Massive Cost Overrun in the Gun Registry Completely Predictable

The Fraser Institute ^ | 12-04-02 | Gary Mauser

[backhoe]

 

----- Original Message -----

From: "The Fraser Institute" <info@fraserinstitute.ca

To: <list@list.fraserinstitute.ca

Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 6:40 PM

Subject: Fraser Institute email updates -- Massive Cost of Gun Registry Completely Predictable

Thank you for subscribing to our Fraser Institute email updates
________________________

Massive Cost Overrun in the Gun Registry Completely Predictable

The ballooning $1 billion price tag of the Canadian gun registry was
predictable to anyone who has followed this massive boondoggle, says Gary
Mauser, author of the study Misfire: Firearm Registration in Canada,
published last year by The Fraser Institute.

"It was clear to me in 1995 that this thing was a white elephant," says
Mauser, a highly-regarded academic from Simon Fraser University.

The federal government claimed in Parliament that it would cost no more than
$85 million over 5 years to implement firearm registration. In 1995, Mauser
predicted that the final cost for the registry would be between $1 billion
and $1.5 billion. In 2002, the full cost of setting up the registration
bureaucracy has already reached $1 billion.

"We don't know how much this fiasco will eventually cost but if it is
allowed to continue on the same path, the bill could easily reach $2 billion
by 2005," he says.

For the media release:
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=nr&id=496

For the complete report(in pdf):
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=pb&id=162
_______________________________________

To unsubscribe to these updates, please go to:
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/subscribe.asp

[Clive]

-

[Vidalia]

Let's see. Uhmmmm.

What was the first clue that this boondoggle was bound to fail, regardless of how much money was spent to PR this circus?

There may be a clue in the facts that...

It won't work in the first place, and (2) the damn government employees who just need to keep their jobs are running the program.

Not much more needs to said...

[canuck_conservative]

Actually, the first clue was that it was being created by the Chretien Liberals - incompetence personified.

[backhoe]

Appreciate the flags... best I recall, the National Firearms Association ( Canadian ) had some information on their site at least 3 years ago predicting just these billion-dollar figures.

[CanisMajor2002]

If I had a budget of $85 million, and I spent $1 billion (USD or otherwise), I would be FIRED.

I doubt we see such common sense here.

[The UnVeiled Lady]

Help Canada spend more on gun registration!

call the toll free registration number.

1-800-731-4000

You will get a prerecorded message concerning bringing and using guns into Canada.
You can also use the system to repeat the message for you.

It costs the Canadian government money, and costs you nothing!

[backhoe]

Agreed. Perhaps this is a good time to add some links to stories from our Sister site ( and emergency fallback when FR is down )--

http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8053

http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8045

[DarthRaven]

"O, CANADA!" "LAND THAT'S NOT-SO-FREE!"
"O, CANADA!" "A PLACE TO BE GUN-FREE!"

Come on you hosers! Help me with the revision of the Canadian Anthem, eh? Is the "Great White North" not worthy of our creative American input or should we leave it up to the Quebecqios?

[DarthRaven]

Hey honey, as soon as I get off-line I'm dialing that number!

[Great Dane]

And Alan Rock promised if the cost reached 150 mill, the whole program would be killed, instead we go on and on.

[Great Dane]

Parliament claimed they didn't know........ funny, every man in the street knew.

[MichiganConservative]

This just goes to show again that bureaucrats, espceially government ones, have no incentive to save money or be at all efficient. Also, it didn't help that the proponents of this BS intentionally obscured the costs to just get gun registration passed into law.

[Badger1]

it didn't help that the proponents of this BS intentionally obscured the costs to just get gun registration passed into law

Obscuring the costs of the program certainly helped the proponents of the law to get it passed. I'm sure they knew their cost estimates were to low (government bearcats lying about costs? say it isn’t so!), but they didn't care as long as the law was passed.

[backhoe]

This just goes to show again that bureaucrats, espceially government ones, have no incentive to save money or be at all efficient.

Exactly. The stuff I've seen ( see above ) shows that the billion-dollar price tag has been apparent for years, but they pushed on anyway. Let's hope our brothers in Canada use this as a lever to dislodge this little "unemployment insurance scheme for bureaucrats..."

[buffyt]

"The ballooning $1 billion price tag of the Canadian gun registry"

So it is all about collecting more taxes after all!!!!! duh.....
That is all some in the gov. do all day, dream up schemes to take more tax money.

Scariest sentence in the universe...
"We are from the government, here to help you."

[backhoe]

Thanks for looking.

Given the choice between too much government and too much freedom, I'll take freedom every time. People just aren't vigilant enough about the erosion of their rights.

[jodorowsky]

As a Canadian citizen I invite you all to call

1-800-731-4000

Enjoy our world-famous Canadian hospitality, and stay on the line as long and often as you can spare. Autodial is not abuse.

Please waste my fellow Canadians' money, with my compliments.