National Post (Canada)

June 17, 2004 Thursday National Edition

SECTION: Editorials; Pg. A21

LENGTH: 209 words

HEADLINE: Get serious about crime

SOURCE: National Post

BYLINE: Gary A. Mauser

BODY: It should not surprise many people that Canada's gun laws have not worked (More Gun Control Isn't The Answer, John R. Lott Jr., June 15). Anyone living in a big Canadian city has witnessed the horrifying increase in violent crime over the past decade.

Canada's violent crime rate is now higher than in the United States. Our burglary and assault rates are particularly frightening, and illegal handguns are increasingly misused in our largest cities.

This is the result of the Liberal government's failure to punish violent criminals and instead to criminalize hunters and target shooters if they fail toget a licence and to register their shotguns and rifles.

Nor do gun laws work any better in Great Britain or Australia. In a recent study for the Fraser Institute, I showed that gun laws in those countries havefailed to stop increases in violent crime and homicides.

In contrast, violent crime and homicide rates are plummeting in the United States. Violent crime is dropping even faster in those states that allow citizens to carry concealed handguns.

When is Ottawa going to get serious about stoping violent criminals?

Gary A. Mauser, professor, Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.