2010-04 (April)
Blaine Calkins MP Report
April 27, 2010
The Firearms Registry
Getting tough on crime and criminals has been a priority for our Government. We strongly believe that the justice system must not put the rights of criminals ahead of the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Our Government is helping to make communities safer from violent criminals and predators by introducing important legislation in this new session of Parliament that will: strengthen the way the young offenders system deals with violent and repeat young offenders; strengthen the National Sex Offender Registry and the National DNA Data Bank; repeal the ‘faint-hope clause’ so that murderers will no longer be able to apply for early parole; and end the use of house arrest for serious and violent criminals convicted of property theft.
Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews announced that he is drafting a bill that will give the National Parole Board more leverage in determining pardon eligibility and the length of time the offender must wait before applying for a pardon. In addition, he announced plans to extend the one-year amnesty to give owners of non-restricted firearms an opportunity to register those firearms and renew expired licences without fear of prosecution; a one-year waiver of the fee for firearms license renewals or upgrades; and allowing eligible holders of expired Possession-Only Licenses to apply for a new one within a year.
The extension of these measures will prevent the pointless criminalization of non-restricted gun owners who are working to come into compliance. In the mean time, Conservative Member of Parliament, Candice Hoeppner’s Private Members Bill C-391 that would repeal the long gun registry law has been sent to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
Like all House Committees, the Opposition Parties have the majority of seats and can control the proceedings. Liberals, along with their coalition partners in the Bloc Québécois and NDP, have stacked the committee with pro-long gun registry MPs who will attempt to play procedural and political games to stymie the Bill C-391’s progress. They started by attempting to force virtually an entire list of pro-long gun registry witnesses on the committee.
They will likely try to amend the Bill at this stage so that when it returns to the House, it will be drastically changed. This way, the eight Liberal MPs who voted in favour of it at Second Reading will be able to fall in line with their Leader, Michael Ignatieff, who is forcing them to vote to keep the long-gun registry.
Our Government firmly believes that gun control should target criminals, not law-abiding citizens. It should promote safe streets, not penalize the lawful activities of hunters and rural Canadians. Rest assured that we will continue our efforts to repeal the long gun registry.
Please contact my Constituency office for assistance or for information on federally related matters, postage free at: #6, 4612 - 50th Street, Ponoka, T4J 1S7. Tel: (403) 783-5530; toll free: 1-800-665-0865 or visit my web site: www.blainecalkinsmp.ca
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