The battle to get rid of the long-gun registry is a done deal with the 159-130 vote in the House of Commons on Feb. 15.
The long-awaited vote stayed true to party lines for the most part with the Conservative MPs standing for the elimination of the registry, while all of the opposition MPs, except two from the New Democratic Party, voting against killing that portion of the Firearms Act.
The highly controversial bill was introduced in 2001 by the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien.
It was controversial prior to its introduction and the lines were drawn between rural and urban Canada. The former argued it would cost farmers, ranchers and hunters extra money to own and carry rifles that were needed for work and pleasure.
Urbanites argued for the bill because they were concerned about the increased random killings in the cities.
Then the scales turned in favour of the registry in the aftermath of the Polytechnique Massacre where Marc Lepine killed 14 women.
Eventually, the Liberals used their majority to push the bill through the House
The federal Liberals stated their goal for the registry was to reduce crime by making every firearm traceable.
Clearly, it was ludicrous to think this would happen because criminals don’t register their guns.
However, police officers across the country had the opportunity to check the registry to see if there were weapons in the house before approaching the door.
Meanwhile, those against the registry also complained about the waste of their tax dollars on the ill-conceived program, as well as the costly bureaucracy it would produce.
It immediately lived up to all of the negative billing the opposition MPs and the public complained about.
Over the years, it has cost millions and millions of dollars (estimated at $65 million in 2010/11) and all for nothing but political posturing.
One can only wonder what positive and much-needed programs could have been put in place with this money.
The one saving grace is the feds can dump the bureaucratic costs in the push to save government spending.