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George Sweeney, Opposition Critic for Government Services and MHA for the
District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace, is calling upon the three Conservative
Members of Parliament to ensure that their party’s election promise to
abolish the gun registry is upheld now that they are part of government.
Introduced in the 1990s, the Canadian gun registry is a federally-run
registry of all legally-owned guns in Canada. It was an effort to reduce
crime by making every gun traceable, but created much controversy and ran
into heavy cost overruns.
"Stephen Harper and his party promised that they would scrap the
registry. Nearly three months into their governance and this issue is still
not dealt with," says Sweeney. "There appears to be no priority assigned to
this matter and it is still creating a degree of confusion and concern for
many in our province, particularly those in rural areas.
"Norm Doyle, Fabian Manning and Loyola Hearn owe it to the people of this
province to ensure their government follows through in getting rid of this
registration process. People were expecting some sort of action on this
matter right away. They are frustrated and angry that they are still being
forced to re-register, and in some cases, even having threats of their guns
being confiscated by police.
"The present federal government called the gun registry "useless" and saw
it as a key issue during the election. Well, it is time for our Newfoundland
and Labrador Members of Parliament and the rest of their government to do
the job they promised they would to get votes. This would protect the
law-abiding citizens of our province from being deemed criminals if they do
not register their firearms."
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