In this country one can be charged and get a criminal record for not doing something.

A good letter in a local paper about the gun registry
Interesting statistics. (A look at who’s packing what, Oct. 15, 2010 South Delta Leader). But I sense another excuse for a long gun registry.

The reasons the long gun registry is opposed by so many are not obvious to readers of such articles. Registration is often confused with other sections of firearms law such as transportation, storage and licensing.

A registered firearm is generally owned by a hunter, collector or target shooter who is required to have a license and it is obvious that if the police can determine that a member of a given household holds as firearm license he or she likely owns a firearm.

The registry is redundant, especially if one considers the average criminal in possession of a firearm would be foolish to apply for a license and register a gun intended to be used in a crime. The argument that we register cars does not apply.

There is nothing in the criminal code that precludes me from removing the plates from my car and storing it in my garage. If my car were stolen from a locked garage I would be considered a victim, but if my properly stored gun were stolen there is a good chance the investigating officer would initially charge me with unsafe storage of a firearm and I could have a criminal record for the rest of my life.

In fact, if my firearms license were to expire prior to me filling out the renewal paperwork I would also be liable to charges under the criminal code and I am baffled by the fact in this country one can be charged and get a criminal record for not doing something.

Please, media people, do some research and tell the whole story.

Mike Young,

Delta