Tories extend gun ownership amnesty

[Don Meredith]

From the May 14 National Post article:

OTTAWA -- The Harper government has extended the two-year-old amnesty that protects firearms owners from prosecution if they fail to register their rifles and shotguns.

Cabinet approved a directive last Thursday that extends the amnesty to May, 2009, virtually guaranteeing the Conservatives will not have to risk defeat of a bill scrapping the controversial registry before the next federal election.

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[Cdamen]

why dont they just get rid of it, since its such a waste?

common sense dont mix with politics i guess.....

[Dick284]

To get rid of it they have to pose a motion in the House of Commons. With the CPC holding a minority in the House a vote to abolish it would not go well, and add fuel to the lefty dominated opposition, and voila an election would be called. Then with the lefty parties having all their twisted and convoluted statisitcs at hand they would use the CPC's attempt to abolish or re work the firearms Act as traction to raise more votes, and guess what if the Lefties get in?
Yup you guessed it. bye bye handguns, followed by all semi auto anything, like your 10/22, or your Remington 7400 deer rifle, oh ya then "sniper rifles" would come next..... guess what a "sniper rifle" would include...... any scoped rifle most likely..........................

Till Harper and Co. get a majority, amnesties are about as good as it gets.

[Redfrog]

Well I think Harper should call for the death of the registry now.
Dion's frinds are ready to throw poor Stephan under the bus right now and surely do not want an election. I don't think they would even consider bringing down the gov't.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

Well I think Harper should call for the death of the registry now.
Dion's frinds are ready to throw poor Stephan under the bus right now and surely do not want an election. I don't think they would even consider bringing down the gov't.

And if we had an election right now what would the results be?

My guess would be a Conservative minority goverment..heh that's what we have now.

Like Dick284 said..

Till Harper and Co. get a majority, amnesties are about as good as it gets.

[.264 Win Mag]

Till we get a majority Conservative Government I think an amnesty is as good as it can get. The minute there is a majority though it better be scraped cause if its not

[mark bro]

There is no end to this gun registry we are stuck with it. Even if the conservatives had a majority government there will be to many voters (weak minded people) squeaking to get rid of our guns. Sorry to rain on your parade. Just my two cents.

[270WIN]

Originally Posted by mark bro

There is no end to this gun registry we are stuck with it. Even if the conservatives had a majority government there will be to many voters (weak minded people) squeaking to get rid of our guns. Sorry to rain on your parade. Just my two cents.

I can't imagine the Tories doing anything but abolishing the long gun registry, if they ever get a majority, after repeatedly promising to do so and then having backed the promises up with the amnesty which, as 264 win mag points out, is as good as it can get given the minority situation we've had for the last 2 years.
Another thought that occurs to me is that the longer the amnesty goes on, the more inaccurate and meaningless the registry's records will become thereby making it increasingly difficult for a future government to reinstate the long gun registry. Surely that has to be a good thing.
I say stick with the Tories. They're the only hope we've got.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by mark bro

There is no end to this gun registry we are stuck with it. Even if the conservatives had a majority government there will be to many voters (weak minded people) squeaking to get rid of our guns. Sorry to rain on your parade. Just my two cents.

I actually agree. Not sure they would abolish it even WITH a majority. It's the same with the Republicans and abortion in the US. They court the religious right with all the right words about supporting right to life, but even when they control both houses they do nothing to rock the boat. I don't see Harper upsetting the majority of people who don't own guns in this country to appease a minority. Besides, even if he doesn't get rid of the registry, what are you going to do, vote liberal or NDP? There is no payoff for them to scrap it, and lots of risk.

[270WIN]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

I actually agree. Not sure they would abolish it even WITH a majority. It's the same with the Republicans and abortion in the US. They court the religious right with all the right words about supporting right to life, but even when they control both houses they do nothing to rock the boat. I don't see Harper upsetting the majority of people who don't own guns in this country to appease a minority. Besides, even if he doesn't get rid of the registry, what are you going to do, vote liberal or NDP? There is no payoff for them to scrap it, and lots of risk.

So, Oky, are you suggesting that a Conservative majority government would keep on extending the amnesty year after year indefinitely? Or are you saying they would cease doing that and get the registry back up and running full strength as a Liberal government would most certainly do? If the answer to the second question is "yes", why do you think they bothered with the amnesty in the first place?

[TheClash]

just because people do not own guns does not mean they are for a registry.

[Northern_Hunting_Mom]

So why do you hear about people being charged with long guns being unregistered?

[Don Meredith]

N.H. Mom

I'm not sure which stories you are talking about, but I would imagine people are still being charged for possessing firearms without a licence, in which case the guns can be confiscated. If you are licensed to possess a firearm, you cannot be charged for possessing non-registered firearms. The amnesty is designed to allow these people time to register the firearms properly.