Gun Owners' Resource

You don' need no stinking privacy!

by Dennis E. Florian
Gun Owners' Resource Staff

We said it would happen, sooner or later.

"No, no," they said, "you can trust us; we're the government."

Once upon a time, Canadian gun owners heard that they were all going to have to register their guns.  Some of the noisier ones piped up and warned that if the government got their hands on that kind of information, it would lead to all kinds ofprivacy violations.  The Liberals and their gun-grabbing fellow travelers pooh-poohed the whole idea, declaring the noisemakers nothing but a gaggle of Chicken Littles yowling about something that could never, ever happen.

So, naturally, it's happened.

For the past few days, the CSSA — that's the Canadian Shooting Sports Association; the closest thing Canada has to an NRA — has been alerting its membership to a poll being conducted by the private firm, EKOS Research Associates.  You might have heard of them.  At any rate, they're currently busy little beavers, calling up all the little gun-totin' Canucks (the registered ones, anyway) and asking them, amongst other things:

• How do I contact the CFC
• How many times in a year do I contact the CFC
• What do I call about?
• How satisfied was I
• What classification is my license (rest,non,prohib)
• Do you own any firearms
• What reason do I own firearms
• Will I renew my license
• When will I renew my license
• How do I renew my license
• Have I had a gun verified
• How was it verified
• Do I plan on updating my address
• Do I plan on transferring fire arms
• Do I plan on Destroying firearms
• Do I plan on changing my license status
• Do I plan on deactiving a firearm
• Do I transport firearms
• Do I plan on acquiring more firearms
• Best way to communicate with me (email,advertisment,mail)
• When looking for information about firearms how likely are you to contact (Between 1-7)
• CFC, Friend and Club
• Are you married, single or common-law
• Do you have children in the home
• How many under 18
• What is your highest level of education
• What is your annual income

"So," you're probably asking yourself, "what's the big deal?  A polling firm is conducting a poll.  Wake me when dinner's ready."

The problem isn't that they're doing a poll (that part really is a yawn), it's where they're getting their contact information:  from the Canadian Firearms Centre.  Yes, that CFC.  The one that would never, ever give out your private information.

As you can probably guess, the CSSA/CILA was all over this like a cheap suit the minute they heard of it.  While it's a little early to say for sure, the possibility of criminal charges relating to the release of confidential information by the CFC certainly isn't off the table.  Then there's the can of worms that is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). 

This certainly promises to be interesting.

So, the question that pops up seems to be: Why would an agency already under the magnifying glass for being a white elephant do something this stupid?  You have to admit, even for bureaucrats, this one's just plain, old-fashioned, bag-o-hammers dumb. 

The CSSA's theory is that it's "obviously an attempt by the bureaucrats to justify continuation of the wasteful and useless long-gun registry, particularly with the second reading of Bill C-391 due at the end of September. Much of the information requested in the poll is already on their databases."

I dunno about that one, guys.  Tap-dancing on your tallywhacker is an odd way of trying to show your usefulness, even for government.  Putting the names, telephone numbers, and God knows what other information about Canadian firearms owners into the hands of private individuals who may or may not be counted upon to keep it secure, sure as hell isn't going to help save any jobs in Miramichi. 

Gee whiz; I wonder who, other than government, would be interested in information like that?  Who in the world would have a use for such a (shopping) list?

It's also rather interesting to note that all this should happen so soon after Supt. M.J. (Marty) Cheliak replaced Joseph L. Buckle as Director General of the Canadian Firearms Program, barely a month ago.  Curiouser and curiouser.

And where, some are asking, does the Conservative Party of Canada fit into all of this?  They are the current government, after all.  Well, it seems that they hadn't a clue.  That's good news, in that we at least can say the Tories weren't the ones that put the screws to us.  But it's bad news in that it shows the CPC has nowhere near the control over the government apparatus that it should have.  What the hell else could be going on under all those bureaucratic rocks?

Oh, and in case you might be wondering: Nope, the mainstream media hasn't made a peep about this one.

Stay tuned, folks, this one's a long way from being over.