Scrap the registry

With a House of Commons vote looming over the future of the long gun registry, the debate has gotten off track. I’m sure urban Canadians wonder what the big deal is. They have to register their dogs and cats. Why shouldn’t long guns be registered? The simple answer – because it doesn’t help anything. Let’s imagine that a farmer gets so despondent over wet harvest weather that he takes his own life and let’s further imagine that he chooses to use a long gun. Does it make it any better if the gun is registered? Is a gun worse that some other method that could be used? Some police officials say they want to know before attending any incident, such as a domestic despite, whether guns are present. That makes some sense, but the registry has been such a mess and so many people have ignored it, that it really doesn’t tell you anything. There could be unregistered guns present. There could be someone else’s registered guns present. Even though handguns are severely restricted, there could be prohibited weapons present. The registry does little or nothing to reduce crime or make people safer. The money that’s wasted could be used in more effective ways. Most rural Canadians realize this and that’s why the country would do well to scrap the registry. I’m Kevin Hursh.