[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Folks:
Update on Canada's firearms program


OTTAWA, Dec. 27 /CNW/ - The Honourable Martin Cauchon, Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Canada, today announced additional measures for individuals trying to register their firearms before the December 31, 2002 deadline.

Licensed owners are required to register their firearms by December 31, 2002. On-line registration is free and available 24 hours a day at
www.cfc.gc.ca. Application forms are also available by calling 1-800-731-4000.

However, due to the high volume of calls to the Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC) information line and the high volume of e-mails being sent to the CFC, additional steps are being taken by the Department of Justice to ensure those
attempting to comply with the law are supported.

"There is no intention of penalizing law-abiding Canadians," said Minister Cauchon. "The Government of Canada is making every effort to assist firearm owners in meeting the licensing and registration requirements of the Firearms Act. These special measures will provide protection to Canadians who are acting to comply with the law. I encourage those who have yet to register
their firearms to act now."

Until December 31, 2002, licensed individuals who are attempting to register their firearms or who are seeking application forms may contact the
Canadian Firearms Centre in writing and submit a statement setting out their intention to apply for registration. Such a written statement will satisfy the
terms of the grace period announced by the Minister on November 29, 2002.

However, individuals who send a statement of intention will still be required to submit a registration form for their firearms.

In order to make a statement of intention to register, an individual must provide the following:
- full name
- address, and
- valid firearms licence or Firearms Acquisition Certificate (FAC) number.

Individuals may make a statement to register, in writing only, either by e-mail to [email protected] , by fax to 1-800-411-0622, or by mail postmarked no later than December 31, 2002 to P.O. 1200, Miramichi, New
Brunswick E1N 5Z3.

This is not an extension to the deadline for registration. It offers protection from prosecution under the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code for
individuals who are attempting to comply with the law.

The licensing phase of the program has been a success, 1.9 million owners have licences. So far, about 75 % of licensed firearm owners have participated in registration. About 400,000 registration applications have already been
submitted over the Internet, for a total of 5.7 million firearms that are accounted for, mostly rifles and shotguns, which were difficult to trace under
the old system.

Update on Canada's firearms program

http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/news/nr/2002/doc_30792.html

Bye
Jack

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Gents:
I can't say whether or not the majority are going to register. The government's numbers are pure fiction, at 2 million gun owners. It's more like 6-7 million. The Indians aren't, make no bones about it, and are fighting it in court. There's a million right there. There's a couple of very vocal groups that are not registering, and lots more that are just keeping quite. This registry would be dead now if a million and a half gunowners had sat on their forms up to now, instead of mailing them in up to two years ago.

Frankly, the Feds have me between a Rock and a hard place. The handgun registry has been in place since 1934 and I have registered handguns. I'm also a Firearm Safety instructor and we have to teach the kids and get them online, or we will lose in the end.

The registry's other big problem is money. You may be aware that the Liberal backbenchers refused to pass a money bill of $72M for the registry after the Auditor General's report came out last month. If they hold out the registry's dead.

Mark, you lose. The Indians figure they can drag it out in court for 7 years.

Bye
Jack