Niagara Falls, Ontario - Saturday, July 5, 2003 - by: Joe Hueglin
	As of July 1st Canadians with unregistered long guns are criminals under the law, subject to fines and/or imprisonment.(1) Bringing them to trial will be a further misappropriation of funds better spent elsewhere.
	The hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the gun registry could have been spent otherwise to greater effect in many ways, not the least of which by removing those who misuse unregistered guns from our society.
	A priority ought to be deterring those considering misuse of firearms through the sure knowledge severe prison sentences would follow. It is not. Few cases come before the courts. For every one resulting in conviction almost double the number are consistently withdrawn. There are sentences lower than the one year minimum prescribed by law and few two years and more.(2)
	The term "Bringing administration of justice into disrepute" can, will, and ought to be applied should the Federal Government use its resources to enforce what provinces are refusing to do, charge otherwise law abiding citizens and seek to fine or imprison them, particularly when it has chosen to ignore recommendations made going on nine years ago now
	" to increase the minimum sentence, conduct public information campaigns regarding the seriousness with which firearm use by criminals is viewed by the justice system, and (undefined) effort to make it mandatory that Section 85 charges not be dealt away." (3)
	Joe Hueglin
References:
1,	CBC has the details Implementing the Firearms Act - the rising cost http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/firearms_act.html
2.	Adult Criminal Court Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, (PDF) Statistics Canada
3. - -	WORKING DOCUMENT, RESEARCH ON THE APPLICATION OF SECTION 85 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE OF CANADA December 1994, http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/en/research/publications/reports/1990-95/reports/sec85_rpt.asp#3.0
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