Benoit’s long fight against wasteful long-gun registry is working

November 05, 2009

OTTAWA  –  “I was thrilled to see the wasteful, ineffective long-gun registry come one step closer to being repealed last night,” said Leon Benoit, MP for Vegreville-Wainwright. “The Liberals put this expensive program in place nearly 14 years ago, and gun crime has actually been on the rise since then, proving that the long-gun registry is useless when it comes to preventing crime,” explained Benoit.

“C-391, Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner’s Private Members Bill aimed at repealing the wasteful long-gun registry, passed an important vote at second reading in the House of Commons last night,” explained Benoit. “It was supported by all Conservative members, as well as 21 opposition MPs.”

“This is the third time our Conservative Government has introduced legislation aimed at scrapping the wasteful and ineffective long-gun registry, and every time the opposition parties have held it up despite campaigning on promises to eliminate it!” said Benoit. “We have worked hard to ensure that constituents of those MPs were made aware of their broken promises.”  Benoit was very pleased to see that this time, a majority of MPs supported C-391, which he says “is clear and straightforward and reflects our government’s long-standing position to repeal the registry.”

“I have personally been fighting for the repeal of the long-gun registry for many years, as have many of my fellow Conservative MPs. I would especially like to thank my colleague Gary Breitkreuz for successfully leading the campaign to eliminate this wasteful registry,” added Benoit.

“The long-gun registry is not cracking down on crime like the Liberals promised it would. Instead, it unfairly targets hunters and farmers,” concluded Benoit. “It is an ineffective program that has done nothing but waste millions of taxpayer dollars. I am hopeful that those opposition MPs who voted with us last night will continue to support this bill through Committee stage and third reading, and help get rid of this long-gun registry once and for all.”