A few quick facts:The national gun registry is now under threat. A private members bill was introduced intoParliament on April 1, 2009 that would effectively kill the registry, by eliminating the long-gun registry, which covers rifles and shotguns. On November 4, the Bill passed through thesecond reading in the House of Commons with the help of 12 NDP MPs and 8 Liberal MPs,along with the entire Conservative Party. It is now under review by the House of CommonsCommittee on Public Safety and National Security before it will pass for the third reading.

The Bill was put forward by Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner of Portage-Lisgar,Manitobaand co-sponsored by NDP MP Bruce Hyer of Thunder Bay-Superior North.

The Bill and efforts to eliminate the registry have been opposed right across the country bynumerous women’s, family and professional organizations, like the Canadian Associationof Emergency Physicians, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, who have spokenpublicly against abolishing the registry, the YWCA of Canada, the Alberta Council ofWomen’s Shelters, the Calgary Action Committee Against Violence and the Coalition forGun Control – just to name a few.

It’s not too late to stop Bill C-391 from destroying the gun registry andcompromising public safety.

Where did the registry come from?The national gun registry was created in 1995 and launched in 1998 as part of the FirearmsAct,which required gun owners to be licensed, register their firearms and store them lockedand unloaded. The law mandated a licensing and registration system, but did not imposeany sweeping limitations on access to firearms or usage.

The Firearms Act (Bill C-68) was introduced in response to public pressure, particularlyby women activists, to strengthen gun control legislation in the years following theDecember 6, 1989 Montreal Massacre. Now, the Conservative government has decidedto try to do away with the program as the country is mourning the 20th anniversary ofthe Montreal Massacre. Talk about distasteful.

Why the opposition to the gun registry, anyway?Since the registry was established, detractors have focused on the cost of the program.Yet, the program was not designed to be cost-effective or to sustain itself on user fees.

The annual cost of a license to own any amount of guns is only $12 per year – $60 renewedevery 5 years.

Our National Gun Registry

When the registry was first set up, it was plagued by administrative problems such asmassive backlogs in registration, computer program malfunctions, application errorsand rising costs.

Opponents of the registry call it a billion dollar boondoggle – for how much it has cost thecountry over the 10 year period. This hides the fact that most of the costs were not asso-ciated with registering firearms, but screening and licensing gun owners. Only one third ofthe cost is associated with the actual registry. The yearly cost of the entire program isapproximately $70 million.

Since the Conservative government came into power, it has made great efforts to starve theregistry, while driving up costs – granting an amnesty on registration, eliminating registra-tion fees and providing refunds for those who already paid their fee. This had the effect ofmaking the registry appear evenmore expensive as a way to show its “cost ineffectiveness.”

Why should we keep the registry?Quite simply, the gun registry has saved lives. Since its inception, gun deaths havedropped dramatically.

• In 1991, more than 1400 Canadians were killed with guns, today it’s less than 800.

• The firearm homicide rate is down by 40% while the homicide rate without guns isdown only 28%.

• The rate of homicides with rifles and shotguns and the rate of women murdered withguns have plummeted. Both the 1991 and 1995 legislation focused on strengtheningcontrols on rifles and shotguns.

• Domestic homicides with firearms, suicide with firearms and robberies with firearmshave also declined dramatically over the last decade.

• The rate of homicides with rifles and shotguns has decreased by 70% since 1991.

• Murders of women with guns plummeted from 85 in 1991 to 32 in 2004.

The gun registry has been an important tool in tackling domestic violence. Police usethe registry as a crucial resource, checking it more than 10,000 times a day across thecountry, including when intervening in the case of domestic disputes. This allows bothfamilies and police to stay safe.

Currently, 90% of guns are registered, approximately seven million shotguns and rifles.

There is still an opportunity to dump Bill C-391 and keep our national gun registry.Fourteen or more MPs must change their vote in order to keep the registry. It’snecessary that we all take action. Call or visit your MP!

If yourMP voted against C-391, thank them and urge them to encourage their col-leagues who voted for the bill to put safety first and keep the registry. If your MPvoted for C-391, urge them to consider the safety of families, especially womenand children right across the country. Let’s not put the last 20 years to waste.*1991 was the first year of stricter gun control, prior to the creation of the registry.All information comes from Coalition for Gun Control and the YWCA of Canada www.guncontrol.ca

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