Gun registry leaks again

How safe is your family when information gleaned from the $2 billion gun registry is apparently so readily available on a 50-cent CD? That is the question that is gnawing at the members of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters after the Ottawa Citizen revealed that a simple freedom of information request is all it takes to access private information about Canada's law-abiding gun owners.

After receiving a disk full of filtered information outlining the general whereabouts of all types of legally-owned guns (information courtesy of the infamous gun registry database), the Ottawa Citizen recently ran a week-long series about gun ownership.

Once again, the media demonstrated that the gap between urban myth and rural reality is often a treacherous stretch.

The gun control debate aside, posting any amount of information about lawfully owned firearms is highly irresponsible. Last year, the Toronto Star pulled a similar stunt by posting a map showing the concentration and general location of licensed firearms owners in Canada.

The O.F.A.H. has written to the Minister of Public Safety demanding an explanation for the gun registry's ongoing reputation for computer errors, privacy infringements and security leaks.

O.F.A.H. members will recall last year's rash of home invasions that clearly targeted gun collectors, as well as the national news story the O.F.A.H. broke about the gun registry's former webmaster who stated "a 16-year old could have broken into that system."

The O.F.A.H continues to warn that, in the wrong hands, an easily accessed database detailing highly private information about legally owned firearms, is a profound violation of privacy and individual protection.

This article appeared in the April 2007 issue of The Angler & Hunter Hotline