cuchulainn
Member
from the Fort Frances Times
http://www.fftimes.com/index.php3/3/2003-06-05/14202
http://www.fftimes.com/index.php3/3/2003-06-05/14202
‘Crash’ may have wiped out names
June 05, 2003
OTTAWA (CP)
A recent network crash may have deleted gun owners’ names from the already troubled firearms registry, Solicitor General Wayne Easter admitted yesterday.
In yet another blow to the controversial gun-control initiative, Easter said a system overload might have wiped out online applications in late December.
Federal officials still are trying to determine how many applications were lost in the computer crash, he said.
“It’s well known that the system could not handle the intake on Dec. 28, 29 and 30 and 31,†Easter said after a caucus meeting. “The system went down because it was overloaded.â€
He said government officials are getting phone calls from people who believed they registered their guns about the time of the crash, but have yet to receive confirmation.
“There are some problems with some of the people whose names may have disappeared as a result of the crash Dec. 30 of the system,†Easter said. “We’re checking that out.â€
An employee at the Canadian Firearms Centre said the number of lost online applications is likely negligible.
The centre’s Web site (www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/) offers forms for gun owners to register their firearms and a small number of transactions might have been interrupted at the end of last year, said spokesman David Austin.
The system was flooded with applications just before Jan. 1—the original deadline for registration—which was pushed back six months.
Applicants should contact the centre if they haven’t received confirmation their application was accepted, Austin said.
“We know by phone calls we received and we know by e-mail we got that people were concerned and they contacted us to see whether or not the information actually had been transmitted,†Austin said.
“If anyone did not receive a confirmation message or did not get their certificate, what they should probably do is pick up the phone and give us a call.â€
People also could use the Web site to check the status of their application, he said.
Easter said the computer system is working fine now, but yesterday’s unprompted admission adds to a series of setbacks plaguing the registry.
First came resistance from critics and gun owners, then came drastic cost overruns, and now provincial governments are fighting the project.
Earlier this week, Ontario and Nova Scotia joined Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba’s refusal to prosecute gun owners who break the law by failing to register their weapons.
Easter said the law will be applied despite provincial resistance—but he didn’t say how.
“I believe there is a responsibility to uphold the law,†he said. “And we’re going to move forward with that campaign and we will find ways of getting around to prosecution at the provincial level.â€
The project came under intense fire last year when the auditor general reported costs had spiralled out of control—ballooning from an initial projection of just $2 million net to a current bill approaching $1 billion.
And with the July 1 registration deadline fast approaching, the firearms centre says about one-quarter of an estimated 1.9 million gun owners have yet to register their firearms.
Easter said the law will come into effect next month even if thousands have yet to register.
“I have made it very clear that we wil not be extending the deadline,†he stressed.
Copyright 2003 Fort Frances Times
