scooter
04-02-2009, 09:41 AM
Conservatives make third attempt to kill gun registry
April 01, 2009
Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa bureau
OTTAWA - The federal Conservative government is making its third bid to
bring in a law to abolish the national gun registry.
The bill, said to be identical to the last two legislative attempts, was to
be tabled in the Senate today, confirmed communications director to Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, Kory Teneycke.
In the past, faced with stiff Commons opposition in Liberal, Bloc and NDP
ranks, the government allowed its bill to languish without pushing it to the
forefront for votes.
The last bill, introduced in late fall 2007 died on the order paper when the
Conservatives called the fall 2008 election.
Teneycke said the bill to kill the registry meets a longstanding platform
commitment, and was sent to the Senate first because it could get hung up in
that chamber longer. But the Senate has very few government bills to deal
with right now and it could move more quickly.
In reality, the move to bring in the bill also puts pressure on Liberal
leader Michael Ignatieff, who has been courting rural voters across Canada,
to make clear his views on gun control.
"For rural Canada, this is a referendum on whether people understand the
realities of rural life," said Teneycke. "In urban areas it gets bundled
into gangs and gun control. We obviously see the issues of urban gun crime
as very important, we've brought in a number of measures on that, but we
think this is...a waste of money."
The Conservative government has, since spring 2006, starved the registry of
funds and information by granting yearly amnesties and fee rebates to the
owners of rifles and shotguns, all the while pledging to kill the long-gun
registry set up under a previous Liberal government.
Teneycke said the government believes it can secure the votes necessary for
passage among divided NDP and Liberal caucuses.
The Conservatives boosted their own seat count in the last election, and by
the end of this year, expects to appoint enough senators to have its
majority in the upper chamber as well.
The BQ has long opposed any attempt to kill the registry.
The move does not pre-empt debate or voting on a private member's bill by
Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz that also aims to kill the registry and to
loosen further restrictions on other firearms storage and transport.
But now there is less chance of conflicting or overlapping debate or votes
on the two bills in the Commons.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper had recently publicly urged support for the
Breitkreuz bill, despite the fact it goes further than the government has in
the past. The re-introduction of the government's own bill clarifies his
position.
The start of debate on the Breitkreuz bill, first scheduled for today, has
now been bumped to May.
The Conservatives usually allow free votes on private member's bills, but
all members will be expected to vote for the government's initiative when it
comes to the Commons.
The Liberals created a national system of licensing and registration for all
guns, not just handguns - which have been restricted since the early 1900s,
and other prohibited firearms like semi-automatic weapons.
The registry itself was supposed to cost just $2 million, and become
self-financing through fees, but computer system start-up problems saw the
costs balloon to over $1 million over the past decade.
Canadian Press recently reported the Conservatives have foregone more
revenue from gun owners - $56.5 million - than they have spent to run the
gun registry since they took power - $35.9 million.
April 01, 2009
Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa bureau
OTTAWA - The federal Conservative government is making its third bid to
bring in a law to abolish the national gun registry.
The bill, said to be identical to the last two legislative attempts, was to
be tabled in the Senate today, confirmed communications director to Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, Kory Teneycke.
In the past, faced with stiff Commons opposition in Liberal, Bloc and NDP
ranks, the government allowed its bill to languish without pushing it to the
forefront for votes.
The last bill, introduced in late fall 2007 died on the order paper when the
Conservatives called the fall 2008 election.
Teneycke said the bill to kill the registry meets a longstanding platform
commitment, and was sent to the Senate first because it could get hung up in
that chamber longer. But the Senate has very few government bills to deal
with right now and it could move more quickly.
In reality, the move to bring in the bill also puts pressure on Liberal
leader Michael Ignatieff, who has been courting rural voters across Canada,
to make clear his views on gun control.
"For rural Canada, this is a referendum on whether people understand the
realities of rural life," said Teneycke. "In urban areas it gets bundled
into gangs and gun control. We obviously see the issues of urban gun crime
as very important, we've brought in a number of measures on that, but we
think this is...a waste of money."
The Conservative government has, since spring 2006, starved the registry of
funds and information by granting yearly amnesties and fee rebates to the
owners of rifles and shotguns, all the while pledging to kill the long-gun
registry set up under a previous Liberal government.
Teneycke said the government believes it can secure the votes necessary for
passage among divided NDP and Liberal caucuses.
The Conservatives boosted their own seat count in the last election, and by
the end of this year, expects to appoint enough senators to have its
majority in the upper chamber as well.
The BQ has long opposed any attempt to kill the registry.
The move does not pre-empt debate or voting on a private member's bill by
Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz that also aims to kill the registry and to
loosen further restrictions on other firearms storage and transport.
But now there is less chance of conflicting or overlapping debate or votes
on the two bills in the Commons.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper had recently publicly urged support for the
Breitkreuz bill, despite the fact it goes further than the government has in
the past. The re-introduction of the government's own bill clarifies his
position.
The start of debate on the Breitkreuz bill, first scheduled for today, has
now been bumped to May.
The Conservatives usually allow free votes on private member's bills, but
all members will be expected to vote for the government's initiative when it
comes to the Commons.
The Liberals created a national system of licensing and registration for all
guns, not just handguns - which have been restricted since the early 1900s,
and other prohibited firearms like semi-automatic weapons.
The registry itself was supposed to cost just $2 million, and become
self-financing through fees, but computer system start-up problems saw the
costs balloon to over $1 million over the past decade.
Canadian Press recently reported the Conservatives have foregone more
revenue from gun owners - $56.5 million - than they have spent to run the
gun registry since they took power - $35.9 million.