Mr. Speaker, contrary to ministerial propaganda, Canadians are not exactly beating down the doors of the Canadian Firearms Centre.
According to Access to Information, between December 1 and February 28, 17,983 applications for possession licences were received and three and a third per cent were actually processed, along with 16,870 old FAC applications which were still lying around.
Of 21,674 registration certificates issued only 2,023 went to individual applicants. The remainder were for businesses.
At this rate every gun owner in Canada could be licensed by the middle of the next century and all privately owned long guns registered by the year 2864. The annual cost, $50 million; the public benefit, zero.