CA: Long-gun registry survives tight Commons vote - Polidicks

[quote=The Sun]OTTAWA – Canada’s controversial long-gun registry has survived a narrow vote in the House of Commons. By a margin of 153-151, MPs voted to keep the registry, a controversial program decried by opponents as a costly, ineffective intrusion on law-abiding gun owners while applauded by advocates as an essential tool for police officers that saves lives. The vote caps weeks of backroom drama — and high-level arm-twisting — as opposition MPs who opposed the registry were brought onside by party leaders to ensure its survival. Just weeks ago, it appeared the registry was dead as Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner had the backing of Liberal and NDP MPs for her private member’s bill that would end it. But six NDP MPs who backed Hoeppner’s bill changed their minds, along with several Liberal MPs. Another six NDP MPs backed the Conservative push to scrap the registry Wednesday, producing a nail-biter of a vote. Still, opposition MPs — including the entire Liberal caucus — backed a motion not to proceed with Hoeppner’s private member’s bill, enough to defeat Conservative votes to keep it alive. But the Conservatives — sensing they were going to lose — were threatening to make it an issue in the upcoming election even before the vote took place. Hoeppner took aim at what she called the “absolutely bizarre behaviour” of the NDP MPs who renounced their previous support of her private member’s bill. She warned that their flip-flops will be an issue in the next election. “Obviously anytime you run for office credibility is an issue,” Hoeppner said. “They think it’s okay to target farmers and hunters. Frankly, I’m hoping maybe their constituents will reach out to them,” she said. But a Liberal MP says he’s willing to lose his seat as the price for supporting the registry. Keith Martin (Esquimalt–Juan de Fuca) said he’s had protesters picketing his Victoria constituency office, been flooded with emails and phone calls and even threatened with political defeat if he doesn’t vote to defeat the registry. Speaking just hours before the Wednesday afternoon vote, Martin gave a taste of the onslaught that has faced opposition MPs in the run-up to the vote on the fate of the controversial registry. Martin said his position on the registry was motivated by the fact that police officers back the program and say it helps protect them out on the streets. “The police across our country have spoken very clearly in favour of the gun registry. I’ll be supporting that position,” he said. “If we can’t stand in this House to make sure that they have what they need to protect themselves, then we shouldn’t be here.” Liberal MP Mark Holland called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to move on from what’s been a divisive debate. “Let’s say this to the prime minister — whatever this vote is tonight, accept it. It’s time to move forward. Stop trying to divide Canadians, stop misleading with false facts,” Holland said in the Commons’ foyer. He said MPs should be focusing on issues “that make a difference,” like the economy, pensions and health care. But NDP Leader Jack Layton said that Harper has outright dismissed his suggestion to “fix” the registry instead of scrapping it but that the Liberals had shown some “expression of interest.” Indeed, federal Conservatives are standing firm on their goal of scrapping the controversial long gun registry, even if their motion to kill it gets blocked Wednesday. “The vast majority of gun owners in this country support responsible gun control. What they do not support is a registry that is costly, ineffective and targeted against them instead of against real criminals. We are going to keep fighting to abolish it,” Harper said during question period. Hoeppner, who has led the party’s charge to kill the registry, flat-out rejected overtures by both Liberals and New Democrats to compromise. Instead, she said her private member’s bill was “the compromise bill. “I worked with opposition members because they asked for a bill that would only take the long gun portion out of the registry,” she said, after a meeting of the Conservative caucus. “We have done everything that we can to present a bill that can be agreed on by all parties,” she said. “We will not compromise. We will not change our position on scrapping the long gun registry,” Hoeppner said. The 15-year-old registry, brought in by the former Liberal government in 1995 in response to the killing of 14 women at Montreal’s L’Ecole Polytechnique in 1989, has long been opposed by the Harper government. A handgun registry centralized under the RCMP for the first time in the 1950s and was expanded to include the requirement to register shotguns and rifles by the former Liberal government. The long-gun registry has been a lightening rod for controversy since its inception. In rural Canada, it has been particularly unpopular among hunters and farmers, but it has support in cities, particularly from police and victims groups. Critics of the registry brand it a wasteful attack on law-abiding firearms owners, like hunters and farmers. Supporters of the registry say it has contributed to public safety by cutting down the number of spousal killings and suicides and it is an important tool for police when they respond to calls. The RCMP reported recently that compiling a registry of the 6.5 million rifles and shotguns has been a cost-effective and useful crime-fighting tool. Watching the vote from the public gallery were a number of pro-registry supporters, including Heidi Rathjen, a survivor of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique shooting and Hayder Kadhim, who was shot three times at Dawson College in 2006 and still has a bullet still lodged in his neck. [i]With files from Joanna Smith and Brett Popplewell[/i][/quote] [url=http://www.thestar.com/article/864804--long-gun-registry-survives-tight-commons-vote]Source[/url] Basically this means if you own hunting rifles you'll need to register them.

That sucks.

cocks

[QUOTE=STREWTH_99;24988363] Basically this means if you own hunting rifles you'll need to register them.[/QUOTE] Oh dear god no this is the end of Canada as we know it Seriously, you register your car so why not your guns?

[QUOTE=ZekeTwo;24988443]Oh dear god no this is the end of Canada as we know it Seriously, you register your car so why not your guns?[/QUOTE] Because it is costly and pointless.

[img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8H0ken3wwtE/Sen3U_fyCAI/AAAAAAAAQM0/4ZFgP1id_dY/s400/4.World’s+Largest+Revolver.jpg[/img] Does this count?

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;24988468]Because it is costly and pointless.[/QUOTE] Not really, I believe we Amerifags already have to do it.

I was so confused until I read the comments. I was thinking "why are we rejoicing, California already has shitty enough gun laws." Then I laughed when I figured out it wasn't [U]Ca[/U]lifornia but [U]Ca[/U]nada.

[QUOTE=Olinaj;24988814]Not really, I believe we Amerifags already have to do it.[/QUOTE] Our MP for the longest time believed it was a waste of money, and the only reason the cops said it was useful is because they get extra money from it to do whatever with. He recently flip flopped on that position though after 62% of his constituency didn't want to see the registry disappear, but wanted to see it improved, or so he says.

[QUOTE=Olinaj;24988814]Not really, I believe we Amerifags already have to do it.[/QUOTE] No we don't, at the most in some states we register handguns. Tell me why it isn't pointless?

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;24988468]Because it is costly and pointless.[/QUOTE] So is vehicle registration, but it still does some good.

[QUOTE=ZekeTwo;24989312]So is vehicle registration, but it still does some good.[/QUOTE] 93 percent of guns used in crimes aren't obtained lawfully anyway, so they don't help much.

Cool, also, CDN, not CA. CA is California.

[QUOTE=dogmachines;24989449]93 percent of guns used in crimes aren't obtained lawfully anyway, so they don't help much.[/QUOTE] So are the people who used those other 7% in crimes more easily caught because the guns are registered? If so, it helps.

[QUOTE=Olinaj;24988814]Not really, I believe we Amerifags already have to do it.[/QUOTE] Every state has different gun laws... In NY you have too register your guns if I remember correctly, but in AZ you can freely buy guns if your at the age, and you can also put hand guns in a side holster, and carry it out in public.

I think this law is pointless as well. All it really does is make gun owning more of a hassle. In Ohio, you only need to write down your serial number in case the weapon is stolen, so you can contact the police and warn them that your gun is missing in the event that your gun is stolen. Of course you must undergo background checks, ect. I don't know about Canada, but here in most people with guns obtained legally, use them with responsibility, its not fair that a few irresponsible individuals make gun owning a bigger hassle then it needs to be for the rest of us. D'oh, just realized CA is California, not Canada.

Because of gun laws in California there was an AK with a ten round clip and no handle at the gun shop...

are you sure that wasn't an sks

[QUOTE=Olinaj;24988814]Not really, I believe we Amerifags already have to do it.[/QUOTE] You can avoid registration a few different ways.

It's funny because the only people I know with guns that are actually legal and registered use them responsibly, whereas people I know have been arrested for carrying sawed off shotguns hidden in their coats after picking them up from some guy in the ghetto

[QUOTE=EagleEye;24991551] D'oh, just realized CA is California, not Canada.[/QUOTE] D'oh x 2 then

This is pointless in rural areas, everyone around here is a farmer and everyone owns a few shotguns, all unlicensed.

[QUOTE=EagleEye;24991551] D'oh, just realized CA is California, not Canada.[/QUOTE] You're welcome.

Yet again, we got fucked by the NDP.

They should all be burned alive.

[QUOTE=joeboe242;24991579]Because of gun laws in California there was an AK with a ten round clip and no handle at the gun shop...[/QUOTE] My god... [img]http://sae.tweek.us/static/images/emoticons/emot-Dawkins102.gif[/img]

Oh no, people have ten minutes more work in their lives by filling out a form

[QUOTE=ZekeTwo;24989687]So are the people who used those other 7% in crimes more easily caught because the guns are registered? If so, it helps.[/QUOTE] there are over 200 million guns in the US, it would be a logistical nightmare. If the net cost to canada was 66 million dollars, imagine what 200 million guns would do. [editline]08:11PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Mbbird;24992781]My god... [IMG]http://sae.tweek.us/static/images/emoticons/emot-Dawkins102.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE] You have no idea how bad we have it here.

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;24992831]there are over 200 million guns in the US, it would be a logistical nightmare. [editline]08:11PM[/editline] You have no idea how bad we have it here.[/QUOTE] Aha, I [I]am[/I] "here." The laws suck, but I'm more facepalming over the fact I think he's describing an SKS like that.

Down here in the People's Republic of Australia, Johnny Law sees no difference between actual firearms and airsoft/paintball guns.