OTTAWA (CP) - Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, declaring the federal long-gun registry a costly and inefficient nuisance to firearms owners, has introduced legislation to abolish it.

But there won't be time to deal with the bill before Parliament breaks for the summer this week, meaning a vote will be delayed until the fall. Day insisted Monday that enough opposition MPs will side with the minority Tory government to make repeal of the registry a reality.


The first signals, however, were at best inconclusive on that point.
NDP justice critic Joe Comartin acknowledged some rural New Democrats oppose the registry but estimated most of the party caucus will vote to keep it.


"It's just about two-thirds in favour of retaining it, one-third in favour of doing away with it," said Comartin.


<>The Bloc Quebecois, which has traditionally been nearly unanimous in its support for the registry, did not appear to have wavered. "I understand hunters, I come from a region that has many hunters," said Bloc House Leader Michel Gauthier. But when they come to him complaining about the paperwork needed to register rifles and shotguns, Gauthier said he tells them: "If that makes life so difficult you don't want to hunt anymore, then stop hunting right now. There are limits."

Montreal MP Marlene Jennings, the Liberal spokeswoman on the issue, said that despite some vocal dissidents the "overwhelming majority" of Grits will support the registry, created in 1995 under Jean Chretien.


"I'm confident that we should be able to fight off this retrograde attack by the Conservatives," said Jennings.

Day was unmoved, arguing that "the effort of trying to track down every single long gun in Canada has been ineffective, costly and wasteful and has not led to a reduction of crime with guns.

"Duck hunters, farmers and law-abiding gun owners do not pose a threat to Canadians. Criminals do."

Day has already taken regulatory steps to free long-gun owners from complying with the law for the next year. But actual abolition of the registry will require Parliament to pass the legislation he tabled Monday.

The bill would eliminate the need to register rifles and shotguns, but would retain the handgun registry that has existed since the 1930s.

It would also maintain current restrictions on ownership of automatic and assault weapons and keep the requirement for gun owners to take safety and training courses.

Anyone wanting to own a gun would still need to be licensed and to submit to police background checks.

The licensing system, however, could be a far cry from the current one that calls for renewals every five years.

The Tories say they want to work with the provinces toward a regime that would see licences remain in force for a lifetime - unless the gun owner commits a crime.

The much-criticized registry for rifles and shotguns was supposed to cost $2 million a year when it was introduced by the Chretien Liberals.
But Auditor General Sheila Fraser found spending had soared to nearly $1 billion during the first decade of operation.

Supporters of the registry say the computer glitches and administrative problems that plagued the registry have since been ironed out, and it makes no sense to kill it now.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Professional Police Association, representing rank-file officers, have also lobbied for retention of the registry.

Day has estimated that administrative changes announced a month ago will knock about $10 million off the $84-million budget allocated this year for gun-control programs of all kinds.

He's been less clear on the savings for future years. And he was unable to say Monday how much the government may have to pay out in cancellation fees to computer contractors who had been working on a new software program for the registry.

Day said that introducing his bill now, before the summer recess, will give MPs and interested groups a chance to "study and consult" before the fall.

He offered few details, however, on the kind of consultation he plans.
Conservative sources say there was a political motive behind the timing - to allow backbench MPs from rural and western ridings to claim, when pressed by registry opponents, that the abolition process is already under way.