A fortnight ago, and in the wake of another calculated but seemingly out-of-the-blue robbery of a registered gun collector, even the Toronto Star finally entertained the possibility that the national gun registry might have been compromised and that sensitive information might have leaked to criminals. Trouble is, this is hardly cutting-edge news. Legitimate gun owners -- including cops and ex-cops who are shooting club enthusiasts -- have been publicly pointing their finger at the Canadian Firearms Centre registry, particularly since its database is linked to the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), the all-things-criminal computer operated by the RCMP under the stewardship of National Police Services. There are, of course, the usual suspects who will quickly deep-six such a notion, among them Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, who maintains gun collectors either talk too much or are followed home from the gun clubs to which they belong.  As for the gun registry being compromised, Cukier said it is "silly" to believe this could possibly happen. "It's as secure as the police CPIC," she has said. If that is truly the case, then licensed gun owners and collectors have some legitimate concerns. According to an Access to Information request -- File: 03ATIP-20402 -- which was filed in late 2003 and responded to in early 2004, the federal force admitted that there were 1,495 breaches of the CPIC system reported between 1995 and 2003, and that 306 of those breaches had been confirmed, with another 121 cases categorized as still under investigation. (Poor misguided Wendy.. She always blabs on  with the most ridiculous statements. She must be hilarious in the classroom.. After all, her poorest student could probably eat a box of Alpha bits, and crap a more accurate piece of propaganda then she has EVER come up with!!)
Toy Gun Ban-- Barrel of Gaffes
If you'll permit me a cranky, old-guy moment, as a kid I played constantly with toy guns. We went out in the mornings loaded for bear, with an assortment of weapons the Canadian Army can only dream of. Our back pockets were stuffed with red rolls of caps, which you had to remember when you slide down a rocky hill. We played war, cops and robbers, and -- heaven help us intolerant, bigoted youngsters -- cowboys and Indians. For the record, the Indians won as often as they lost. As far as I know, none of us grew up to become serial killers or bank robbers, although a few became lawyers, so it wasn't always a happy ending. We played, whooped and blasted our way through mountains of darts, caps, arrows and plastic grenades, and no one thought about calling the cops on us, or mistook us for the Boyd gang. Everyone left childhood with at least two eyes. Last week, we entertained another couple and their small boy. Theirs is an ideologically gun-free household, which we discovered too late, as their child's eyes lit on our son's plastic armoury. Forbidden fruit is always the sweetest, and for the next two hours their boy wandered around dressed like a mercenary. No amount of coaxing could get him to put his guns down and play with the gender-neutral, educational puzzle his parents had brought to entertain him. Our pistol-packing son? He didn't know what the big deal was, and was more interested in the puzzle. (I have always had firearms in my household, my three daughters grew up around firearms. I have two grandsons, ages 5 and 8, and I make a point of buying them something that shoots, for every birthday, and Christmas. They. along with my two granddaughters of the same age,  go to the gun club annual family picnic every year, and have shot BB guns, and a bow and arrow. When they are older, and after appropriate training, I will supervise, and introduce them to the .22 rifle, and later a shotgun. MY grandchildren will understand and be familiar with the power of a firearm, and the damage it can do in the wrong hands. They will know the difference between REAL guns and toys, and act appropriately around the real thing.  "Keep em ignorant - Keep em safe" never worked for sex, why in the hell would it work for guns?)
Registry IS Hackable
“I threatened to go public with this. My manager cut my job.”
A former webmaster for the Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC) says he could "easily" hack a path right through the feds' on-line firearms registration service, and into the private files of Canadian gun owners. John Hicks, who worked on the CFC's public site between 2000 and 2003, said he wrote software which could crack number codes to gain access to firearms files protected by PINs. "I want to make it perfectly clear, I never broke into the system. I never crossed that line," he said. "I just wanted the federal administrators to know how vulnerable the system was, and still is. I'm talking about getting access to a gun owner's personal information -- number and type of guns, home address, everything." Hicks said it would take him "a week at most" to generate a valid PIN. Maude Bourassa, CFC public advisor, said the site meets government standards for online security and is monitored for hacking attempts. (Perhaps it's gone far beyond "attempts", and the hackers are in there so tight, no one notices anymore.. Except of course all the collectors that are having their collections stolen and then having insult added to injury by the police with a 'unsafe storage" charge.. Perhaps, that charge should be laid against every single police officer that also keeps his/her firearm at home, or at the station. Particularly in any thing less then the unsafe storage equal to Mike Hargraves' 1700 lb concrete and steel safe, which took thieves two days to open with sledge hammers chisels, and a cutting torch?)
Political Spin 'Star Style'
Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro, who answers to Parliament, announced last week he was launching a preliminary inquiry into whether Harper violated the MPs' ethical code by luring former Liberal David Emerson into his cabinet after the election, where he now serves as international trade minister. Harper, in an extraordinary rebuttal, announced through his spokesperson that he would not be co-operating with a parliamentary officer's inquiry because Shapiro was "a Liberal appointee" who had proved to be politically biased against Conservatives in the past. Yesterday, Harper appeared to be daring Shapiro to take his inquiry further. "I've taken a look at Mr. Shapiro's letter and I've indicated to him our position on that and he's aware of our position and the ball is in his court now," the Prime Minister said. Marking one month in office this week, Harper has left little doubt he intends to avail himself of every lever of power at his disposal. Unlike his predecessor, Paul Martin, who vowed to democratize and decentralize the huge powers of the PMO, Harper is embracing his authority unapologetically. Speculation also runs rampant that Harper and his ministers will not hesitate to detour around Parliament when necessary — in the case of the controversial gun registry, for example, which some critics fear could be scrapped by the Tories through a series of cabinet orders instead of a Commons vote. (It's absolutely incredible, the Liberal bias at the Toronto Star.. Paul Martin only vowed to do something, he never EVER EVER did it!! But I guess to the Toronto Star, A lying Liberal is always better than a truthful Conservative! Steven Harper has a 'minority' government, but that doesn't mean he has to take this kind of crap from a Liberal Appointee. Did Shapiro go after Martin for Enticing Belinda (Paris) Stronach across the floor.. Nooooo! Why? because THAT was a Liberal enticement which everyone 'on the Left' knows, that makes it ok for some reason! What a pack of hypocrites. As for the Gun registry being gutted by OIC, I believe that what ever parts actually came before parliament to be voted on and passed (without forced closure) then they should be rescinded by parliament. However, what ever parts that were simply enacted by the Liberals, without' parliamentary debate there is absolutely no reason to have them go before parliament to have them rescinded. If they didn't need parliament to be passed, they don't need parliament to be scrapped. It's only common sense. A rare commodity among liberals indeed..)
Editorial(Tor-Star): Save the gun registry