Well said

Dan Gardner nails how the political games around the gun registry have served only to distract Canadians from far more important issues, and figure to do so all the more in the next election campaign:

(T)he registry delivers little benefit for little cost. Should we scrap it? Maybe, maybe not. It won't make much difference either way.

Of course, I know that my conclusion will drive people on both sides of the debate bonkers. Few issues are more passionately argued than this one. It matters. Oh yes, it matters. But if the benefits and costs are small, why does it matter so much to so many people?
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The registry is symbolic. It resonates with many people's cultural perspective, making it far more compelling to them than other issues.

It's not that it matters in a practical sense. It's that they feel it.

The problem with these culturally loaded debates is that they can rob attention that should go to far more important matters. Remember all the talk about gun crime during the 2006 election, particularly after a sensational murder happened in Toronto? Perceptions were way out of alignment with reality. Indeed, even as the politicians were hammering away, gun murders in Toronto were plummeting.

Something else was going on, too: The military was moving to Kandahar in preparation for its toughest mission since the Korean War. But that was almost completely ignored during the campaign.

So what will we miss this time if we waste an election talking about an inconsequential registry?