8 February 2005

Why Gun Registration Fails

"With Gary Mauser attending the ANZSOC conference in Wellington this week, politicians, justice officials and police will be able to receive first-hand information as to why gun registration is the ultimate in political folly," claims Peter Linton, Libertarianz spokesman for Firearm Deregulation.

Gary Mauser, Professor of the Institute for Canadian Urban Studies at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, has published papers on Criminology & Political Science and on firearms & crime.

"It is not often that New Zealanders in the Justice & Police departments get to hear a speaker with such valid credentials. They should listen carefully to his advice," says Linton.

Mauser has studied the fiasco of the clumsy attempt to register firearms in Canada, the evidence showing it is a financial calamity threatening to engulf the current Canadian Government:

Costs have escalated from a projected $2 Million to a current $2 Billion, and no evidence can be found to show that the Gun Registry has accomplished anything of value.

Violent crime & suicide rates remain constant in Canada, even though they are falling in the US. The homicide rate is falling faster in the US than in Canada.

"The only thing Gun Registration has achieved in Canada is to squander valuable Police resources and $2 Billion of taxpayers hard-earned money," claims Linton.

Linton further states that the results of the Canadian experience with gun control mirror those of our western neighbour, Australia, where violent crime has increased 45% since the Australian government imposed "draconian gun laws by decree."

New Zealand Police should be applauded for the decision they made in 1982 to abandon Gun Registration which was a blight on their resources, and had a 40% error rate.

Linton concludes that "gun control is not crime control. In fact, it is the reverse."

ENDS

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