Gun Registries Don’t Work

October 4, 2010 in Pro-Gun

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One of the many “facts” that the anti-gun extremists trotted out as “proof” that we “need” to keep the onerous and draconian long gun registry was that 14 of the 16 Police Officers shot in the line of duty since 1998 were killed by long guns:

The Danger of Scrapping the Long-Gun Registry | The Mark

by Carol Allison-Burra Vice President, Canadian Association of Police Boards.

[…]

CAB: One of the things that we learned along the way is that of the 16 police officers who were shot between 1998 and early 2010, 14 were killed by a long gun […]

 

WRONG!  They were killed by criminals!

Why “cherry pick” the year 1998?  That was the year that (most of) the Firearms Act “came into force”, but no police were shot from 1998-2000…and long guns were not required to be registered until Jan 1, 2003.

I did some digging, and here is a list of the officers, and how they died, and by whom:

#1

Cst. Jurgen Siegfried Seewald         March 5, 2001

Shot and killed on duty, while investigating a domestic dispute, in Cape Dorset, Nunavut.

Weapon Used: shotgun

Licenced/Registered?: Probably not

(killer was Inuk; the Inuit have a court injunction which allows them to not obey the Firearms Act)

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#2

Cst. Dennis Douglas Strongquill            December 21, 2001

Shot and killed while on general patrol duties, near Russell, Manitoba.

Weapon Used: sawed-off shotgun

Licenced/Registered?:  no (criminal)

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#3

Constable Benoit L’Ecuyer       February 28, 2002

Weapon Used: .357 Magnum handgun
Licenced/Registered?:  no (criminal)

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#4

Cpl. James Wilbert Gregson Galloway     February 28, 2004

Shot and killed on duty, while assisting the Edmonton Emergency Response Team, in Spruce Grove, Alberta.

Weapon Used: rifle

Licenced/Registered?:  probably not

(killer was a paranoid schizophrenic, who had already had some guns confiscated from him)

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#5

Cst. Anthony Fitzgerald Orion Gordon         March 3, 2005

Shot and killed on duty, by a deranged suspect, near Mayerthorpe, Alberta.

#6

Cst. Lionide (Leo) Nicholas Johnston           March 3, 2005

Shot and killed on duty, by a deranged suspect, near Mayerthorpe, Alberta.

#7

Cst. Brock Warren Myrol         March 3, 2005

Shot and killed on duty, by a deranged suspect, near Mayerthorpe, Alberta.

#8

Cst. Peter Christopher Schiemann         March 3, 2005

Shot and killed on duty, by a deranged suspect, near Mayerthorpe, Alberta.

Weapon Used: prohibited rifle

Licenced/Registered?: no (criminal)

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#9

Constable Valérie Gignac        December 14, 2005

Weapon Used: rifle

Licenced/Registered?: undetermined

(killer was a prohibited person who was allowed by the courts to have a gun for hunting)

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#10

Cst. Robin Lynelle Cameron       July 15, 2006

Killed from gunshot wounds sustained while responding to a domestic dispute call on July 7, 2006 near Mildred, Saskatchewan.

#11

Cst. Marc Joseph Denis Bourdages         July 16, 2006

Killed from gunshot wounds sustained while responding to a domestic dispute call on July 7, 2006 near Mildred, Saskatchewan.

Weapon Used: Rifle

Licenced/Registered?:  probably not

(killer had a criminal record, but no mention of a firearms prohibition)

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#12

Senior Constable John Atkinson        Friday, May 5, 2006

Weapon Used: illegal handgun

Licenced/Registered?: no

(killer had illegally possessed and carried handgun)

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#13

Constable Daniel Tessier        Friday, March 2, 2007

Weapon Used: handgun

Licenced/Registered?:  yes

(courts declared this shooting to be in self-defence)

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#14

Cst. Christopher John Worden         October 6, 2007

Killed while on duty after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds during a foot pursuit of a fleeing suspect in Hay River, Northwest Territories.

Weapon Used: illegally obtained .40 handgun
Licenced/Registered?:  no

(killer had a criminal record and a firearms prohibition)

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#15

Cst. Douglas Allen Scott         November 5, 2007

Died from a gunshot wound sustained while responding to a call for assistance involving an impaired driver at Kimmirut, Nunavut.

Weapon Used: rifle

Licenced/Registered?: probably not

(killer was Inuit)

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#16

Const. Vu Pham         March 8, 2010

Weapon Used: rifle

Licenced/Registered?: yes

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So, by my count, that’s 4 handguns, not two, and 12 out of 16 used rifles.

Of those 12, 8 were committed by criminals who had firearms prohibitions or otherwise obtained their guns illegally.  One of these had been allowed by the courts to possess a rifle for hunting purposes, all nice and legal…

Of those 12, a further 3 probably did not have a license or registered their guns, for various reasons – 2 were Inuit, who don’t have to register, and 1 was were mentally ill, but no mention of a “public safety” prohibition could be found.

Of the remaining 1, he is the only one who had a license and used his registered rifle to kill an OPP officer.

Thus, the claims of the anti-gun extremists is patently false.  In the 4 instances that involved handguns, which have been required to be registered since 1934, “the registry” failed to work.  In 11 of the other 12 instances, “the registry” failed to work, because the killers were criminals, mentally ill, or weren’t required to register their long guns.

In the one instance where a licensed firearms owner used his registered firearm to kill a police officer, “the registry” failed to work in spite of this.

You can wrap guns up in as much paper as you want, bad or unstable people will still misuse them – indeed, any other object – if they are intent enough on causing harm to others.