Parties still atodds over gun control
‘Backdoor registry’ feared by Tories
SASKATOON The federal government is insisting an amendment to its new gun control bill undercuts any suggestion the legislation will create what some have described as a “backdoor gun registry.”
While the amendment declaring the bill is not a registry was proposed by the official Opposition, the Conservatives aren’t convinced it will be enough to assuage gun owners’ fears.
Introduced this spring, Bill C-71 is headed back to the House of Commons after being worked on by the multi-partisan Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, which approved multiple amendments.
One of those amendments states: “Nothing in this act shall be construed so as to permit or require the registration of non-restricted firearms.” It passed with what the committee chair called “a rare occasion of unanimity.”
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the new language represents the “final word” on arguments to the contrary, which have been advanced by some progun groups and, in online advertisements, the Conservatives.
“The Conservative strategy is a little hard to understand in (putting forward the amendment) because it does seem to undercut their argument,” the Regina-Wascana MP in an interview.
Goodale maintains Bill C-71 is not an attempt to resurrect the Canadian Firearms Registry, which was launched in 1995 and scrapped 17 years later amid huge cost overruns.
When introducing the amendment, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus told the committee his party doubted the government’s claims and said the amendment was intended to “ensure there will be no return of a long gun registry.”
“We believe it is fair and would solve the problem,” he said.
The Conservative deputy shadow minister for public safety, however, questioned why the Liberal committee members would adopt the amendment while refusing to alter aspects of the bill that worry some gun owners.
Those provisions include a requirement for gun dealers to keep detailed records of sales and inventories, as well as a new stipulation that every transfer of firearms be accompanied by a unique reference number.
“When we adopted this and they agreed, we expected they would also support changes that removed elements … that were essentially a gun registry. Unfortunately, they didn’t do that,” Glen Motz said in an interview.
Those records will not be accessible without a warrant, according to the government.
Goodale notes that amendments proposed by the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Green party were all accepted, including one that stipulates only one reference number is required for simultaneous transfers.
“What (the Conservative amendment) says is already the truth. So you don’t really need to state the obvious,” Goodale said, adding he doesn’t expect opposition to the amendment as the bill moves toward royal assent.