| NOTE:
Versions of this article also appeared in the National Post, Ottawa Citizen
and Vancouver Sun
PUBLICATION: Calgary
Herald -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harper sticks to his guns over registry: PM wants 'more effective' laws -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday his government remains committed to scrapping the controversial long gun registry and promised to look at "more effective" laws in the wake of a deadly shooting spree at a Montreal college, but he appeared hesitant about the prospect of imposing federal control over websites such as VampireFreaks.com. "It is a debate that will unfold," Harper told reporters on Parliament Hill, asserting free speech is at stake when society begins to censor. The now infamous online forum, which is a hub of "goth" culture that contains hundreds of thousands of active member profiles, was used by 25-year-old gunman Kimveer Gill to post murderous rantings and a collection of photos of himself posing with a semi-automatic rifle. Harper acknowledged that, as a father of young children, he is worried about the messages these sorts of websites transmit to young people. "We as a society have trouble squaring our outrage at some of the images that we see, some of the messages that are communicated to young people in particular, with our belief in freedom and our desire to avoid censorship." He said he doesn't know if anything can be done to stop people who are obsessed with murder and violence. "The laws we have didn't prevent this tragedy, which is why our government will be in the future -- because of this incident and many others -- looking to make our laws more effective," Harper said. Harper did not elaborate on what laws the government intends to pursue in the wake of the rampage, saying there are still too many unanswered questions to know what, if any, changes are needed. He added it is too early to embark on political debate when asked whether the shootings would put pressure on the government to retain the federal gun registry. "This is not the day for a political discussion," said Harper, who called the shootings of at least 20 innocent people a "shocking and appalling" tragedy. Bloc Quebecois MP Serge Menard, Quebec's former public safety minister, called on the Conservatives to scrap a bill to abolish the registry, which was created in the aftermath of the 1989 mass murder at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique and remains popular in Quebec. "I have a deep conviction that there is one measure that makes a difference and that is the gun registry," said Menard. While the bill winds its way through the parliamentary process, the Conservatives have introduced an amnesty that frees an estimated five- to six-million long-gun owners from registration for one year. The handgun component of the registry will remain in place, along with prohibitions on automatic and assault weapons, and gun owners will still have to be licensed. Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale predicted the Dawson College tragedy would spur an even hotter debate in the Commons over the gun registry than otherwise would have been the case. "It would have been a lively topic no matter what," he said. "But I think in light of this tragic and all too fresh reminder, it's going to be an issue that will be on people's minds." |