40th Parliament, 3rd Session

Edited Hansard • Number 066
Monday, Sept. 20, 2010

STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Firearms Registry

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, I have spent 15 years and made over 550 access to information requests to uncover the true costs of the wasteful long gun registry. The registry does not improve public safety in a cost effective way.

• First, it only targets law-abiding citizens;
• Second, front line police officers do not rely on the long gun registry data because to do so would put their lives in danger;
• Third, laying a piece of paper beside a gun does not prevent crime.

    Above all this is the overwhelming cost. At a price tag of well over $1 billion, only about one-third to one-half of the rifles and shotguns in Canada have been registered. A police chief in Saskatchewan has warned me that if we do not get rid of the long gun registry, it will cost at least another $1 billion to register the rest of them.

    Are Canadians willing to squander up another $1 billion to register the remaining firearms or would they rather spend the money targeting organized crime and real criminals that are threatening the peace in our communities?

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For the audio version of Garry's statement, click here