September 8, 2010
Long-Gun Registry Heats Up
It’s early September. Greg Farrant is driving to the CBC broadcast centre in downtown Toronto. He is about to debate the value of the long gun registry on national television. There is no mistaking the urgency in his voice--the registry must go.
“If we don’t get it done now, we may never get it done”, he says.
Farrant is Government Affairs Director for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, a man possessed with abolishing the 15-year-old legislation. On September 22nd he wants federal Members of Parliament to support a bill that would end a long-gun registry plagued by cost overruns and controversy.
“The registry has focused on the wrong target from day one,” says Farrant. “This system was invoked with the intention of ‘saving lives and enhancing public safety’. There is no demonstrable proof that it’s done either.”
Farrant rolls off his debate points...the registry has cost taxpayers more than $1.5 billion since 1995. In that time, gun crime has not significantly dropped. A recent RCMP report acknowledges that registry information is “inconsistent and inaccurate”. Rank and file police offices are increasingly voicing their lack of confidence in the system. By any measure, he says, it’s a system that just doesn’t work.
“Why are we maintaining this thing if it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do?” he asks. “I mean, surely to God, that is the measure of anything… why are we keeping it?”
That question is on the mind of Dr. Robert Bailey, Delta Waterfowl’s Vice President of Policy for Canada. He says the debate over the registry has polarized two very different parts of Canada; the urban majority, desperately looking for a solution to gun violence, and a rural minority who believe long guns are an important part of their way of life.
“There are tremendous implications for the future of our rural culture,” says Bailey. “The registry paints legitimate gun owners as people who are inherently a threat or a risk to society and that’s simply not the case.”
Bailey says the long-gun registry is an icon for urban values associated with big cities like Toronto, a city that is struggling to cope with an ever-increasing number of shooting incidents. The head of Canada’s largest outdoors organization agrees.
“The bottom line is, legal law abiding firearms owners are not, have not and never will be the problem,” says Farrant. “The problem here is the criminals who don’t register firearms, who are using illegal firearms, largely handguns, to commit crimes.”
An outspoken advocate for continuation of the registry is Wendy Cukier, President of the Coalition for Gun Control. She is Farrant’s debate opponent on the CBC program “Power and Politics” (link to iTunes podcast of Sept. 2 - interview 25 minutes into the program). Equally uncompromising, she says the long-gun registry is an important tool in preventing suicides and spousal violence. She adds, “The majority of Canadians would support a complete ban on guns.”
And that’s what really worries Bob Bailey. He sees the registry as a misguided step towards a society that abandons its hunting heritage in an attempt to control criminal gun violence.
“I’m afraid the long-gun registry will provide the encouragement and impetus to continue the pressure towards the ultimate solution,” says Bailey, “which is taking all of our guns away from us.”
William Blair is Toronto’s Chief of Police and President of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. His high profile media campaign supporting the long-gun registry has put him front and centre in the national debate. He has said repeatedly he is not interested in confiscating long-guns.
Not all Canadians are convinced. A recent CBC poll asked, ‘do you think police chiefs don’t want Canadians to own guns?’. Seventy five per cent of respondents, close to 1,500 people, said yes. It seems public ownership of long-guns it’s very much on people’s minds.
The future of the long-gun registry ultimately lies with the 20 rural-based MP’s. who previously voted to abolish the registry. They are now facing intense pressure to change their minds. The parliamentary vote on September 22nd is expected to be very, very close.
This is a rare moment in Canadian politics. The long-gun debate raises questions about our democratic process. It speaks to the role of police, the criminal use of firearms and our hunting heritage. It raises fundamental issues about the kind of country we want to live in. It’s turning into a pivotal moment in the history of this nation. Make sure your voice is heard.