Long gun, short gun, any little gun gun

Here's the government news release announcing their changes to Canada's gun legislation. It's sort of ironic that the end of this useless waste of taxpayer money comes right after tax freedom day!

In case you have forgotten, here is an old column that points out some of the silly bits:

DUMB CONTROL LAW; PRICETAG ISN'T ONLY MISLEADING PART OF GUN FIASCO

The Calgary Sun

Canada's gun registry system is a hoax and ought to be scrapped. At $2 million, what the registry delivers is a scam. At $1 billion, it's fraud.
Whether you support the theoretical concept of gun control or not, the myths used to justify the Liberal's gun registry are farcical.
Myth No. 1: Gun control costs are offset by savings to health care.
This argument may have held water at $2 million, but it won't float at $1 billion. Injuries resulting from the use of stolen or smuggled guns do not cease because someone registered the gun upon purchase. Many gun injuries are from negligent misuse or accidents involving children. Recording who originally bought the gun will not limit injuries from the improper use of firearms.
Myth No. 2: Gun control laws have reduced crimes involving guns.
The Coalition for Gun Control would like to have their cake and eat it, too. They sent out a press release this summer stating: "The rate of robberies involving a firearm is down 12% from 2000, continuing a decade-long decline in rate of robberies committed with a gun."
Last week, in response to criticism the billion-dollar registry system hasn't reduced crime, the Coalition's president admitted: "The law was only passed in 1995; regulations were not implemented until 1998 and guns will not be registered until 2003. It is premature to talk about the impact of the legislation and we know that crime rates fluctuate."
In other words, robberies involving firearms were declining in the first half of the '90s before this gun law passed and there is no evidence to suggest a decline in gun-related crimes is attributable to the gun registry.
Myth No. 3: Gun control laws reduce theft of guns.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 firearms are reported stolen every year. Proponents of the gun registry argue the laws promote safer storage which leads to fewer thefts.
This myth is based on the idea that, absent gun control laws, gun owners will not responsibly house and store their firearms. I doubt all the guns reported stolen every year are swiped from front porches or the dashboards of pickup trucks. A gun is not like a keychain or cellphone, you don't accidentally leave it on the counter at Tim Horton's after you buy a coffee.
Second, fewer thefts does not equal zero thefts. Those who continue to steal guns do not do so with innocent intentions. Grant Harder's murder suicide earlier this month is one example.
Myth No. 4: It's worth the money.
According to Statistics Canada, 171 homicides were committed by shooting in 2001. That same year, an equal number of homicides, 171, were committed by stabbing. For the Liberals, homicides caused by guns are worth a $1-billion cure, but homicides by stabbing receive nothing. Are stabbing deaths less valuable or have I not heard about a $1-billion knife registry?
A billion dollars could put a lot of law enforcement officers on Canada's streets to prevent homicides from guns, knives, or anything else.
Criminals do not register guns. Canada's gun registry is a billion-dollar boondoggle that can only exact justice for a victim by tracing a stolen gun back to the guy who bought it at Canadian Tire and prosecute him for improper storage. Meanwhile, the criminal who stole the gun and used it to commit a crime is untraceable.
Canadians are being asked to pay $1 billion, so that come election time, Liberal MPs can strut around bragging how they finally did something to curb gun crime. Victims of continuing gun violence will know the truth.
Canada's gun control registry is a misfire which doesn't give Canadians much bang for their buck.