Conservative MPs inconsistent on long gun registry

There is a story in the Globe and Mail today about the National DNA Databank linking a recent murder to an unsolved 1995 sexual assault. The police have not identified a suspect.

I have been watching the hearings on Bill C-19, the bill to end the long gun registry. When I am not about to barf because of the disgusting behaviour of some of the Tory MPs (note to Candace Hoeppner - if you are going to accuse 2 chiefs of police of lying, have the guts to let them respond), I am struck by the sudden interest the Tories have in "empirical evidence" to prove the long gun registry has prevented one death or saved one life. Despite repeated questions, witnesses have not been able to give the name of one victim who was not killed because of the registry.

On the Tory side of the table, this means the registry doesn't work. They have, in the past, pointed to cases where people have been killed with guns as evidence the registry does not work. So, if I use their logic (which I find really difficult to do...I get all dizzy and the world looks like a war zone with predators on every corner), I might conclude the DNA Databank does not work. This poor young woman was killed despite her killer's DNA being in the bank - it did not help police prevent her murder.

Now, when my mind clears, I see how utterly ridiculous this argument is...just as I see how utterly ridiculous the logic is of the Tory MPs on the committee. I have been a long advocate of the DNA Databank - it was one of the first issues I began advocating for when I got into this line of work and I have followed the success of the bank ever since. Now, I think I know more about it than the average person, but I cannot give you the name of one person who was not raped or killed because of the registry. So in Tory world, that means the databank has not saved a life...so let's end it!!! We could save millions of dollars and Tony Clement may need some new outhouses in his riding!!!

Stupid, isn't it? Yes...there is no empirical evidence that the DNA Databank has saved a life. We cannot find the victim who was not murdered. Nor can we find the child who was not abused because of the sex offender registry. But that doesn't mean they have not helped police track down bad guys who would have done bad things. And it doesn't mean the police have not taken a long-gun out of the home of an abusive husband which he would have used to terrorize or kill his wife.

These tools help law enforcement identify suspects or identify how rifles an abusvie husband has...both of which can prevent crimes. But you cannot prove a negative anymore than we can empirically prove that we have prevented another murder by putting Willie Pickton in prison for life...we think we have but we cannot prove it.

If the Tories were consistent with this logic, that would be one thing but this sudden interest in evidence is limited to this one issue. I have emailed some members of the committee and asked for empirical evidence that Bill C-10 will help victims, reduce crime or increase public safety (all of which the government has said it will do) and the response has been...wait, there has been no response. Their demand for an impossibly high standard of evidence is limited to the long gun registry, not the billions the omnibus crime bill will cost.

I believe the DNA Databank has saved lives and prevented abuses. I believe the long gun registry has done the same. If I am wrong about the later, duck hunters and farmer will have to fill out some forms (which I admit is a incovenient). If the Tories are wrong, some families will be filling out death certificates.