THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...

The Ottawa Citizen
May 4, 2004

Re: Voluntary gun registry idea irks MPs, April 30.

   MP Marlene Jennings's comment summed up nicely how out of touch she and the Liberal party are with the mood of most Canadians. Responding to a proposal for a voluntary firearms registration, Ms. Jennings said, "The overwhelming majority in every single province want compulsory gun registration."
   It's obvious Ms. Jennings has no grasp of what the term "overwhelming majority" means.
   Since December 2002, four separate polls (two by Ipsos-Reid and two by JMCK Communications) have shown national support for the gun registry ranging from 37 per cent to 43 per cent.

Gerry Gamble,
St. Catharines

The Ottawa Citizen
May 4, 2004

   I find it hard to believe that some people, especially some women, still advocate this worthless, ineffective firearms registry that has cost taxpayers almost $2 billion. I am a law-abiding taxpaying family woman who believes that God gave me life and only God will have the right to take it. Therefore I choose never to be a victim.
   To me, victimization is a myth; you make your own destiny. If someone chooses to try to harm me, I have the right under natural law to preserve and defend myself and my family. No one, not even the government of Canada or misguided lobbyists, can ever take that away.

   I don't understand why some women are allowing the government to coddle criminals while leaving themselves and their families unprotected. Why do criminals have more rights than law-abiding citizens?
   It's time to scrap the firearms registry and put the money into something that will help: a registry for criminals.

Tracey Kleim,
Moose Jaw, Sask.,
Canadian director,
Women against Gun Control

The Ottawa Citizen
May 4, 2004

   Given that the majority of gun-related homicides and crimes in Canada are committed by career criminals using unregistered handguns, it seems absurd that the federal government has wasted nearly $2 billion on the gun-registry program that targets rural duck hunters and their long guns.
   Rather than reeling out the same old diatribe, it's time the Liberals scrapped the registry and

 diverted the hundreds of millions of dollars that will be needed to run it each year into programs that have a proven track record of saving lives, such as putting more police on the streets and providing more money for health care.

Chris Rumbold,
Vancouver