October 31st, 2012 – Halloween to most, yet millions celebrate for a different reason!
The resounding answer by firearms owners across Canada? Hell Yes! As of October 31st, 2012 it is official. Canada has finally rolled back a small piece of the great white elephant called C-68. The long gun registry, that is the registration of non-restricted firearms, has finally been completed. At least everywhere but the province of Quebec.
On May 2nd, 2011, Canadian elected a majority Conservative government which had as one of it’s campaign promises, to scrap the ineffectual long gun registry. Eleven months later on April 5, 2012, Bill C-19 received royal assent and the official end to the registration of NR firearms began. It is only now, another 7 months later that the actual records themselves are being destroyed, but not until after many many attempts by bureaucracy to subvert the intent of the new legislation.
Lets see a time line of the trials and tribulations which trying to stymie the process.
- February 2012 – House of commons votes on third reading and Bill C-19 passes to the senate with the vote 159-130.
- April 2012 – Senate votes on Bill C-19, it passes with the vote 50-27
- April 2012 – Quebec files an injunction to preserve registry data for Quebec non-restricted firearms
- April 2012 – Bill C-19 receives royal assent
- May 2012 – Chief Firearms Offices try and argue that C-19 only means omission of recording registration ID numbers of firearms and attempts to keep enforcing filling of all other data into the CFO registration ledgers by businesses via business licence requirements.
- June 2012 – Government enacts legislation to prevent recording of ANY personal information as part of conditions of a firearms business licence.
- August 2012 – Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic applies for injunction of data deletion and to have C-19 ruled unconstitutional and stricken from law
- Sept 2012 – Quebec courts uphold injunction for Quebec “data”
- Sept 2012 – Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic case thrown out of Ontario court
- Oct 2012 – The files are officially deleted on Halloween
Now those that actually read the list will note that there currently is not a resolution in Quebec yet. The registration data is still being recorded in Quebec. This is obviously the sore point in the whole resolution of Bill C-19 and total destruction of all things regarding non-restricted firearm registration. The current federal government has vowed to take the Quebec challenge to the highest levels of court to have the data deleted on par with the rest of Canada, however it will take time because the wheels of Canada’s legal system are unfortunately slower than pouring frozen molasses.
CSSA/CILA’s Tony Bernardo
So what does this mean? For 9 Provinces and 3 Territories, the “Long Gun Registry” has finally been laid to rest. Kudos to the hard work put forwards by dedicated individuals such as Tony Bernardo, MP Garry Breitkreuz, all the staff and volunteers of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and of course thanks to all of you! The firearms owners of Canada who have helped with volunteer efforts, donations, writing letters, talking and interacting with political figures, spending their valuable time and energies focused on one goal, to improve the laws regarding firearms for responsible shooters.
We at TPF congratulate ALL those who have helped, from donations of pennies to shouldering the running of trade shows. Without your efforts all of what we do would be impossible. HOWEVER! We cannot stop here, there are far more things that need to be done and changes to be made.
One small step for repealing bad gun laws, one giant leap for crushing ridiculous gun control agendas!
Tactical, Practical & Fantastical 