THE message to long gun owners was clear and stark: register and license long guns within a year or face confiscation of the gun plus Criminal Code prosecution.
“Individuals who are not in compliance and who did nothing during the amnesty period to become compliant will be subject to Criminal Code illegal possession offences as well as offences and enforcement measures available under the Firearms Act,” said the no-nonsense announcement.
Those who own long guns without a registration certificate effective May 2008 should realize that “police can seize any long guns for which the owner does not have a valid license or registration under the Firearms Act.”
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Had it come from a Liberal government, this would have produced howls of protest from the gun lobby, claims of Big Brother tactics and predictions of gun confiscation.
In opposition, the Conservatives no doubt would have piled on. For the Conservative spinners, this would be a slam-dunk.
The Liberals want to confiscate the guns of law-abiding farmers and hunters. If you don’t sign onto Big Brother’s list, the police will come and seize your gun.
Don’t believe me. Listen to them. Without registration “police can seize any long guns for which the owner does not have a valid license or registration under the Firearms Act.”
This is an outrage. The Liberals want to disarm you so the state can impose its will. Conservatives would never make you submit to Big Brother’s list or register …
But this time, expect to hear little criticism from gun owner groups and surely no outrage from the Conservatives.
The reason? This was a Conservative government edict issued in April.
My, how times have changed.
No doubt the party’s opposition to the long gun registry has not diminished during 15 months in office. However, the realities of the limits of a minority government have sunk in.
A year ago, Conservative public safety minister Stockwell Day and then-justice minister Vic Toews announced a one-year registration amnesty and a promise to introduce legislation to end the need for long gun registration.
It was a key issue in scores of rural ridings that they won or in which they improved their standing.
It was played as the fulfilment of a key election campaign promise, the beginning of the end of the hated registry.
Unfortunately for the Conservatives, the parliamentary majority of opposition MPs do not agree with their pro-gun stance. They have not even bothered to bring their legislation forward, knowing it would fail.
However, many rural and gun-owning supporters took them at their word, figured last year’s announcements marked the effective end of the registry and did not bother registering.
Suddenly, instead of “promise made, promise kept,” the law-and-order government had inadvertently encouraged people to ignore the law.
Last week, the Conservatives had to warn their supporters that the law has not changed and they still must license and register or face penalties and gun confiscation.
It was a humiliating climb down to threaten to seize guns from supporters who did not obey a Liberal law much maligned by the Conservatives.
The political realities of minority Parliaments make for fascinating policy twists and turns.
