[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]CAW rallies to save long-gun registry
KITCHENER — About a dozen members of the Canadian Auto Workers rallied to save the national long-gun registry on Wednesday, arguing that the controversial program saves lives.
Holding flags and banners, the group gathered at Speaker’s Corner at King and Benton streets to denounce the Harper government’s plan to scrap the registry.
“We just don’t want the guns to get into the wrong hands,” said Shannon Tobin, chair of the women’s committee for CAW Local 1106, representing health-care workers.
“If you can register a short gun, a car, a cat, a dog, what’s the difference?” she asked. “Why can’t you register a long gun?”
Supporters of the registry, introduced by the Liberals in 1995, say it represents a valuable tool for police, allowing them to know if firearms could be present at a call and enabling recovered guns to be traced back to their owners.
All guns should be regulated, the CAW argues, as it reduces the risk of misuse and ensures accountability and safe storage. Long guns are the most readily available, the union says, and are the ones most often used in spousal homicides, suicides and against law enforcement.
The federal Conservatives have long pledged to abolish the long-gun registry, calling it costly and ineffective.
Critics dispute its value to police, arguing that criminals aren’t lining up to register their weapons. In the process, responsible owners like hunters and farmers are being unfairly targeted.
“I know of a number of cases where local, law-abiding people have been harassed,” said Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht. “As a farmer myself, I realize the need to have a .22 around for groundhogs … When these are properly stored, there’s no question that they’re safe.”
He said the money spent to maintain the “wasteful” registry would be better used by law enforcement agencies.
With a Conservative majority in Ottawa, there’s little doubt that legislation to scrap the registry will pass once it’s introduced. Still, Tobin said the CAW will continue its fight.
“If we don’t speak out, who’s going to?” she asked. “We have to have our voices heard.”
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