-Caveat Lector- Ottawa delays its $25 gun fee 'NOT WORKING': This is the second time the transfer fee has been waived, and critics blame a clogged registry. CAMPBELL MORRISON Times Globe staff writer OTTAWA - Gun owners are being given yet more time to fall in line as the federal government tries to make its gun-control system run smoothly. On Justice Minister Anne McLellan's "urgent" request, cabinet has agreed to amend the gun law's regulations to permit an 18-month extension to the $25 transfer fee, which has now been waived until the end of 2002. It was first postponed last June. By waiving the transfer fee, applied whenever a new gun or a used gun is purchased, the government is hoping to suppress lingering public frustration with the 1995 law. The amended regulations "provide an added incentive and further strengthen the sharply increased level of compliance that is now being experienced by the Canadian Firearms program," says an impact analysis statement on the new regulation. The lost revenue will be assumed by the program but will be "offset by the enhancement of the overall success of the program," says the statement prepared by the Privy Council Office. Wally Butts of the National Firearms Association said the latest extensions highlight the serious flaws in the government's gun laws. "Basically, the system is so screwed up they don't know what they've got," he said. "They just keep passing it off . . . We expected it because we know the system's not working." Mr. Butts said hundreds of gun owners who applied by the deadline last Dec. 31 still haven't received their firearms licences - although the grace period ends this Saturday. Ms. McLellan's press release late yesterday acknowledged there have been some problems in getting the licences out. "The vast majority of eligible firearms owners will receive a replacement for their temporary firearms licence before they expire on June 30," said the government release. A spokeswoman for the Coalition for Gun Control said she has no problem with the latest federal extensions. "The kinds of things they did last year to streamline and encourage compliance with the licencing provisions I thought were very smart and paid off, big time," said Wendy Cukier, who noted that 80 per cent of gun owners applied for a gun licence before the Jan. 1 deadline. "My sense is they are trying to apply the same kind of streamlining to the registration process." A spokesman for the Justice Department's firearms centre said the amnesty extension on certain prohibited weapons relates to the delayed passage of Bill C-15 and will keep handgun owners from being inconvenienced in the meantime. The extension of the $25 transfer fee waiver was done at the behest of gun lobbyists, "so it's part of the customer services," said David Austin. About 90 per cent of an estimated 2.3 million firearms owners have properly obtained ownership licenses, Mr. Austin said. Other measures included an outreach program and an advertising blitz as the final deadline of Jan. 2, 2001, came closer. Similar efforts are being planned for the registration of the firearms themselves as the deadline of Jan. 1, 2003, gets closer, Mr. Austin said. Furthermore, the registration centre, based in Miramichi, has been inundated with applications in the past year as people are sending in their registration forms. About 1.4 million applications were received in the past year. The government is now conducting a survey to determine how many guns there are in Canada, but estimates range as high as seven million. Fundy-Royal Progressive Conservative MP John Herron, whose rural riding includes many firearms owners, said the waivers prove that the government is having trouble convincing Canadians that the 1995 gun control bill is appropriate. "The fact that they are even doing it is an indication that compliance is not as high as they had expected it to be," Mr. Herron said. Waiving fees is "bribing" Canadians into compliance, he added. Mr. Herron was first elected in 1997 in part on the anger against the Liberal government's gun control bill, which requires all owners to register all guns. Mr. Herron defeated former Liberal MP Paul Zed despite Mr. Zed's efforts to distance himself from the law brought in by his party. While Mr. Herron believes there should be control on prohibited weapons as a means of fighting crime - there has been a registry of all handguns in Canada for 70 years - he objects to the registration of rifles and shotguns and to the ballooning cost of the Canadian Firearms Centre. The government first estimated that the start-up cost of the Canadian Firearms Centre would be $85-million, but later revised it to $120-million. Including the start up cost, the government has spent $489-million in the first six years of operation ending March 31. "Rather than spending money fighting biker gangs, the government is taxing deer hunters, duck hunters and farmers," he said. With files from Canadian Press. [Back] [Top] As published on page A1 in the Saint John Times Globe on Tuesday, June26, 2001. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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