Victoria won't enforce firearms act: A-G

B.C. has joined five other Canadian provinces that will not prosecute firearm owners for failing to register their guns as required under the contentious federal Firearms Act.

Attorney-General Geoff Plant said Thursday the firearms registry is an "unmitigated disaster" and the province has made its views clear to the federal government.

"There are some offences in the Criminal Code that relate to failure to register -- we will examine those on a case-by-case basis -- but if they are related only to the fact of non-registration then our view is that those are a matter for the federal government to pursue under the Firearms Act," Plant said.

B.C. joins Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario in refusing to prosecute Firearms Act registration offences.

"I think it's a disaster, an unmitigated disaster. It's a vast public expenditure for no apparent public return," Plant said of the $1-billion registry that was initially estimated to cost $2 million.

"It is astonishing to me that over a billion dollars could be spent for the primary purpose, apparently, of essentially criminalizing people who are otherwise the lawful owners of rifles, shotguns and those sorts of things."

Nova Scotia and Ontario announced their positions on the registry June 3.

"This is not a useful piece of legislation. Our prosecutors have lots of work to do, and we would sooner see them doing things which we think are more important to public safety," said Nova Scotia Justice Minister Jamie Muir.

"They should take the responsibility for a badly flawed piece of legislation, which really persecutes the wrong people, innocent people, good people who want to use long firearms for hunting and recreational use," said Ontario Attorney-General Norm Sterling.

The gun registration law, Bill C-68, was implemented eight years ago. According to the most recent estimates released by the Canadian Firearms Centre, approximately 500,000 people across the country have not yet registered their long guns.

Bill C-68 requires registration of all firearms including shotguns and rifles. Licences are also required to own and buy firearms and ammunition.