PUBLICATION:        The Toronto Sun 

DATE:                         2004.05.27

EDITION:                    Final 

SECTION:                  Sports 

PAGE:                         107 

BYLINE:                     JOHN KERR, OUTDOORS WRITER 

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TIME TO SCRAP GUN REGISTRY

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IT SEEMS that every time I leave Ontario things happen on the political scene that affect anglers or hunters. Last week was no exception.

Just as I settled into Campbell River, B.C., for the annual Outdoor Writers of Canada Conference, the Liberals announced window-dressing changes to the firearms registry. The smell of an election call grew stronger and was reality within days.

Among many scandals, the Liberals have been in damage control over the billion-dollar registry, which has done little to curb serious crimes involving firearms.

It has, however, cost hunters and other legitimate gun owners time and money, and branded them as potential criminals. Twice during the 1990s they marched on Parliament Hill to protest the draconian firearms laws introduced by the reigning Liberals in 1995. It was all for naught.

Since then, however, as costs escalated, support for the long-gun registry part of the legislation has dwindled among Canadians.

A survey by JMCK Polling of Calgary, released last week by MP Gary Breitkreuz, deputy house leader and official justice critic for firearms, revealing that 76.7% of Canadians now agree that the gun registry should be scrapped.

The Liberals under Paul Martin saw the writing on the wall earlier this year, though, and sent Albina Guarineri, associate minister of defence, travelling across the country to talk to firearm-user groups on how to improve our gun laws and ease their anger at the legislation, just in time for an election.

I listened to her promise at this winter's Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters annual conference that there would be major changes, perhaps even decriminalizing the failure to register a firearm. She seemed sincere, and I believe she was.

In the end, though, last-minute pressure by backbench MPs and lobby groups, no doubt including the Coalition for Gun Control, forced the government into making only minor changes.

A bit of money is being thrown at worthwhile initiatives to curb the illegal use of guns, but the long-gun registry remains in the Criminal Code.

The government also says it will cap the annual cost of the registry at $25 million.

Trying to garner a few more rural votes, it threw a few crumbs at hunters, target shooters and gun collectors. Fees for registering or transferring firearms will be eliminated.

Has this appeased legitimate firearm owners? Not anyone I've talked to. I doubt the Liberals will gain even one vote by this exercise, but they stand to lose a lot, as the general drop in support for the registry shows.

"The registry system is broken, does nothing to enhance public safety and no amount of cosmetic surgery by the government will fix it," OFAH executive director Mike Reader said.

The Conservatives are the only party that has vowed to scrap the registry if it forms the next government.

In reality, though, no matter which party wins the election, it still will be saddled with a costly gun-control package and a bureaucracy to run it. The licensing component, generally supported by gun owners but in need of changes, too, will still be there, even if the registry is scrapped.

And firearms owners will likely continue paying for it through licences, even if registration and transfer fees are dropped. Ask all your local candidates for their stances on this issue and then vote wisely, or expect to pay a lot more the next time you renew your firearms licence.

On a closing note, Cast Out, the extreme fishing show I mentioned a few weeks ago, will debut June 5, 9 p.m. only on CTV Travel, not on the Discovery Channel, too.