Introduction
Canada’s firearm registry has been there for a along period of time. The later amendments in firearm registry in Canada entailed the requirement of long-gun registry introduced in 1995. Since its introduction, the firearm registry had been faced with numerous political issues. The issues arise due to the high costs that are associated with the process and also the diverse philosophy among Canadian political parties concerning gun registry.
The introduction of the Possession and Acquisition License brought many changes on the procedures that control how people in Canada own and use firearms. The act was aimed at regulating possession and usage of firearms in Canada in order to guarantee the safety and peace for all. The strategy introduced by the federal government was a good step in trying to reduce firearms violence in Canada, but unfortunately the system had failed to reduce gun violence at a reasonable cost.
History of gun Control in Canada
The Canada federal government had instituted gun control legislations for over 100 years. The criminal violators of the gun control legislations had been prosecuted through the Canadian criminal legal mechanism. In 1800s the Canadian federal government imposed certain limitations relating to how Canadians were expected to handle firearms.
During this era the Canadian residents were at liberty to carry or sell firearms. In 1892 the Canadian federal government introduced the first permit that required Canadians to have a certificate that allowed them to have a pistol outside their workplaces or homes.
Those people that violated this law were penalized a small fine. In 1913 this law was changed and people were required to apply for a permit to allow them to buy small firearms. Those who violated this law were sentenced to a maximum of three months imprisonment. In 1920 the firearm control legislation was further strengthened and it then required all people residing in Canada to have a permit to allow them possessed any firearm.
In 1921 the Canadian federal government loosened its stand and changed the firearm control legislation. The act then required all foreigners to have a permit to possess any firearm and the Canadians residents to have only a permit to carry a small gun outside their homes or workplaces.
In 1930 the Canadian federal government tightened its firearms control legislation and required all those people that were involved in selling firearms to have a permit. In 1951 the Canadian government introduced a single small-arm registry that was controlled by the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mount Police (CRCMP). In 1969 the Canadian federal government came up with a new system that regulated certain weapons.
There were those weapons that were categorized as prohibited. These included certain weapons that Canadians were not permitted to own. They included those weapons with silencers. The second class was the regulated weapons. These included those weapons that could be legally possessed by Canadians, but under certain restrictions. People were required to get licenses in order for them to buy these firearms.
The federal government passed the firearm act that resulted to the replacement of the Firearm Acquisition Certificate with a new licensing mechanism that is referred as Possession and Acquisition License. This license required a license to possess and use a firearm. The act also required registration of all firearms. The enacting of the law resulted to the formation of Canada Firearm Centre that was meant to foresee the implementation of the program. The body was mandated with the tasks of registering all firearms.
After the registration of firearms, the information is inputted into an electronic database that is referred as Canadian Firearm Information system. This system synchronizes specific firearms with their owners. This enables police to query and access specific firearm details in real time in order to trace the owner of firearms located in crimes (RCMP Canadian Firearms Program evaluation, 2010).
High Cost Associated the Gun Registry
Since its introduction in 1995, the long-gun registry had been faced with numerous oppositions from various parties. Many factions have criticized its inception because of the high costs that are associated with its running. The Liberal government that introduced this legislation had approximated that the program would run on a budget of about $ 119 million.
They had anticipated that a great part of the fund could be raised from the registration fees. The body had instituted various fees for possessing various weapons. For instance, the cost fee for carrying restricted firearms is $ 80 and $ 60 for non restricted firearms which is renewed after every five years.
In 2002, a review by the Auditor General Canada showed that the cost of running the program was over $ 1 billion. The registration fees were noted to account for only $ 140 million. By 2004, the cost of running the program had doubled from $ 1 billion to $ 2 billion. The taxpayers were initially anticipated to pay only $ 2 million to run the project while the remaining portion was supposed to be raised from the registrations fees.
Initially the Department of justice had reported to the parliament that only $ 119 million was required to run the project. The department had reported that the registration fees could reach $ 11 million while the taxpayers were supposed to foot out the remainder which translated to $ 2 million. In 2004/05 the cost of running the program was estimated to go over $ 2 billion. A part of the estimated $ 2 billion expenses were meant to cater for computer systems that were supposed to track registered guns.
Other expenses were meant to cater for refunds for those people that registered their guns plus more other unaccounted costs that were to be involved as legal fees during court challenges ( Makarenko , 2010). To make the matters worse the system was still noted to contain many errors, despite the high costs that were involved in running this project.
The program was characterized by numerous incorrect or incomplete entries that made the system less effective. Surprisingly, the RCMP in 2002 announced that it does not trust data in the system. The program is currently costing the taxpayers a lot more than it was initially budgeted for.
Therefore the federal government should accept the failure of the project and do away with it since it is consuming a lot of taxpayers’ money and is not yet very effective in curtailing criminal violence (Mauser, 2007). The Canadian firearm program released a message that explained the reasons for the rising costs associated with the implementation of the project. The management complained that the rising costs were being triggered by backlog in registrations, fee waivers for early application and high errors rates in applications.
The Canadian firearm program also blamed the difficulty in tracking down license fees due to computer failures in processing the application as a major factor behind the high rise in the costs. The report released on 2002 by the Auditor-General of Canada showed that the project was running much more above its initial budget. The body also linked the problem of the program to initial strategic and management failures (Facts and Figures, 2011).
Gun registry Does not achieve its Goals
Majority of Canadian supports tough licensing requirements in the process of possessing and use of firearms. Most of Canadian never wholly supports the registration of guns and especially the long-barreled firearms. They only support then when they are done in order to stop poaching (Manore &Dale, 2007).Many people argue that gun registry is not necessary since criminals do not register their weapons making the whole exercise meaningless.
Statistics show that majority of those people that are involved in firearms violence are young people who engage in robbery (Two-in-Five Canadians Would Scrap Long Gun Registry, 2011). The reports from the department of firearm registry indicates only the firearms registered or licenses issued, but do not show how these activities have helped to minimize public injuries or deaths .
Surprisingly there has been a current increase in homicide cases in Toronto, but the law registering firearms has not managed to uncover these crimes or solve them. Therefore the program of firearm registry should be scarped off and then the government looks for better mechanism to contain the problem (Canadian Firearms Program, 2011).
Similarly, many people argue against the licensing of firearms and especially the long-barreled firearms because majority of those people that are penalized are gun owners who are law-abiding citizens.
Instead of supporting gun registry, the government should opt for alternative means of combating criminal violence such as introducing a strict gun licensing procedures that entail a thorough check up of one’s background before being allowed to possess a gun (Service CanWest News, 2011). The government should also make sure that they put into place very tough sentences on those people that use firearms for criminal violence.
The government should also ensure that they put appropriate measures to stop illegal smuggling of firearms in Canada. If the federal government implements these measures, then the Canada government should not have to retain the current gun registry that is becoming very expensive for Canadian taxpayers to support. The government should instead channel that money to other sectors takings such as health or education (The next phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, 2011).
The failure of the Canadian government to institute the right measures that can adequately address the misuse of firearms for crime violence is the one that is making the Canadian taxpayers struggle to finance ineffective program that is very expensive and achieves very little results (Canadian attitudes toward gun control, 2007).
Conclusion
Firearm regulation in Canada is an issue that has been there for a very long period. The Canadian government had instituted various legislations to control the possession and use of firearms in diverse circumstances. The Canadian government had implemented these restrictions in order to guarantee the safety of all Canadians.
Among the legislation it have ever implemented include; restrictions to carry a pistol outside one’s home or place of work, a need to have a permit to possess and use a firearm. The most recent amendment in the firearm legislation required all those people that possessed guns in Canada to register them with the department of firearm registry.
The implementation of this legislation has resulted to may factions complaining against it. Many people are complaining due to the high costs that are involved in running the program, despite its inability to achieve satisfactory results. Therefore the Canadian government should scrap off the program and look for a better alternative to stop firearms offenses in the country.
Bibliography
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