Ottawa

The case against the gun registry I’d like to hear

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police put out a news release that makes the case—as they have many times—for the gun registry as a useful tool in police work.

They offer examples. The registry helps police find out if guns are in homes where they are responding to domestic disputes. It helps them obtain warrants to seize guns from people who pose a threat. It helps police investigate when legally purchased rifles and shotguns are diverted into the black market.

Opponents of the registry often assert that it isn’t helpful in these or any other ways. But I can’t think of any reason, aside from patently paranoid suspicions, for thinking the police chiefs make all this stuff up.

So I wish a thoughtful opponent of the registry would begin a good-faith argument by saying, “Sure, the registry is of some use to police, but that isn’t a good enough reason to keep it because…”

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