We are not the liberal party in of Canada

We are Not the Liberal Party of Canada in Saskatchewan. This Right Stand on this issue.


Ryan's Blog
13-Apr 09: Time to Scrap the Gun Registry
Category: General Posted by: ryan
The debate over the Federal Firearms Registry has been reignited and there may finally be an opportunity to see the end of the ineffective and expensive program that has victimized and criminalized Saskatchewan firearms owners since the 1990s.

The Registry was imposed upon law-abiding gun owners by the federal government despite strong opposition from Saskatchewan. One of the strongest voices in opposition to the Registry was the Saskatchewan Liberal Party under the leadership of Dr. Lynda Haverstock, and that opposition remains to this day.

Individuals across Canada are being given the false impression that firearms registration means less family violence, less suicide, less accidental death and injury, and less crime committed with firearms. Another excuse used to justify the Registry is that it will protect their lives and their property.

Presenting the firearms registry as an effective mechanism to accomplish these objectives is deceptive and malicious. It creates a false sense of security and results in greater cynicism, anger and resentment among gun owners and taxpayers alike. There is no evidence to suggest that the Registry has been able to reduce crime and make our streets safer. Instead, it has created yet another bureaucracy with excessive public spending that would even make the overspending, big-government Saskatchewan Party or NDP blush.

Law-abiding Canadians should have the right to enjoy the use of guns that they own if those firearms are acquired legally. Guns are property owned by individuals that should be entitled to the same protection under the law as any other legally-obtained property. The Gun Registry has turned law-abiding gun owners across Canada into criminals, and has made them suspect in the eyes of the federal government for owning legally-obtained property.

The real travesty is that we are not addressing the real causes of crime. The Gun Registry is not only a waste of time and resources, but is yet another example of authoritarian approaches to solving problems. Addressing the root causes of crime would be a far more effective use of taxpayer dollars.

This debate has been used to polarize rural and urban voters against each other. Comparisons between handguns in urban centres and the use of long guns on the prairies are outlandish. Firearms have been used as tools in Saskatchewan for decades. Our province has a disproportionate number of firearms that have been used for a wide variety of purposes due to our disproportionate number of farm families and Aboriginal people compared to the rest of Canada.

All parts of Canada are not the same. We have similarities, but we also have individuality and differences. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Registry, there has not been an appreciation of those differences. The massive majority of people who are firearms owners in Saskatchewan are law-abiding citizens who would probably support the program if they actually believed it would improve their personal safety and quality of life. Instead, Saskatchewan firearms owners are victimized and criminalized as ‘gun-toting rednecks’ by a paternalistic government.

It is time for all of our federal parliamentarians to come together to abolish the Gun Registry once and for all.