There is currently a national discussion concerning the effectiveness of the long-gun registry and the Conservative government’s wish to squash it and its hefty cost to taxpayers.
For police who put themselves in danger everyday, the registry holds a wealth of information used nation-wide, thousands of times a day, to check if an individual has a gun registered. It gives the officer a clearer picture of who they are dealing with.
The registry also puts the onus on the gun owner for the responsible use of their firearm. But how much does the long-gun registry help the officer who is pulling over a vehicle on the side of the highway or entering a home?
Most likely, in more vulnerable situations such as these, an officer would treat everyone with an edge of caution, whether the registry states they have a rifle is in his or her home or not. But what good is the registry when so many firearms are being brought illegally into the country, and increasing the number of guns not registered at all?
One has to wonder what meaningful information this registry serves law enforcers and the public at large. As long as there are guns in society, there are gun-related crimes.
Keeping tabs on the owner of a long gun who heads into the woods to pursue a woodland caribou or achieve their quota of moose meat for the season will not decrease the crime rate in Canada.
