Some Canadian Taxpayers Federation supporters have written Liberal MP Keith Martin on the gun registry and he has responded. Martin voted in favor of Bill C-391 to abolish the gun registry when it was second reading. He is a former Reform and Canadian Alliance MP who turned Liberal in 2004. But despite these roots and his previous vote, his email correspondence suggests he will vote against Bill C-391 at third reading. Here is a copy of one of Martin's standard replies.
Thank you for writing to me on the long-gun registry and Bill
C-391.
I have had a number of discussions about this with the leadership of my
party,
which has agreed to put together a plan to improve the gun registry by
eliminating registration fees, not making it a criminal offence for
people who
forget to register, streamlining registration forms, etc. This will be
released
shortly.
I voted in favour of Bill C-391 during its second reading in
the
House so that it could be assessed in committee. This allowed
representatives of
police associations, public safety experts, victim’s organisations, and
gun
users to voice their views on this important issue. During this process,
the
police have clearly stated that they need the registry for their
protection.
Although we know that law-abiding gun owners are not the problem, and
that the
registry was a well-intentioned but deeply misguided response to the
murders at
l’École Polytechnique in Montreal, I will not block something the police
feel
they need for their safety as they put their lives on the line for us
every day.
I will always support what our police say they need for their
protection. It is
for this reason I will be voting against this bill.
On the matter of whipped votes, please rest assured I have a long
track
record of supporting the wishes of my constituents in the House of
Commons over
the wishes of my party.
Sincerely,
Dr. Keith Martin, P.C., M.P.
Member of Parliament for Esquimalt - Juan de Fuca
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