OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) applauded the Harper government for introducing legislation today in the House of Commons to scrap the wasteful and ineffective long-gun registry.

“The bill introduced today (Ending the Long-gun Registry Act) is long overdue,” said CTF Federal and Ontario Director Gregory Thomas. “Our supporters would have preferred that the government go further, and also eliminate licensing for non-restricted long-guns, but today’s legislation addresses the most wasteful and unnecessary parts of the program.”

“Canada’s auditor general has documented, not once, but twice, after extensive investigations, that the long-gun registry has been a billion dollar boondoggle,” said Thomas. “The long-gun registry has been a political prop – nothing more - since the day it was conceived. Every penny wasted on this ineffective registry would have been better used by Canadian law enforcement agencies to go after real criminals.”

Thomas pointed out Canada maintains a strict regime of gun control, including mandatory licensing, mandatory permitting, both for buying and transporting hand guns and automatic weapons, as well as restrictions on the length and calibre of restricted weapons, the size of ammunition clips, the storage of weapons and ammunition, and the locking of weapons.

Thomas warned provincial premiers to carefully consider federal auditor general’s reports before engaging in speculative posturing around the issue.

“Provincial governments will face a resounding, immediate, sustained and ultimately painful backlash from law-abiding farmers and hunters if they decide to play politics with this issue,” said Thomas. “Any long-gun registry proposal would simply play on urban ignorance of Canadian gun-control legislation and urban ignorance of the rural, aboriginal and northern way of life.”

In 2002, the CTF delivered a petition with 14,000 signatures to the auditor general, requesting the original investigation into the program, and in 2006, the CTF delivered a second petition with 28,000 signatures to the minister of Public Safety, demanding an end to the registry.