The CMAJ editorial on gun registration1 seems to be based more on emotion than on solid evidence that registering guns has any measurable impact on their misuse.
In the United States, there has been a steady drop in homicide rates following the introduction of laws (in some 34 states) allowing citizens with no criminal record to carry concealed firearms.2 An epidemiologic comparison of firearms homicide rates in Canada and US states adjacent to the Canadian border showed no differences in homicide rates outside of large cities, despite a 10-fold greater number of pistols in the US states.3
My understanding of medicine is that any intervention should be based on the results of appropriate controlled experiments and that physicians should be prepared to change their patterns of practice according to the results. The editorial1 cited no controlled studies, just poor correlational studies, and — as every first-year medical student should know — correlation doesn't equal causation.
Boris Gimbarzevsky University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC