NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR GUNS ...

Try to board an aircraft these days with even a tiny pair of scissors in
your hand luggage and odds are you'll never get it on the plane.

That's because all luggage is X-rayed as a matter of routine and, in a post
9/11 world, the screeners have been instructed to be scrupulous.

Then again, you can always arrange to have someone ship you an illegal
handgun - or drugs - from the U.S. or overseas via Canada's mail system and
odds are it will arrive safe and sound.

That's because Canada Customs and Revenue Agency inspects and X-rays less
than 5% of the mail coming into Canada, and is prohibited by law from
touching any mail under 30 grams.

It's just one more way for criminals to get guns, drugs and other
contraband into the country as reported by the Sun's Maria McClintock
yesterday. Documents she obtained under Access to Information legislation
show that guns, teargas and drugs, including cocaine and heroin, are
routinely smuggled into Canada through the five major mail centres in
Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg.

And since less than 5% of the mail is actually inspected, according to
Customs and Excise Union president Ron Moran, it's a safe bet that far more
contraband gets through than is ever caught.

Clearly, this is just one more way for for thugs to get illegal guns and
drugs on our streets.

The way to fight the problem seems obvious.

Inspect and X-ray every piece of mail coming into the country - or at least
as much of it as is physically possible - and not just that which arouses
the suspicion of Customs officers. Plus eliminate the 30-gram limit. The
right to privacy doesn't include the right to mail drugs and other
contraband illegally into Canada.

The federal Liberal government, remember, is intent on having 100% of
Canada's gun owners register their legal firearms in a program which has
turned into a billion dollar boondoggle as part of their so-called war on
crime.

Isn't it a tad inconsistent, then, that its approach to stopping illegal
guns from coming into Canada via the mail consists of random checks
involving less than 5% of the packages? That's not the fault of front-line
CCRA inspectors.

It's a question of political will and resources.

Where is all that money Ottawa has been taking from us ever since 9/11,
ostensibly to help make our borders more secure, going anyway?