The national long-gun registry was dealt a serious blow in the House of Commons on November 4 when a majority of Members of Parliament voted to support 2nd reading of Private Members Bill C-391.

After my 15 years of relentless debate that the registry is a waste of time and money, I consider this landmark vote a personal victory. I have spent a lot of time as an M.P. lobbying against the registry and I am pleased to see that so many M.P.s in the Opposition are in agreement. By a vote of 164 to 137, the registry has been hobbled and it could soon be reduced to a bad memory in Canadian history books.

The road to scrapping the registry has been long and hard. Many anti-gun groups worked to convince the unsuspecting media that the registry was a useful form of gun control and saved lives. A closer examination revealed that the registry merely laid a piece of paper beside a long-gun and does nothing to protect public safety. After more than 500 Access to Information requests from my office, we concluded that the registry was merely politics at its worst and not genuinely helpful in reducing crime.

I am very grateful to the hunters, farmers, sport shooters and their organizations for helping to convince M.P.s that the long-gun registry was an overpriced farce. Although this legislation was introduced as a Private Members’ Bill, it is obvious that the Conservative Party of Canada was wholly supportive.

Special interest groups joined the government’s national public relations blitz to ensure constituents in opposition ridings asked their federal representatives to support the bill. Fortunately, enough opposition M.P.s heeded their resident hunters, farmers and sport shooters that they voted to scrap the registry.

It is important to note that while we’ve just won a battle, the war isn’t over yet. Bill C-391 has just passed 2nd reading and is heading for committee for debate. It will then be returned to the House for 3rd reading and a final vote. If it passes that stage, the bill will go to the Senate for a vote and finally, for Royal Assent when it would become law. These are hurdles we believe we can overcome as long as our message continues to resonate clearly with Canadians.

We are now one giant closer to scrapping the biggest financial boondoggle of our lifetime, and Canada will be better for it when the registry is a faint memory.

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The audio version of Garry's November 9, 2009 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here