Gun owners’ fears correct Goldring says

September 24, 2009

Edmonton – Personal information from the long-gun registry being made available to a private polling firm shows once again why the registry should be scrapped, says Edmonton East Member of Parliament Peter Goldring.

“When the Liberal government introduced this $2 billion waste of money, the Conservative Party said we were concerned about the security of the information. The last thing responsible gun owners want is information on their guns falling into the wrong hands. That personal information should never have left the RCMP, no matter how well-meaning the intentions.”

The RCMP recently commissioned a private polling company to determine gun owners’ satisfaction with the RCMP’s firearms programme.

“Leaving aside the question of why the RCMP is spending money on polling in tight economic times, what sort of answer did they expect,” Mr. Goldring asks. “Gun owners have been saying for years that the registry is wasteful and unnecessary. What did the RCMP think was going to change?  It’s as if they were to ask ‘Is a fat cow heavy?’ What did they expect the response to be?”

Mr. Goldring says some gun owners have chosen not to register their weapons because they didn’t trust the security of the registry information, fearing that their homes would be targeted by criminals who somehow had gotten access to the information.

“Gun owners are responsible and passionate about the safety of their firearms. Safe storage is a watchword with them. They want to see increased sentences for those who use those firearms criminally. What Canada doesn’t need is unnecessary restrictions that turn a law-abiding duck hunter into a criminal.

 “Conservatives and law-abiding Canadians have consistently warned the Liberals that the long-gun registry would be misused in this manner.  Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals should explain why they persist in defending such a wasteful registry that does nothing to address genuine crime,” Mr. Goldring says. “Contrary to policy, the Minister of Public Safety was not asked to approve the polling.  The Government would not have approved the polling.  The Government expressly disapproves of what occurred.”

Mr. Goldring said the matter is being referred to the Privacy Commissioner to determine whether law-abiding citizens' personal information was misused.

“We remain committed to the repeal of the long-gun registry. It doesn’t deter crime and occurrences like this one are very disturbing.  I hope this incident convinces Liberal and NDP MPs to stop blocking repeal.” Mr. Goldring says.