37th
PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
Thursday,
November 8, 2001
[Adjournment
Debate]
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A
motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.
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¼
(1830)
[English]
Mr.
Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton--Melville, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, in the
House on June 4 the Minister of Justice failed to answer my question about the
four amnesties she had declared with respect to the 1995 banning of thousands of
short barrelled .25 calibre and .32 calibre handguns, all legally owned and
registered, I should remind the House.
A
little background information is necessary to understand this issue and that the
passing of these amnesties is actually contrary to the government's stated
objectives of its firearms program. On
April 12, 1994, the then justice minister was quoted in a number of newspapers
across the country. He said: I came to Ottawa in November of last year with a
firm belief that the only people in this country who should have guns are police
officers and soldiers--
Six
months later, he had changed his public tune but not his personal beliefs. In
1995 he used time allocation to ram his draconian bill through parliament
requiring the licensing of all law-abiding firearms owners, the registration of
all legally owned guns and the banning of 555,000 legal owned, properly
registered handguns. The justice minister offered no statistical evidence to
support the ban. In fact the statistical evidence showed that these registered
handguns were no threat to public safety while they were in the hands of their
registered owners.
To
justify his decision to ban and eventually confiscate legally owned private
property without any compensation, the justice minister simply declared these
registered handguns as scary Saturday night specials. Rather than rely on any
statistical evidence, on February 16, 1995, the justice minister made his
emotional argument in this House. Again I will quote: These handguns are by
their design and characteristics suitable for concealment, inexpensive to buy,
easy to trade in the underground and not appropriate for target shooting because
of their lack of accuracy.
The
justice minister's lack of candor was duly noted by tens of thousands of front
line police officers and RCMP who were still carrying the four inch barrelled
.38 calibre specials that were soon to become prohibited with the passage of
Bill C-68. In the legislation the justice minister tried to ban the sale of
these registered handguns from the day he introduced the bill on February 14,
1995. He said that anyone buying a short barrelled .25 calibre or .32 calibre
handgun after that date would have it seized by the police without compensation.
This
move telegraphed the government's true intentions about what registration really
means. People should register their guns and some day the government will
declare them dangerous and then it will confiscate them without compensation,
just like it did with the Saturday night specials people registered. Remember?
Now
every responsible firearms owner remember. The justice minister ordered his
bureaucrats to set the first deadline for confiscating thousands of legally
owned firearms. We must remember that these are properly registered short
barrelled handguns from dealers' inventories and from individuals cleared by the
police to buy these firearms.
As
every deadline approached, the government lost its courage and passed an
amnesty. It has had four amnesties to date. With every amnesty passed by the
government it is admitting that these so-called Saturday night specials are not
dangerous at all when in the hands of a person licensed by the government and
approved by the police to own them.
Even
the 555,000 legally owned registered handguns banned in 1995 were left in the
hands of their law-abiding owners through a grandfathering clause, not to be
confiscated until the current owner dies. Grandfathering proved that once again
the government did not consider these handguns dangerous at all when safely in
the hands of their law-abiding owners.
The
hypocrisy of all this is disgusting and that is why I asked the justice
minister, instead of proclaiming amnesty after amnesty, why she does not admit
that the government was wrong to ban these registered firearms in the first
place.
Mr.
Lynn Myers (Parliamentary Secretary to the Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the fact that our government continues to listen
to the concerns of firearm dealers and owners. They have important points to
make and we are very attuned to what they are saying. That is why an amnesty is
currently in place for prohibited handguns and unregistered restricted firearms
until December 31, 2001.
The
amnesty allows individuals who purchased prohibited, that is short barrelled .25
calibre or .32 calibre, handguns after the intended prohibition was announced in
February 1995, and dealers who were left with inventory, to take appropriate
action as required. The amnesty also protects individuals who may have come into
possession of an unregistered restricted firearm, often through an estate,
allowing them the opportunity to either register or dispose of it without fear
or repercussion.
Responding
to concerns from the public and the policing community, the government announced
the prohibition of these handguns in February 1995. Incidentally, the police
were at the justice committee last night and both the chiefs of police and the
Canadian Association of Police again reaffirmed their strong views that this was
appropriate and good legislation, and I think the record should reflect that.
However,
all individuals who had registered or who had applied to register a prohibited
handgun at that time were grandfathered and can continue to use their firearm
with the appropriate authorization.
While
the prohibition of these easily concealed firearms is in the interest of public
safety and security, the government also recognizes the difficult situation of
businesses that were caught with large inventories of short barrelled .25
calibre or .32 calibre handguns on February 14, 1995. This situation is
addressed in amendments proposed in Bill C-15, which would grandfather these
inventories, and was also addressed last year in Bill C-17.
Grandfathering
these inventories would mean that businesses could dispose of the prohibited
handguns by selling them to individuals who are grandfathered to possess such
handguns and licensed to acquire them. This would help businesses and would not
affect public safety as only licensed individuals could acquire them.
Another
proposed amendment would change the grandfathering date for prohibited handguns
to December 1, 1998, from February 14, 1995, so that correctly licensed
individuals who lawfully acquired and registered a handgun while it was still
restricted, that is between February 14, 1995 and December 1, 1998, can keep it.
Public
safety would be maintained with the proposed changes because only those who were
already in legal possession of these handguns since December 1, 1998, and who
are properly trained and licensed to use prohibited handguns would be able to
keep them. Ownership of prohibited handguns would continue to be limited to a
very small number of individuals with grandfathered privileges.
Given
the government's resolve to address these issues through Bill C-15B, the amnesty
was recently extended until the end of this year to continue to protect both
dealer inventories and individuals in possession of prohibited handguns until
parliament completes its consideration of Bill C-15. I think that represents the
values of Canadians and the values of this parliament.
¼
(1835)
Mr.
Garry Breitkreuz: Mr. Speaker, the government has its spin but let us look at
the facts. The law has required handguns to be registered since 1934 yet the
government has been unable to present a shred of evidence that registration of
these firearms has helped prevent or solve one crime.
Last
week's Statistics Canada report “Homicides in Canada 2000” shows that the
government's 67 year registration of handguns project has been a complete
failure. Of the 183 firearm murderers last year, 58% were committed with
handguns. Since 1990 the use of handguns and firearms in homicides has doubled
from 30% to 60%. Between 1997 and 2000, 69% of the handguns recovered from
firearms homicides were not registered.
Let
us scrap Bill C-68 and instead enlist the support of the provinces, the
territories and responsible firearms owners and draft a workable gun control
program. Nearly $700 million has been wasted on Bill C-68.
Mr.
Lynn Myers: Mr. Speaker, if we look at the security measures that are in place
and the safety for communities, small towns, villages, cities and rural areas
across Canada, it is implicit and inherent that our society is much safer as a
result of gun control. This is not about confiscating guns. I resent the
implication and the mythology that is portrayed by using that statement because
it is incorrect. It is an urban and a rural myth.
What
this is about is carving out values for Canada, values that are dependent on the
safety and security for each and every one of us, and especially for young
people, and about making sure our communities are safe and secure. I am not
alone in saying this. As I said previously, the police association and the
chiefs of police are unanimous in saying that this is a wise move. This is what
Canada is all about.
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