OTTAWA  –  Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright, says he was disappointed, but not surprised, to see the three opposition parties band together and vote to keep the long-gun registry. “The opposition coalition has once again turned its back on rural Canadians by killing Bill C-391, which would have scrapped the ineffective and wasteful long-gun registry,” said Benoit.

On Wednesday September 22, MPs voted on a Liberal motion recommending that they not proceed any further with Bill C-391, the Private Members Bill sponsored by Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner to repeal the long-gun registry.

“Unfortunately, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff ordered his caucus to ignore their campaign promises to respect the concerns of law-abiding farmers and hunters,” said Benoit. “Twenty opposition MPs originally supported the simple and straightforward bill to scrap the long-gun registry, but under pressure from their Ottawa bosses they turned their backs on their constituents and voted to keep the registry,” explained Benoit.

“Criminals do not register their guns,” emphasized Benoit. “In fact, a recent poll among police officers revealed that 92% do not trust the information the long-gun registry contains. That is what makes it wasteful and ineffective. It has never targeted actual criminals committing gun crime. It targets farmers, hunters, and law-abiding gun owners. Michael Ignatieff’s definition of ‘tough on crime’ is clearly to crack down on hunters and farmers.”

“Our Conservative Government does not believe in treating law-abiding hunters, farmers, and sport shooters as criminals. This is the furthest we have come to dismantling this $2 billion farce,” concluded Benoit.  “I want to assure my constituents that our Conservative Government will continue to work to scrap it, even if it can only be achieved through a future majority government.”