The Scope and Implications of a Tracing Mechanism for Small Arms ...

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3.1.9 Comments
Countries seeking to introduce record-keeping linked to a new
licensing and registration regime might consider that they should begin
with, what appears on the surface to be, a cheaper manual paper based
system and then gradually evolve into a computerized database. However,
this can be a false economy as considerable costs will be involved in the
subsequent back-record conversion and validating the original entries. In
addition, national law enforcement agencies will spend costly man-hours
trawling through paper records and making numerous personal visits to
carry out physical inspections in order to complete each tracing request.
These are the hidden costs of paper systems. Such costs do not exist when
the same searches can be conducted remotely in a matter of minutes using
a central computerized national register.
Recognizing these points, when Canada introduced civilian firearms
registration in the late 1990s, it chose to start from scratch using
computerization. Published start-up costs for the Canadian Firearms
Register (CFR) quoted a figure of US$ 60 million. However, with 3.5 million
gun owners being charged US$ 12 to register their 6 million firearms, these
revenues helped recover some of that, but continuing expenditure has
greatly increased the overall costs. Computerization was essential to
streamline the process and, with built-in national data standards, “error
rates” could be minimized. Registration used a bespoke computer
programme, called the Firearms Registration Direct Entry System (FREDES)
and, with a cross-reference to the FRT, validation checks were completed
at the point of entry. The next generation involves cheaper web-based
registration utilizing an on-line connection to the national Register. Now
that the CFR is firmly established, updating the computer records is a
straightforward process requiring a limited number of permanent staff to
supervise the process. The additional benefits of the CFR database are that
the system of mandatory disclosures provides a capability to monitor
activity in real time to proactively identify suspicious transactions. In
addition, tracing enquiries are automated enabling both the restoration of
recovered stolen firearms to their owners and the identification of points of
diversion for weapons recovered used in crime.
The computer programmes developed for the CFR are available as offthe-shelf
products, which other countries can purchase to avoid the
expense of their own costly research and development. Start-up costs can,