Canada Supreme Court upholds gun law
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA, June 15 (Reuters) - Canada's controversial gun-registration law,
enacted in the wake of a massacre of 14 young women by a lone gunman a decade
ago in Montreal, was upheld unanimously by the country's Supreme Court on
Thursday.
The high court ruled in a 9-0 decision that the federal government had the
right to protect public safety under its authority to enact criminal law.
"While ordinary guns are often used for lawful purposes, they are also used
for crime and suicide, and cause accidental death and injury," the court said
in its decision.
"All guns are capable of killing and maiming. It follows that all guns are a
threat to public safety. As such, their control falls within the criminal law
power."
But the federal government now faces the challenge of getting reluctant gun
owners to comply with its 1995 law -- which extends Canada's gun laws to
include the mandatory registration of rifles and shotguns, not just handguns
-- and open hostility to the plan by some provincial governments.
Federal Liberal Justice Minister Anne McLellan issued a plea in Parliament
after the ruling: "I would ask all Canadians who are firearms owners and
users to comply."
Stockwell Day, one of the candidates vying to lead the Canadian Alliance, the
largest federal opposition party, pledged to scrap the law if he became prime
minister: "The court battle...has ended. Let the political fight begin."
The gun-registration issue was brought before the Supreme Court by eight of
Canada's 13 provincial and territorial governments. In a jurisdictional
dispute, the provinces had argued gun registration was a provincial matter
and Ottawa had overstepped its authority.
"This is a victory for Canada," declared Wendy Cukier, president of Canada's
Coalition for Gun Control, a group that also includes many of the country's
police chiefs.
Ottawa's decision to tighten the country's gun laws was prompted by the
massacre of 14 female students by a lone gunman at Montreal's Ecole
Polytechnique in December 1989, an event that galvanized gun opponents in
Canada to push for stricter gun laws.
The case was being closely watched in the United States, which has no
national gun registry and where only a handful of states require licensing or
registration.
"It is time America realized what other countries that have successfully
reduced their gun violence rates have known for years," said Mark Pertschuk
of the Washington-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
"Licensing and registration work because they provide a strong foundation for
enforcing existing gun laws."
But, as in the United States, many Canadian gun owners say the new law only
penalizes law-abiding citizens -- such as the farmer who uses a rifle to
shoot rodents -- and not the criminals.
"It's unproven anywhere in the world as a method of reducing violence in our
communities," Jim Hinter of Canada's National Firearms Association told
Reuters.
"It's still a bad law," said Dave Hancock, justice minister of Alberta, which
took the lead in the court challenge.
"We continue to be of the view that those massive resources (to enforce it)
should be poured into dealing with those people who illegally use guns," he
told reporters in Edmonton.
Opponents argue that the C$385 million ($262 million) that has been spent on
the registration system so far could have better been spent on police forces
or social services.
Gun control advocates counter that numerous inquests have concluded
registering guns and licensing owners might possibly have prevented slayings
in Canada.
Ottawa estimates there are seven million firearms in Canada, one for every
four people, although estimates run as high as 20 million, more than one for
every two Canadians. Americans own about 250 million guns, nearly one each.
18:38 06-15-00
--
What inquest has concluded registration may have stopped those killings -
baseless propaganda.
Steve.
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