Tories will deregister long guns, shotguns: CTV
Canada's controversial gun registry will undergo big changes starting on Tuesday, CTV News has learned.
The government of Stephen Harper will give the RCMP responsibility to register and keep track of guns in Canada.
And the types of guns being registered will also change. From now on only handguns and semi-automatic weapons will be placed on the list.
"Whatever the government decides, obviously we will support in any way we can," RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said.
On Tuesday, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day will begin the changes by announcing an amnesty for rifle and shotgun owners, a group of people who have long criticized the registry for targeting law-abiding hunters and collectors.
The changes will be announced as Auditor General Sheila Fraser releases the first of three yearly reports, including a review of the gun registry.
"The auditor general will be reflecting on elements to do with the gun registry and I'll be making some comments following that," Day said.
Information from that audit was leaked to the media last week -- although Fraser has said some elements were inaccurate. Fraser's report on the gun registry is expected to say:
That the former Liberal government may have tried to hide cost overruns from Parliament.
Costs grew because the Firearms Centre signed contracts with two competing computer firms.
Despite controversy and cost overruns, the gun registry has supporters. Police consult the firearms databank approximately 5,000 times every day and officers say limiting the types of guns listed will not help law enforcement.
"Our last six or seven police officers were killed with long guns," said Tony Cannavino of the Canadian Professional Police Association. "That's very sad."
Gun control activist Wendy Cukier said: "The only reason they would proceed to dismantle a system that is working as well as this one is to pay back the gun lobby."
Legislations creating registry was passed in 1995 as a response to the shooting of 14 young women at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique six years earlier by Marc Lépine. The intention of the registry was to keep track of all legally-owned guns in Canada and to reduce crime by making every gun traceable.
The government of Jean Chretien estimated that establishing the registry would cost approximately $119 million, with registration fees covering all but $2 million.
Instead, costs mounted to an estimated $1 billion by 2004-05.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleN...5/gun_registry_060515/20060515?hub=TopStories
Made my day!
