Public Safety committee  Ms. Cabrera is going to lead, please.

Public Safety committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and members of the standing committee. I would like to focus on the current and future costs of the long-gun registry. First, it's important to establish a few basic facts. In 1998 the Canada Firearms Centre polling figures showed that there were

Public Safety committee  Yes, I think that states it pretty well. There is also, of course, the stigmatization that society has now been presenting to firearms owners based upon the unbelievable amounts of media we've been seeing since the Firearms Act came into effect, demonizing them. This is something

Public Safety committee  We have 15,000 individual paid members coast to coast, and approximately 100-plus clubs.

Public Safety committee  Well, we are definitely overwhelmingly responsible citizens. That's how we got firearms licences in the first place; half the people out there who don't have them probably couldn't get them. However, to say that the registration encourages or forces owners to be more responsibl

Public Safety committee  Again, wishful thinking. I have a document here in my hand, and it's a portion of an interview done with the webmaster for the Canada Firearms Centre. His name is John Hicks. He says that a 13-year-old with an Internet connection and half an hour can get into the national firearm

Public Safety committee  Half of the guns aren't in the registry; they're only halfway there. The second half will be harder to get than the first half. If you want the second half--and if you're going to make this thing work, I think that has to happen--be prepared to spend more than the $2 billion you

Public Safety committee  Thank you for asking that question. A firearms owner is somebody who has never been in trouble with the law before; otherwise they wouldn't have a firearms licence. But when they get into court, they are put through the entire court system like they're John Dillinger. They have

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  Infrequently.

Public Safety committee  Now, that's coming as quite a high compliment.

Public Safety committee  Yes, absolutely.

Public Safety committee  Absolutely.

Public Safety committee  No, sir.

Public Safety committee  I'm aware that this might be hard for you to understand, but I was acting as an advocate for Canadians.