I think I just need another 90 seconds.
Others will come here and read off reams of numbers relating to how often the police across the country use the registry effectively. If numbers were always correct and provided a clear picture, the Canada Revenue Agency could fire all its auditors. Numbers can be cooked and slanted to support any claim, and they are then still open to interpretation. It can be said that the police did checks on persons or addresses x times a day, but the grim truth is that the criminals move often, don't register their illegally obtained firearms, and don't tell us. All police officers know that. I believe it would impress me far more—far more—if there could be just one story about how this long-gun registry saved a human life. Just one.
You have heard enough of my police background and police-related opinions about the long-gun registry. I would like to tell you, before closing, that I have also worn and still wear a number of other hats--as a hunter, a shooter, and an outdoorsman of American Indian ancestry, all of which are relevant to a private citizen involved in the many sporting opportunities available across our great country.
To be as brief as I can, I am a current member of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, a former member of two Ducks Unlimited committees, an active member of the Whiteshell Trappers Association, a member in good standing of the Manitoba Trappers Association, a lifetime member of the Winnipeg Trap and Skeet Club, a former professional field trial gunner for the English Springer Spaniel Club of Manitoba, a former licensed Manitoba big game guide, and an appointed member of Ashern Manitoba's past shooters hall of fame--