Does anyone on here actually know our gun laws???
I've just gone through this thread and read an incredible number of misconceptions. As a fairly recent graduate of the licensing program, let me do my best to clear up a few things.
There are 3 main categories of firearms in Canada.
1) Long Guns - These include your standard hunting rifles and shotguns. All long guns must be registered and stored unloaded with a trigger lock or in a gun safe. This is the easiest license to get. FYI: The rifle that was used in the Polytechnique (SP?? Sorry) massacre that started this whole registry nonsense (a mini-14) is still considered just a long-gun. Also, it is legal to walk down Robson st. with an unloaded long gun over your shoulder. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's legal.
2) Restricted Firearm - This includes semi-automatic handguns with a barrel length longer than 4-1/8". It also includes scary looking long guns that the registry people decided should be restricted. Handguns can not have a magazine capacity greater than 10 rounds, and you need a additional permit to transport them anywhere! You can only get a permit that allows you to transport restricted firearms to a gun range or a weapon smith (with a few exceptions). They must be locked in a box with a trigger lock or in a gun safe. You may only fire your restricted firearm at an approved range and you must be an active member of a range to buy a restricted firearm - the license itself is not enough.
I'm pretty sure every time a handgun is used in a crime, somebody broke one of those rules.
3) Prohibited Firearms - You can't have these. This includes automatic weapons, sawed off shotguns and a variety of other nasty toys. A very few people are allowed to have handguns with short barrels, but you must have owned these before the ban came into effect.
Next, we've been registering and controlling hand guns in this country for about 100 years. The only thing new about the gun registry is its insane bureaucracy and the registration of long guns.
When a gun is registered, no sample of a fired casing or round is collected. There is no way for police to trace a bullet or spent casing to a specific registered firearm without having that firearm.
Handgun ownership is less than 1% in this county and is much lower in most urban areas. So if I'm a criminal looking for a hand-gun am I going to break into about 100 homes and search them high an low for a locked case or safe to steal a gun from - I don't think so. The argument that criminals are out there stealing lawfully registered handguns by the hundred and thousands is just ridiculous.
Still think a handgun ban is the way to go. So did Washington, DC in 1975. By 1990 that city was known as the murder capital of the developed world.
OK... that's my rant. Please feel free to flame away at me and correct me if I made a mistake.