Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Gun Debate Rages

Vernon Monashee MLA Eric Foster's introduced a private members bill supporting the Federal decision to drop the long gun registry.  He says it was a was a well-intentioned mistake, but  the firearms registry has cost Canadians over $2 billion but has done nothing to fight the illegal use and trade of firearms . Foster says the end of the  registry will mean that people like the members of the Vernon Fish and Game Club or the Lumby and District Wildlife Association will no longer be treated as criminals for legally owning a rifle or a shotgun.  And the Harper government has been warned that scrapping the requirement to register rifles and shotguns could fuel illegal firearms trafficking across the Canada-U-S border.  The Conservatives have introduced a bill to scrap long-gun registration and permanently delete more than seven-(m) million files on gun ownership.  But an internal memo from a senior Public Safety department official says removing the rule to register these kinds of guns would weaken import controls -- and as a result, restricted weapons could find their way into the country. The memo, released under the Access to Information Act, comes to light as Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (TAVES) prepares to address a Commons committee about the bill today.

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