Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: News

The bill would abolish the federal long-gun registry Photo: Dunechaser / Flickr

Liberals and New Democrats who represent 20 rural ridings joined Conservative MPs on Wednesday to send a private member's bill which would abolish the federal long-gun registry to committee.

The law which created the registry requires that all gun owners obtain a firearm possession certificate after passing a competency test and register their weapons with the federal government. The law also requires that people seeking to buy a firearm first obtain a firearm acquisition certificate, which also requires a test. The bill, introduced by Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkreuz, will now be reviewed and amended before it is presented to the House of Commons for a third reading. While applauded by opponents of the registry, the result of the vote shocked advocates of gun control.

Since the Conservatives support the bill, which was based on a proposal they unsuccessfully introduced last year in the Senate, they could fast-track the bill to ensure it is passed before the summer recess. However, a spring election could kill the current proposal, but might make the future of the gun registry a key issue in the campaign. Both the Liberal and New Democratic parties officially support the gun registry, though the Liberals have plans to "decriminalize" the registry by abolishing criminal charges for those who do not register their weapons. The issue could expose major divisions between rural and urban MPs within the Liberal and New Democratic parties and prove to be beneficial to Conservative candidates looking to unseat rural incumbents.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP leader Jack Layton did not instruct members of their parties to vote for or against the bill. Such free votes are relatively rare, though are generally considered appropriate when the bill raises moral, rather than strictly political questions. Ignatieff and Layton could instruct their MPs to vote against the bill once it is reintroduced to the House of Commons after being considered in committee, but this would raise the ire of the MPs who supported the bill in Wednesday's vote. The Liberals will likely introduce plans to reform the registry, but this is unlikely to persuade the opposition MPs who supported the bill.

Liberal Senators, who have a slim majority in the Senate, could also block the bill. Though 45 of them were appointed by Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, whose successive governments introduced and implemented the gun registry, it is unlikely that they would unanimously oppose dismantling the registry. Three Senators (two Liberals and one Independent) are set to retire before next February. Prime Minister Harper will undoubtedly appoint Conservatives to replace them, which will give the Conservatives a slight majority in the Senate and allow them to pass the bill once adopted by the House.

Critics of the registry, such as Breitkreuz, have long complained of the program's cost, which far exceeded initial projections, and the inconvenience it imposes on responsible gun owners. Supporters, including Toronto police chief Bill Blair, argue that the registry has become an essential tool for law enforcement agencies, and that abolishing it would have negative consequences for public safety. The bill would not change rules for handguns and other prohibited weapons. This bill seems likely to reignite debate about gun control. While the opposition leaders seem to view gun control as a moral issue, if this bill passes, it will be for very political reasons.

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