The Conservative government’s quest to abolish the long gun registry moved a giant step forward March 29 when a Senate committee approved Bill C- 19, preparing it for final approval.
The bill now goes back to the Senate for a final vote and passage into law, perhaps as early as the week of April 2 before Parliament adjourns for two weeks.
On the final day of committee hearings, witnesses once again presented the two sides of the emotional debate as they have during gun registry debates over almost two decades.
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Priscilla de Villiers, a New Brunswick mother whose daughter was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered in 1991 by a farmer with a rifle, insisted the debate is about public safety and not political ideology.
“What is seen today as a political victory will put vulnerable people at risk and jeopardize the safety of all Canadians,” she told senators. “Instead of working towards a safer solution, addressing the problems that are there — and there are some — there is dancing on the graves to the sound of the grief of victims. It appalls me.”
On the other side was Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, who noted it was his ninth time before a parliamentary committee to challenge assertions that the gun registry is a public safety tool.
Instead, he said, it is a dangerous record of legal gun ownership.
“Some people say have fun but why should you care about taking five minutes to register your gun? What is the big deal?” he said. “Here is the big deal: the gun registry is a shopping list for computer hackers. It tells criminals where to find the guns of responsible firearms owners who have registered because they are lawful citizens.”
Bernardo said the RCMP has confirmed the registry has been compromised more than 300 times.
In the end, after four days of hearings, senators on the committee voted their party line — seven Conservatives for the bill and five Liberals against.
Third reading and final debate on the bill on the Senate floor is expected to be short-lived. The government has not yet signaled when it will call C-19 for discussion one last time.
