Everyone is beating their gums about the long gun registry so I would like to beat mine a little.

I feel that the TV land and newspapers aren’t giving us the real information required to make a learned decision on this gun registry. If they haven’t got the information they should go get it.

I would like to see the politicians, TV and newspaper people to give us, the dumb taxpayers, the following information.

In the last five years how many violations of all laws were committed with a pistols /hand guns?

How many of these offences were carried out with registered pistols/hand guns? How many violations of all laws were committed with long guns of all types? How many of these offences were carried out with registered long guns of all types?

How many banned attack firearms were found and how many were used in a crime?

Polls can be manipulated to suit whatever cause someone is trying to advance but actual numbers tell the truth, if the numbers are submitted exactly as the offences are recorded.

I would suggest that nearly all violations of the law with long guns and pistols are with unregistered firearms. Not too many people are stupid enough to use a firearm registered to them for a criminal purpose?

A person registered as having any kind of firearm acquisition or possession certificate should be enough to alert the police of the possibility of a firearm being available to that individual. Having said that, any good police officer should approach any situation with the serious concern that there is a possibility of a firearm at the scene.

I am personally not in favour of the long gun registry and feel that it’s a gross waste of taxpayers money. I am, though, very much in favour of an extremely stiff fine and some jail time for people who use firearms for a criminal offence.

We have to quit molly coddling these killers and crooks and bring down very stiff penalties so they don’t feel like re-offending. We should be doubling the sentence each time a person is found guilty of a gun offence. Quit feeling sorry for these crooks and killers.

As a matter of fact, I would like to see many offences to society with a doubling of penalties each time you face a judge and are convicted, until the pain reaches the guilty where he/she can’t stand the jail time, fine cost and lawyer cost any more.

E.T. (Tom) Skoreyko

Red Deer