EAST HANTS: A vote in the House of Commons to eliminate the long-gun registry has the MP for Kings-Hants greatly concerned for law enforcement agencies, but that doesn’t mean everyone is worried.
The minority federal Conservative government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, received assistance from 12 New Democrats, eight Liberals and one Independent to easily pass the bill Nov. 4, which would kill the registry. It would also erase records on more than seven million firearms and plow under a $1-billion taxpayer investment.
The 164-137 vote in favour of Bill C-391 was a big victory for the Tories, who have said for years they wanted to end the registry. They have also said it is a billion-dollar waste, which targets those who are honest gun-owners, while simply doing nothing to fight crime.
Proponents, including police and victims-rights groups, say the registry is a useful investigative tool and has led to more responsible gun ownership, reducing suicides and deadly crimes of passion.
Scott Brison, Liberal MP for the riding, voted against the bill based on what it would cost to setup the gun registry.
“But, notwithstanding the costs, I have great concerns that the legislation would now eliminate a system which the Canadian Police Association considers a valuable public safety tool for front-line police officers,” Brison said.
He explained the association believes the registry is a useful tool and with significant money already invested in Canada’s firearms program, they’re now starting to realize the important public safety benefits.
“It would be irresponsible to suspend or abandon any element of this program, now that it is starting to deliver the intended results,” the association said
He said while the costs to create the long-gun registry have already been incurred, he agreed there was some waste during that process.
“The money has been spent and I now think it would be hugely wasteful to just throw it all down the drain,” he added. “That would simply be irresponsible. And I’m very concerned the bill would eliminate a tool that law enforcement agencies value and consider useful for their work.”
Brison said he has heard from both activists and proponents of the registry.
“I wouldn’t say one side has outweighed the other,” he added.
He said the vote was simply the first step, one which he expects will see a large number of people wanting to appear as witnesses.
“The bill will now be studied in committee where I expect a vast amount of people will want to appear,” Brison said. “It will then be returned to the house for a further vote and then be sent to the Senate where Senators will undertake their own review. It is a private member’s bill and as such will remain subject to free votes.”
An annual report done in 2008 on the gun registry provided by the RCMP to Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan has yet to be made public. The RCMP strongly supports keeping the registry and is working to iron out logistical problems in the database. The 2008 report should indicate how much success they've had, however none of that is known as it remains sealed.
Brison said he finds it troublesome the Conservatives hid the RCMP performance report until after the vote on the bill had taken place.
“I’m troubled they (the government) hid the RCMP performance report, which had been in their possession for weeks, until after the recent vote,” Brison explained. “The report said the registry costs less and is used increasingly more by police.
Meanwhile, Jim Hnatiuk, owner of Hnatiuks Hunting Supply Store, in Lantz, said he’s in favour of seeing the private members bill become law.
“We’ve been lobbying Ottawa on this issue to get rid of it,” he said. “It’s costing us half a million dollars a day for what amounts to simply clicking serial numbers off the long guns. We could be putting this money to a lot better use. I’m very happy to see that this is moving ahead.
“By no means is the fight over. Now after the second reading it goes to committee, and in committee they might want to change some of the wording and then it goes back to parliament. It will have to pass the final vote.”
The owner of the largest gun store in Nova Scotia said once the change does come into affect, it will help his store out in a positive way with less bookwork for the innocent hunters who have been under the microscope since the long-gun registry was implemented.
“There is a large hunting population in our riding, both in Kings-Hants and Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley and those across the province come to shop at our store,” he said. “If they have a gun and they want to buy or sell one it has to be registered and de-registered. It’s time consuming. Any mistakes are frowned upon
“It’s going to take a big weight off what we’re going to have to do in the store and the hunter and sportsman who have been waiting I think 10 years for them to get rid of this awful law. It’s certainly going to be a positive affect on our store and the sporting community across Canada.”
Les Kakonyi, media relations and community policing officer with Enfield RCMP, said he doesn’t expect it will impact the job police have to do.
“Obviously, we (the RCMP) has felt that having the registry would be a good investigative tool for the police,” Kakonyi said. “Often times, criminals will steal guns from gun collectors and go to rural communities. It just allows us to track firearms, but with the registry they wanted to institute, there appeared to be a lot of glitches and problems. Time will tell, but it appears the majority of Canadians don’t want that. We can see the pros and cons.
“Purely, from an investigative tool it can be very beneficial in an investigation for us.”
He doesn’t believe it will impact how police track criminals and their use of guns, as members will just need to find another avenue to track long-guns.
“I don’t think it will,” he added. “We just work with what we have, really. In terms of making our job more difficult, I don’t think it will make it more difficult. Anything that is of benefit to use in terms as an investigative tool we’re going to want to have.”
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com