Toronto Police Chief William Blair arrives to speak at a news conference on the fate of the federal long-gun registry in Ottawa on May 6, 2010.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters
Three top police groups came together Thursday to defend the long-gun registry, even as the Conservative government called on three retired officers to speak against it.
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Police Boards came out against a private-member's bill that aims to scrap the registry.
The heads of all three groups - representing police chiefs, front-line officers and the boards that employ them - said perceptions of the registry are dated and rife with misconceptions. While they acknowledged it got off to a bad start, they lamented the "misinformation" that has driven government policy and shaped public opinion on the registry of rifles and shotguns.
They said it's not the billion-dollar boondoggle it's been made out to be. It's now under RCMP control, it's well run and it costs taxpayers just $4-million a year, they said, adding police used it 3.8 million times last year. They said it saves lives.
"We need to stop pointing fingers at one another," said Charles Momy, representing officers. "This should not be about 'us-versus-them' or rural-versus-urban, or even police-versus-politicians.
"If the registry can prevent one person in this country from either committing suicide, from being injured or killed, or that a crime is solved as a result of information obtained by the registry, isn't that worth it for all Canadians?"
But Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner, who tabled the bill, was pitting cop against cop, claiming they are divided on the issue. She held a news conference with three former Winnipeg SWAT team members who said the registry is all but useless.
Jack Tinsley, a retired inspector, said registry opponents within police ranks have been muzzled.
Dave Shipman, who retired after 25 years with the force - 16 of them in homicide - said he's seen hundreds of killings with a myriad of weapons.
"Never have I attended a killing when a registry of any of the weapons would have prevented that killing from occurring," Mr. Shipman said.
"The long-gun registry is not working to prevent gun crime as it was intended. Criminals ... do not register their stolen or smuggled guns that are being used to wage war in our cities."
On the front lawn of Parliament Hill, registry proponents held a brief ceremony marking the Montreal Massacre and urging the Tory government to maintain the registry. It was established by the Jean Chrétien Liberals in 1996, seven years after a rifle-wielding Marc Lepine gunned down 28 people at Ecole Polytechnique, killing 14 women.
Inside the House of Commons, the government resorted to the same old arguments when Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff asked why it is ignoring "voices of reason" like victims and police on the issue.
"We believe the billions of dollars spent on the long-gun registry have been a waste," declared Transport Minister John Baird. "We're committed to ending it."
In one survey by the RCMP's Canada Firearms Centre, which administers the registry, 92 per cent of general-duty police officers said they use the system and 74 per cent said "query results have proven beneficial during major operations."
Toronto Chief William Blair, the chiefs' association president, said police leaders "coast-to-coast" support the registry.
"I would not suggest to you that that support is unanimous. There have been two dissenting voices. But every other police leader, when given the facts of the gun registry, has recognized its importance to public safety and to the safety of all of our police officers."
Two notables who've spoken out against the registry: Calgary's chief Rick Hanson and Toronto's former chief, Julian Fantino.
The bill to ban the registry has already passed two readings in the Commons with support from eight Liberal MPs and a third of the NDP caucus. A third passage will send it to the Senate where a Conservative plurality makes its adoption much more likely.
Mr. Ignatieff supports a reduction or elimination in penalties for long-gun owners but wants to keep the registry. He's said he will force his MPs to vote against the bill on final reading.
The long-gun registry has been highly divisive since its inception. A poll by The Canadian Press Harris-Decima released in November suggested 46 per cent of Canadians believe abolishing the long-gun registry is a good idea, while 41 per cent think it's a bad idea.