Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.
Yorkton-Melville		 News Release

For Immediate Delivery

June 4, 1998

20-30,000 LEGALLY-OWNED FIREARMS TO BE CONFISCATED WITHOUT COMPENSATION!

"If Liberals will trample on individual property rights then all our rights are in jeopardy," warns Breitkreuz.

Yorkton – Justice Minister Anne McLellan’s officials have informed her own User Group on Firearms that, despite their protests, the government will proceed with plans to confiscate (without compensation) 20,000 to 30,000 legally-owned handguns banned under the authority granted to the Minister by Bill C-68, the Firearms Act. The banned firearms are part of the lawfully acquired inventory of hundreds of registered firearm dealers in Canada. The details of this massive violation of property rights were made public by Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, who released a copy of a letter sent to Justice Minister Anne McLellan by the Canadian Police Association dated June 3rd, 1998. "The government is making a huge mistake if they think they can get away with this infringement of our fundamental property rights," warned Breitkreuz.

"I expect every dealer will challenge the government in court and I predict the government will lose every case. The ban was ridiculous in the first place because these registered handguns in the hands of licenced dealers and responsible firearm owners are not a threat to public safety. The government acknowledges this fact when it chooses not to confiscate the more than 500,000 firearms of exactly the same type owned by registered owners – at least until the current owner dies," explained Breitkreuz.

Last week, Breitkreuz released another letter sent to a licenced firearms dealer by the Canadian Firearms Centre, a new agency within the Department of Justice which will spend $133.9 million this year launching the new registration system for all rifles and shotguns. The letter stated, "As you are aware, short-barreled handguns (105 mm or less in barrel length) as well as those handguns which chamber .25 or .32 caliber ammunition, will be prohibited October 1, 1998. Firearms that are in a dealer’s inventory are not considered grandfathered and will therefore be subject to confiscation as of October 1. There is no compensation scheme planned at this time for dealers or individuals whose handguns become prohibited on October 1, 1998 and are confiscated or turned in."

Breitkreuz also revealed that the government is: (1) Violating these citizens’ common law protection of property rights which have existed since the Magna Carta first codified this fundamental right; (2) Violating the property rights provisions of the Canadian Bill of Rights and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and (3) Proceeding contrary to a number of Supreme Court decisions and legal precedents regarding property rights. Breitkreuz concluded, "It’s absolutely unbelievable that the government would go to the unnecessary expense of sending police to confiscate these 20,000 to 30,000 handguns owned by legitimate firearms dealers, the unnecessary expense of the ensuing court cases, and the unnecessary expense of compensating these firearm owners after they win their court cases."

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For more information please contact
The Office of GarryBreitkreuz, M.P.

Yorkton: (306) 782-3309
Ottawa: (613) 992-4394