Public Safety committee  Yes. Section 60 of the act says that any firearm coming into Canada must be recorded with the chief registrar as to the firearm, the type, the serial number, the date it entered the country, and its legal status as it comes into the country. That firearm then goes to a dealer's inventory; they are obligated to keep an inventory book.

Public Safety committee  I don't think so. I think it's an inventory control.

Public Safety committee  That green book has been the status quo for at least 30 years; I mean, it's a long time that the green book has been there. It's still there now, to this day. Even with the registration, merchants still have to do that; they have to maintain that book. Now, they also have to, by law, see the person's firearms licence and see that it's a valid licence.

Public Safety committee  No, that's absolutely false, because of course the store owner has to enter the firearm into his inventory. For example, let's say you had to trace a Remington firearm. You call Remington. It says it shipped that firearm to the distributor on a certain date. The distributor has to have records.

Public Safety committee  Sure. Okay. Why is this important? Fewer than half the guns in Canada are actually in the registry. There are whole piles of them out there. There's another very important thing I wanted to touch on. We need to talk about the impact this legislation has had on the relationship between firearms owners and police.

Public Safety committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the standing committee. Thank you for allowing Canadian Shooting Sports to address this committee. My name is Tony Bernardo. You've heard a lot about the good aspects that are alleged to come from the gun registry. I'd like to talk to you about a few of the bad ones.

Public Safety committee  I'm sorry, ma'am, but--

Public Safety committee  I may have had one at that time, yes.

Public Safety committee  Do I have that gun?

Public Safety committee  --that isn't any of your business, okay? Firearms information could get my family killed. I will not do it in a public forum. Thank you.

Public Safety committee  I don't remember if I did say that or not.

Public Safety committee  Well, let me ask you, ma'am, why else would anybody spend $1,200 to buy one? That's what it's for. It's a target firearm. People would spend $1,200 so they could go to a range and enjoy the pleasure of shooting it. That's what it's for.

Public Safety committee  Ma'am, which question are you asking me? You asked me three questions there.

Public Safety committee  The registration of handguns is a different thing from the registration of long guns. Handguns have been registered since 1934. The registrations were done by police officers. When a handgun is registered now, it is a verified firearm, which means the information that's entered into the system is way more accurate--way more accurate--than the information that would be entered initially about a potential long gun.

Public Safety committee  That's correct.