Sometimes things don’t always go as planned in the wild world of politics, and my effort to scrap the long-gun registry is a case in point.

I tabled my Private Members’ Bill C-301 in early February to bring an end to the wasteful $ 2 billion registry once and for all. My bill also contained a few bureaucratic housekeeping items that firearms owners have been seeking for years. Unfortunately, those additional items to help cut red tape were identified as unpalatable to some opposition members, and our minority government needs the support of a dozen opposition members for a vote to pass. Rather than throwing in the towel, we came up with another plan that could well be a successful route to abolish the registry.

With the success of my bill in jeopardy, I was very pleased to see Candice Hoeppner, M.P. for Portage-Lisgar in Manitoba, step forward with a new Private Members Bill that focuses solely on scrapping the registry. Bill C-391 was written to address only the registry issue, and it should find favour with those members of the opposition who are limiting their support to that issue alone.

I am indebted to Ms. Hoeppner for sponsoring this bill and sharing my goal to finally bring an end to the long-gun registry. The Conservative Party’s effort to terminate the registry has been getting national media coverage of late, and I am honoured to continue to lead the charge. I have promised to scrap the registry and I have loudly opposed the unfairness of Bill C-68 since it was introduced in 1995. It has placed onerous and unfair regulations on firearms owners across the country for much too long.

After I introduced Bill C-301, the Minister of Public Safety introduced Bill S-5 into the Senate to scrap the registry, but it too contained some unpalatable details. Canadians can be forgiven for some confusion with so many bills in Parliament to achieve similar goals, yet each bill does differ from the others. The important thing to realize now is that Ms. Hoeppner’s Bill C-391 has the focus that we believe will find wider support in Parliament, and it is the bill I am now actively supporting. For this reason, I seconded the bill in the House when it was tabled on May 15 and I will do everything I can to assist Ms. Hoeppner in bringing it to fruition.

There are still many Canadians who are wrongly informed by the anti-firearms lobby groups. Farmers, sport shooters and hunters will still require licenses to use their firearms.

For its part, the registry does not enhance public safety in any way, and it continues to be a black hole that devours taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars with an insatiable appetite. We need to stop pretending that the registry fights crime. Canadians deserve better than continuing this registry that is not cost-effective. We should instead be investing that money in real public safety measures like more police officers who are equipped with better crime-fighting technology. That’s how to take on the criminals and build a safer society.

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The audio version of Garry's June 1, 2009 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here