Debating gun registration
=========================

* M.J. Ackermann

The recent *CMAJ* editorial about the firearms registry1 raises several issues, the primary one being the legitimacy of physicians using their special place in society to espouse opinions outside their area of expertise. This practice lends a false air of authority to views that are political rather than scientific in nature. 

Guns themselves hurt no one. It is their abuse by malicious, suicidal or ignorant people that leads to harm. Stating that people are “killed by… firearms”1 leads people to erroneously fear guns rather than those who abuse them, and we tend to end up with laws that attack the object rather than the behaviour.

The quoted estimate that firearm injuries and deaths cost $6 billion per year2 is based on a costs-only analysis that assumes that every person injured or killed by firearms abuse would have produced some $5 million over his or her lost lifetime. However, many murder victims have criminal histories themselves, and many suicidal people have psychiatric illnesses; to suggest that these people would be able to “produce” to the same extent as the average citizen is at best a stretch of the imagination. In contrast, Mauser3 has documented some 3500 defensive uses of firearms annually that result in human lives saved, which, using the $5 million lifetime productivity figure, would equate to $17.5 billion saved. 

The editorial, quoting an article by Cukier,4 refers to gunshot wounds as the third leading cause of death among Canadians aged 15 to 24. According to Statistics Canada,5 this is simply not true. For deaths involving guns in 1997 (the most recent year for which complete figures are available), suicides accounted for 130, homicides for 32 and accidents for 13 of 1812 deaths in this age group (5th, 11th and 15th ranks respectively).

The editorial further claims that Canada ranks “fifth among industrialized nations in the incidence of firearm-related deaths in children under age 14.” If this is true then obviously our current approach isn't working. Perhaps it is time we started focusing on firearm education, with special attention to educating children in the safe and responsible use of firearms.

**M.J. Ackermann** President St. Mary's Shooters Association Sherbrooke, NS

## References

1.  1. Reasonable control: gun registration in Canada [editorial]. CMAJ 2003;168(4):389.
    
    [FREE Full Text](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiRlVMTCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiY21haiI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo5OiIxNjgvNC8zODkiO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoyNDoiL2NtYWovMTY4LzEwLzEyMzkuMi5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30=) 

2.  2. Miller TR. Costs associated with gunshot wounds in Canada in 1991. CMAJ 1995;153(9): 1261-8.
    
    [Abstract](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiY21haiI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czoxMDoiMTUzLzkvMTI2MSI7czo0OiJhdG9tIjtzOjI0OiIvY21hai8xNjgvMTAvMTIzOS4yLmF0b20iO31zOjg6ImZyYWdtZW50IjtzOjA6IiI7fQ==) 

3.  3. Mauser GA. Armed self defence: the Canadian case. J Crim Justice 1996;24(5):393-406. Available: [www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/selfdefense/CSD-JCJ-JFP-8-3-99.pdf](http://www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/selfdefense/CSD-JCJ-JFP-8-3-99.pdf) (accessed 2003 Apr 15).
    
    

4.  4. Cukier W. Firearms regulation: Canada in the international context. Chronic Dis Can 1998;19 (1): 25-34.
    
    [PubMed](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/external-ref?access_num=9550732&link_type=MED&atom=%2Fcmaj%2F168%2F10%2F1239.2.atom) 

5.  5. *Mortality, summary of causes — shelf tables* [for 1997]. Ottawa: Statistics Canada; 2000. Cat. no. 84F0209XIB. Available: [www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/84F0209XIB/free.htm](http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/84F0209XIB/free.htm) (accessed 2003 Apr 16).