I’m shocked.  Okay, not really, but I really ought to be surprised that anyone still believes Canada’s useless gun registry actually saved any lives, or that it’s even possible for it to save lives.  The recent shooting at Quebec premier-elect Pauline Marois’s election night rally only highlights the uselessness of the gun registry.

Despite the passage of Bill C-19 the gun registry was fully in force that night, just as it has been since Quebec filed and was granted an injunction against the federal government earlier this year.

The gun registry in Quebec could no more prevent Richard Henry Bain from shooting up Marois’ party than it could stop Gamil Gharbi back in 1989.  Remember, he also legally owned his firearms.

That hasn’t prevented Justice Marc-Andre Blanchard of the Quebec Superior Court to rule that Quebec is entitled to the registry data.  He has ordered the federal government to hand it over immediately.

Justice Blanchard seems to hang his decision on the fact that there were agreements with the province with regards to collection of the data in the first place.  What he conveniently overlooks is that regardless of who actually collected the data, the federal government paid for it through those very same agreements.  The data belongs to the feds, not the provinces.

It goes without saying that the Conservative government under Stephen Harper will appeal this ruling.  The Supreme Court of Canada has already ruled that gun registration is a federal matter so, unless the kids in the big chairs have changed their minds, this case should end with Quebec not getting the useless and out-of-date database.

Regardless, Canadians across the country should make it clear to their MPs that this decision must be appealed.

I still don’t comprehend why they’d even want it given how riddled with errors it is.

The real tragedy of the gun registry and Richard Bain’s apparent insanity is that a man was murdered and there wasn’t a thing a government database could ever do about that.

Denis Blanchette was simply doing his job in the wrong place at the wrong time and for that he was murdered.

That is the real tragedy that everyone seems to be forgetting about in the race to the bottom over the useless gun registry data.

A gun registry cannot prevent crime.  It’s just a database.  It can’t stop anything.  It can’t even prevent itself from becoming completely outdated and error-ridden by something as simple as the Canadian Shooting Sports Association’s “Great Canadian Gun Registry Shuffle“.

That is, of course, just one more reason why Quebec should just start over if it seriously wants a database of firearms held by Quebec residents.  The current database is light years beyond useless if accuracy is even the slightest concern.

Lastly, there is the cost.  We’ve already wasted well over $2 Billion on this useless computer database and the data it contains.  Now Quebec wants to shovel more cash into that black hole.

Tony Bernardo of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association put it best when he said,

“Every Canadian from every province and territory should be outraged over Quebec’s decision to burn what could be billions more tax dollars.  We hope the federal government will oppose any province that spits in the face of Parliament.

The Quebec government may enjoy status as a distinct society, but the rest of the country feels the impact when equalization money flows just one way. Quebec’s conscious decision to spend precious tax dollars on faux public safety measures is a matter of national concern.”

Well said, Mr. Bernardo.

While Quebec sucks the very life-blood out of the rest of Canada and then complains we haven’t bled enough, there must be some point where the rest of Canada simply says, “Enough!”