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MP Allen Asks House for Support in Ending the Long-Gun Registry
February 10, 2012
OTTAWA – Only a few hours before Members of Parliament voted to end the long-gun registry on Tuesday, Feb. 7, Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen, stood before his colleagues to explain the importance of scrapping the ineffective registry.
“Bill C-19, a straightforward bill, has been supported by 90%-plus of my constituents based on the polling that I have done,” he explained. “It provides for public safety, respects our traditions and, for the long-term, respects taxpayer dollars.”
“No other issue raises people’s blood pressure in my riding as much as the long-gun registry does,” he began.
The Atlantic Conservative Caucus Chair focused his comments on information and feedback he has heard in Tobique-Mactaquac since first running for office in 2004.
“I did a poll a number of years ago and I received about 1,400 responses back,” he said. “Of the constituents of Tobique—Mactaquac, over 90% said that we had to get rid of the long gun registry. I did another poll recently. Again, those numbers are staggering, still up over 90%.”
Mr. Allen said that he is “not in denial of the challenges that violent gun crime presents to people. It is an issue.”
“Mandatory minimums for serious gun crimes are about that. This is what our legislation is intended to do. This is why we put those policies in place, not a gun registry that unfairly targets the folks who are in our traditional industries.”
He referred to Bill C-19 as a pretty simple bill. First and foremost, the new legislation would remove the need to register non-restricted firearms such as rifles and shotguns. This provision is directed at all the farmers who need to protect their livestock, all the sportsmen and women who hunt wild game and all the other rural residents who use long guns to make a living. “However, as it has been emphasized here a number of times, I do not think we want to forget that individuals will still need to have valid licences to possess a firearm,” he pointed out.
“We have had a number of people come to our offices to talk about the process used to obtain a licence, and it is onerous. There are a number of hours of training. Some people in my riding provide the training to those folks. They go through the background checks that are required to determine safety. The bill would preserve these public safety aspects, but it would strike a balance with what gun owners need. Owners of non-restricted and shotguns would no longer have to register these firearms. That is great news to all the long-gun owners who have waited so long to see this registry eliminated.”
Mr. Allen commented that long-gun owners have talked about their personal information, and he is pleased that clause 29 of the bill also includes the destruction of the records related to the registration of rifles and shotguns. “Unless the data is destroyed, there is still a long-gun registry and there is still the ability for someone to come down the road and recreate it,” he said. “It is important for us to ensure that those records are gone.”
The Tobique-Mactaquac MP referred to a committee that he established in 2006 to talk about the long-gun registry. “It was interesting how the folks on that committee started it out as a long-gun registry committee, but then decided they wanted it to be called a public safety committee,” he said. “They wanted to address firearms legislation from the standpoint of the proper controls of licensing.
“Some of the people on that committee were Mr. Cormier from Saint-André, who does training and gives the course to long-gun owners; Mr. Kierstead, who is the coach of the national shooting team; Bill Ensor and Ray Dillon, sport guides in the region of my riding; a doctor who was a gun enthusiast; Mr. Ray Tibbits, a member of a local gun club, who respects and teaches our young kids in the proper use of firearms; and Mr. Dale Clark, former president of the New Brunswick Trappers and Fur Harvesters Federation,” he said. “Those people had great input to where we could go with the bill.”
Mr. Allen said that the previous bill, Bill C-68, and the long gun registry did not respect our traditional pursuits and did not respect seniors, who were being harassed by the long-gun registry, and other seniors who might have had their long-guns handed down to them through the generations. “They were being harassed by police forces and the long-gun registry, which is just despicable,” he said.
The Springfield and Woodstock shooting ranges were pointed out by Mr. Allen as doing a tremendous amount of work and having great volunteer effort to educate the community on proper firearm control, safe handling, etc. “I want to give them a shout out for all the great work they do and their work in building respect for firearms in our communities,” he said.
Mr. Allen also addressed the cost of the long-gun registry. “We have had a lot of debate in the House and comments made about the $2 billion that was spent on a wasteful and ineffective long-gun registry,” he said. “The Auditor General's report talks about that and is very specific on that issue and the amount of faulty information that is actually within the registry, which means that it cannot be relied on by the police.
“As a rural member of Parliament, I campaigned on this four times. I know my members support it and the people in my riding support this. I ask all the members in this House to support this bill today.”
After several amendments put forth by opposition members were defeated, the third and final vote to end the long-gun registry was held in the House, moving Bill C-19 to the Senate, where the same process will occur.
Mr. Allen is confident that the Bill will be law this spring.
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