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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Tories re-extend long-gun deadline, move to dismantle registry
The Harper government took aim again at the controversial federal long-gun registry Friday with two Manitoba MPs firing the latest salvos.The immediate impact from the Tory volleys is Ottawa will again offer a one-year amnesty to long gun owners who have yet to register their firearms.
Treasury Board President Vic Toews said the Conservatives still intend to do away with the registry the Liberals created, which he argues does nothing to reduce gun crime.
"The government believes that gun control should target criminals, not law-abiding citizens," Toews said in Winnipeg. "It should save lives, not waste money. And it should promote safety on our streets, not frustrate hunters in the bush or farmers on their land."
Toews said the latest extension will give owners more time to license firearms without fear of penalty. The intent is to encourage compliance so that as many firearms owners as possible license their guns.
Toews said the re-extension is in effect to May 16, 2010. The first extension -- introduced by the minority Conservative government in 2006 -- was to expire today. The government is also waiving fees for licence renewals for another year, as well as allowing eligible holders of expired licences to apply for a new one within a year.
"The extension of the amnesty and the other measures do not in any way diminish our government's resolve to repeal the long-gun registry, which is clearly a wasteful use of taxpayers' money," Toews said.
The Tories moved toward dismantling the registry Friday in Ottawa when Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Hoeppner introduced a private member's bill that would abolish the requirement for Canadians to register their non-restricted firearms.
"It's a clear bill that would eliminate the long-gun registry," Hoeppner said. "I'm really hoping to build consensus and bring the opposition on board. We're a minority Parliament. We can't do it on our own."
Hoeppner estimates a vote on her bill will happen in the fall. Any move to kill the registry requires the support of opposition parties in the current minority government. All three opposition parties have said they support the registry remaining in place although many opposition MPs are under pressure from constituents to get rid of it.
The new extension and Hoeppner's bill comes about two weeks after a Bloc Québécois motion to maintain the controversial registry was supported by Liberal and NDP MPs. The non-binding motion passed 143-136.
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 16, 2009 A8
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