It looks as though a final vote will taken within weeks on the Tory Private Member's Bill designed to kill the Long Gun Registry and put it out of its misery.
This issue comes down to the Rural / Urban Divide. Rural Canadians want it - Urban Canadians do not. As a resident of Ottawa - albeit Rural Ottawa, I fall into the former camp. I also own firearms.
Firearms for Rural Canadians are simply tools - like pitch forks and tractors. Even here on the outskirts of Ottawa we co-exist with coyotes, wolves, fox, fishers and the odd bear. It is nice to have a weapon to help dispatch them if they get too bothersome. A couple of years ago a deer got caught up in one of our fences and badly broke its leg to the point that it could no longer walk. At the time I owned just a 22 cal rifle and I was not sure it would do the job of humanely putting the animal out of its misery. I called a local hunter who was fortunately home and did the deed. We had also called the humane society, the vet, the police and the conservation officers first - but none were willing to get involved.
So to me there is a need.
But more important, there is not a need for the Registry itself. It is just a monumental waster of taxpayers' money.
Gun owners are already Registered. In order to purchase long rifles and ammunition - you must first have an Acquisition Permit and as such - you are registered. So when the Police Chiefs say they need to know if firearms are present before they enter a residence - this information is and has been available to them for some time. The registration of firearms is, in other words, a redundant activity.
It is also a very emotional topic. Born out of the Polytech Massacre in 1989 - it was a knee jerk - feel good initiative designed simply to placate the residents (voters) of Montreal. In so doing it rang up over $2 billion in costs. Police Chiefs say today that the costs are a mere $4 million a year to run the program and if you believe that I have a swamp....
The average cop knows the folly of the Program and if truth be told - so do their Chiefs. But may I suggest that their Leadership's position is less about safety and more about bulking up their resources from the public purse (i.e. in much the same way as their war on drugs which they have been losing from day one).
At this point it looks like enough NDPers will support the Tories in 3rd and final reading and hopefully this boondoggle will be behind us all.
As I see it..
'Galagher'
