Canadians continue their cautious move to the right.

Canada's gun registry is an expensive failure. Apparently the registry's cost wasn't supposed to exceed $2 million, a far cry from the $1 Billion it has cost thus far. The biggest problem is it hasn't put the first dent in violent crime. It has, however, dented taxpayer wallet. Whether it has dented the credibility of those liberals who added the registry to the federal gun control program in 1995 has not been determined. According to the article by Dan Dugas of the Canadian Press

"The Conservatives have called the registry a waste of taxpayers money that targets duck hunters rather than criminals."

Prime Minister Harper has promised to end the registry and it's $90 million per year maintenance cost and put that money towards the hiring of an additional 1000 RCMP officers. To an American that number sounds extremely low. 1000 officers is about the size of a medium size city's police force. To put that in perspective, Atlanta Police Department has 1732 sworn officers. It seems that $90 million per year could buy alot more than 1000 mounties, but the article seems to suggest that it may not even be enough.

This is a subject to watch closely. Gun registration has always preceded gun confiscation. It's how the government knows where to look for the guns when it comes time to take them. It's the only reason the government would need to know what guns a citizen lawfully owns. My hope is that the Canadian Government continues to move in the direction that it appears to be. Abolishing the registry is not only the fiscally responsible thing to do. It is also an important step in the preservation of the citizens freedoms and rights to self defense.