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KLEIN BLASTS AWAY AT GRITS' GUN BAN

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The federal Liberals' much-ballyhooed handgun election promise appears to be firing blanks in a couple of Prairie provinces.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein shot down the proposed handgun ban yesterday and Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale is conceding the plan won't fly in his home province of Saskatchewan.

Klein, speaking in Calgary, said he doesn't see how further tightening Canada's long-standing restrictions on handgun ownership would serve any practical purpose.

"I just don't see at this point what good proposed legislation would do in terms of keeping handguns out of the hands of bad guys," said the premier.

"Edmonton has had 36 murders this year, and many of them involved handguns. I'm sure those handguns weren't registered. I'm sure even with a ban, the bad guys would find a way to get their hands on a handgun."

Goodale's office, in a letter to a constituent dated Thursday -- the day after Prime Minister Paul Martin announced he'd institute a total handgun ban -- said the "option to ban firearms is just one facet" of the Liberal anti-crime platform.

"Regarding the ban in particular," said the letter from Goodale's office, "it would be unlikely that the province of Saskatchewan would feel the need to participate, therefore Saskatchewan gun owners should not be affected ... "

SHARPLY RESTRICTED

The letter was being brandished by the Conservative party yesterday as evidence that not even Liberals believe the handgun ban is a serious proposal.

Handguns have been sharply restricted in Canada since the 1930s, and the new tighter restrictions would primarily affect gun collectors, who experts say tend to keep their weapons under lock and key.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper called the ban a sham.

"You know what Ralph Goodale told one of his own constituents?" Harper told a partisan crowd at a campaign rally in Hamilton, Ont. "'Don't worry about the gun ban. It doesn't affect anything anyway!' This is a typical Liberal policy to deal with crime. A phantom policy."

In an interview yesterday, Goodale said the letter simply states the facts as they are known to him.

He said Saskatchewan's justice minister has indicated the province won't adopt the handgun ban.

Goodale said it shouldn't be interpreted as a sign he and Martin are not on the same page.

"Obviously we would like to see a total national picture, but (the ban) is designed in a way that respects what the provinces want," Goodale said. "The respect for provincial opinion is a very important thing."

Goodale said he still hopes to persuade the western provinces that the Liberal-proposed ban is a good thing.