only reinforces our predictions that not only is the gun registry a waste of time and money, it is a completely incompetent system that is riddled with errors. Police officers and the public at large are at risk if they were to ever rely on it,” said O.F.A.H. Executive Director, Mike Reader who is anticipating a government announcement today to dismantle the long gun registry, as the O.F.A.H. requested.

“The bottom line is that criminals will never register their guns. Licensing firearms owners, however, makes sense. If the gun registry is scrapped, like we hope, taxpayers will still have the value of the system that makes sure everyone who legally owns a firearm is federally trained and licensed through the Canadian Firearms Centre,” said Reader.

For over a decade, 81,000 O.F.A.H. members and 640 clubs have lobbied vigorously against the gun registry. Two months ago, the O.F.A.H. broke the national news-making story about computer hackers’ abilities to crack the website of the gun registry.

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