Long-gun Amnesty extension helps Canadians 'stay on the abiding side of the law'

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OTTAWA - The federal Conservatives have served notice that they intend to continue providing amnesty to long-gun owners whose rifles and shotguns are not registered.

Enlarge Photo

Fred Chartrand/tHE CANADIAN PRESS

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day looks over some 28,000 petitions from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation in Ottawa, in this Monday, June 19, 2006, file photo, calling on the government to shut down the long-gun registry. According to a recent report by Canada’s firearm commissioner, about 75,000 gun owners failed to reapply for licences that ran out in 2006.

The reprieve hinges on a review of the current amnesty program, which expires May 16.

Canadian firearm officers - the administrators responsible for licences and authorizations in the provinces - and RCMP are currently conducting the review.

They are expected to report their findings to the government prior to the end of the amnesty period.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced in 2006 that government would waive application fees for licences until 2008 and provide amnesty for one year to owners of unregistered long-guns.

The amnesty was quietly renewed by the Tories last April.

All firearms in Canada must be licensed and registered under one of two classifications: A possession only licence for gun owners who already own a weapon with no plans to acquire additional guns; or a possession and acquisition licence, which allows gun owners to purchase additional weapons.

According to a recent report by Canada's firearm commissioner, about 75,000 gun owners failed to reapply for licences that ran out in 2006.

MacAdam-based gun dealer Ross Faulkner said extending the amnesty shouldn't be viewed by gun owners as a free pass not to register their firearms.

He said the extension is to help Canadians, who may not understand Canada's complicated gun legislation, stay on the abiding side of the law.

"There are senior citizens who don't understand the laws who don't have their guns registered," he said.

"It wouldn't be a good thing to be putting senior citizens in jail. They didn't commit a crime," he said, adding some widows also inherit guns from their spouses and may not be aware of the requirement to register and license.

The Conservatives have made no secret of their desire scrap the current firearms legislation brought into force by the Liberals in 1995 at a cost of more than $1 billion. The Tories have introduced new legislation aimed at retooling existing gun laws but have yet to bring it to a vote in the House of Commons.

Blair Hagen of the National Riffle Association said the Tories are using the amnesty to delay tabling new legislation aimed at scrapping the gun registry, adding it has little chance of garnering the votes it needs to pass in a minority parliament.

"These amnesties are benign," he said. "They don't address the problem of the act, which has failed."

Final approval on extending the amnesty is pending and a decision is expected within weeks.

- with files from The Canadian Press