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

For Immediate Delivery

December 17, 1998

DEPT. OF JUSTICE BUNGLING KILLING 7,000 FEDERALLY LICENCED FIREARM DEALERS

"Firearms Law Sunset Act would put public safety first and kill ineffective legislation - not businesses."

Ottawa – Last week, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, won the Private Members Business lottery and, in a way, so did responsible firearm owners. Breitkreuz’ Firearms Law Sunset Act (Bill C-278) was drawn to be debated in the House of Commons on March 9, 1999. "My sunset law would automatically repeal any gun control measure after five years unless it has proven to be cost-effective at improving public safety, reducing violent crime and saving lives," said Breitkreuz. "The government broke a new record by proving their new firearm registry was ineffective after only five days!"

"Since December 1st, when Bill C-68 came into force, firearm dealers have been calling, faxing and e-mailing my office with complaints about the bureaucratic bungling at the Department of Justice’s Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC)," reported Breitkreuz. "The Minister promised that firearms sales would take only 10 or 15 minutes to register, but dealers tell me it’s taking days. Customers are walking out of their stores in frustration. Operators answering the 800 number phone lines can’t provide answers to the simplest questions regarding the legislation. Supervisors fail to return phone calls, computer systems crash and poorly trained bureaucrats don’t know how to run the computer programs. In the meantime, 7,000 federally licenced firearm dealers are not able to sell firearms to their customers, all of whom have been investigated and authorized by the government to buy firearms," explained Breitkreuz. "Chaos reigns in the Department of Justice and legitimate businesses and their families are suffering. Some Christmas present this is. I knew it would be bad but this is absolutely ridiculous."

"Sunset laws like this are the only way of guaranteeing that legislation is revisited by the House of Commons. If it’s working – extend it. If it’s not working well – amend it. If it’s not working at all – repeal it," said Breitkreuz. "The government never predicted the failure of even one business in their Regulatory Impact Assessment Statements filed in the Canada Gazette with their firearms regulations. Now it’s clear hundreds of businesses will fail due entirely to government incompetence. Some cost-benefit analysis! If Canadians had known the truth, if they had known that there were more cost-effective crime fighting alternatives, would they still support registering every duck hunter’s shotgun? No," exclaimed Breitkreuz.

"The government has always said that the objective of their gun control laws is to save lives, improve public safety and reduce violent crime. It’s time for the government to put your money where their mouth is. Let’s have the Auditor General put their gun control laws to a public safety test. If they pass, the law stays. If the law fails, then it is automatically repealed. By their own estimates, in five years the government will have wasted almost half a billion dollars on their gun registration scheme. That should be long enough for the Auditor General to show what a colossal waste this registration system has been. Wouldn’t it be reassuring if all legislation had to pass a cost-effectiveness test?" asked Breitkreuz.

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The Office of Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.

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