Canada Harper government has long-gun registry in its sights

[Sakobav]

From Canada eh any comments from Cannucks here looks like common sense approach

Harper government has long-gun registry in its sights
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15455106

A previous attempt to repeal the registry was attempted by Mr Harper in 2010, but it did not pass
Continue reading the main story
The registry requires owners of shotguns and rifles to register the weapons, but when Stephen Harper's Conservative government took power in 2006, they vowed to abolish the law.

Opponents of the registry say most violent crime involves handguns.

While a repeal failed last year, the Conservative's new majority has a much greater chance of success.

The move faces opposition from gun-control groups and Parliament members from Quebec.

The registry gained support from both Canada's police chiefs and victims groups after the Montreal massacre in 1989, where 14 women were murdered by a man using a rifle at Ecole Polytechnique.

The law was passed in 1995 and went into effect in 2001.

Records destroyed
"The Harper government has stood on the side of law-abiding firearms owners, farmers, hunters, and rural Canadians in every region of this country," said Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner, who spoke a press conference announcing the legislation at Ontario farm.

Ms Hoeppner and other conservative lawmakers said the registry had wasted up to C$2 billion of taxpayer money.

They referenced a Statistics Canada report that said of 253 firearms used to commit murder between 2005 and 2009, almost 70% had never been registered.

According to Canadian publication Globe and Mail, the same report said that of 179 homicides using firearms in 2009, 24% were committed using rifles and shotguns.

The legislation will destroy all records created by the registry but criminal checks and safety course required to own firearms in general will still be in place.

Public safety critic Francis Scarpaleggia told CTV that some provinces might create their own registries if the bill is passed.

Government officials said such plans would not be countered, but it would not help in establishing a replacement registry.

[Hammerhead]

Fight for your Rights

We are in this fight altogether , would you speak to your Gov'ts ?

So what have we learned so far about the Gun Registry ?

1.) That the whole Bill C-68 itself in its entirety "VIOLATES" the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

2.) That Guns have never been a problem in Canada and that Guns account for only 2.4 Per cent of all crime in Canada.

3.) Knives 'NOT GUNS" were the leading Weapon of choice of criminals from 1995-2007. (Now they're about even being about 1/3 each)

4.) 1/4 of all Gun Crimes in Canada occurred in Toronto.

5.) Firearms are legally used for self-defense in Canada an average of 32,000 Times a year.

6.) 92% of Police Officers surveyed by Canada's Blue-Line Magazine (A Police publication) felt the registry was useless and should be scrapped.

7.) Front-Line Police officers who patrol the streets on a daily basis totally disagree with the anti-gun chiefs of police association and clearly feel the registry should be scrapped.


"The Harper government has stood on the side of law-abiding firearms owners, farmers, hunters, and rural Canadians in every region of this country," said Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner,"

People of Canada has made this difference , you can too- Haji

[xl_target]

The hand gun registry in Canada was put into effect at about the same time (1934) that john Dillinger was shot. Since then, as far as I know, no crimes have been solved using the gun registry. Law abiding citizens who register their guns usually don't commit crimes. Criminals don't register their guns.

A gun registry is not about tracing crimes. its about a Government's control over its people. Yes, it is that simple. Politicians who push for a gun registry are ignoring facts and pandering to misinformed and misled voters. If a sitting politician ever pushes for a gun registry, he does not have the interests of his constituents at heart. If a politician pushes for a gun registry when not that many people (in India) have guns, how can you trust him/her to have your interests at heart for the really important issues? Vote him or her out of office.

[Hammerhead]

Thanks to Randy Kuntz ... ( it's pronounced kooontz )

Late last spring, Edmonton police Const. Randy Kuntz decided to test a hunch.

Kuntz, a former patrolling officer who now works in criminal investigations at Edmonton’s southwest division, wondered about how many police officers supported gun registration.

Kuntz only expected 200 replied, but gathered 2,631 responses from every province and territory in Canada over a fourteen-month period. Roughly 92 per cent – 2,410 – of respondents responded negatively.

Kuntz admits the results are less than rigorous, but says the results match his policing experience.

“It’s about as unscientific as one can get,” said Kuntz. “But pretty soon it started looking like a lot of guys don’t agree with the system, which is contradictory to what the association of chiefs of police are saying.”

The survey results come in the midst of a political debate over the effectiveness of the long-gun registry. On Wednesday, RCMP Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, a vocal supporter of the registry, was replaced and placed on leave from the national police force. The move to replace Cheliak has drawn widespread criticism, coming just a few weeks before Parliament is set to debate a Conservative private member’s bill to scrap it.

Cheliak was actually slated to appear in Edmonton on Monday at the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Conference as one of three presenters on a national firearms strategy. While the session will still take place, Cheliak won’t be there.

The embattled long-gun registry has received overwhelming support from the policing community, including the chiefs of police, the Canadian Police Association, and the Canadian Association of Police Boards. A joint statement by the organizations released in May notes the database costs only $4.1 million to operate and helps police in investigations and court proceedings. The registry was accessed over four million times last year.

For Kuntz, the timing of the survey results is not so much about the politics but about the effectiveness of the registry on the pavement. Kuntz’s beef is that the registry doesn’t account for the actual location of weapons. A registered gun owner, he says, can legally lend his weapon to anyone with a valid license for the firearm.

Kuntz has only accessed the registry once in his entire career, when someone wanted to donate a gun, and worries about young officers might might gain a false sense of security from the database.

“As far of the actual use it gets, it’s kind of useless,” said Kuntz. “It’s kind of like the TV channel around Christmas where they show burning logs in the fire.”