Many folks give up thinking once freedom's gone it's gone, but this proves that freedoms can be regained, and without bloodshed.
The pro-gun forces in Canada are already planning their next step; they will not be resting on their laurels.
Posted on 11/04/2009 10:12:16 PM PST by canuck_conservative
MPs voted by a clear margin Wednesday to repeal the federal long-gun registry, signalling for the first time since the program was adopted 14 years ago that it is headed for the scrap heap, despite police assertions that it saves lives.
A private member's bill, sponsored by Conservative backbencher Candice Hoeppner, had the backing of all the Tories, from Prime Minister Stephen Harper down, and enough Liberal and New Democrat MPs to clear its first major hurdle of winning support in principle.
The bill passed by a surprising 164-137, winning more supporters than expected as 18 opposition MPs rose to cast their votes with the government.
The proposed legislation now moves to an all-party committee for public hearings before it returns to the House of Commons for a final vote and then heads to the Senate.
"It's step one but there is still a lot of work to do," Ms. Hoeppner said outside the Commons after her bill passed second reading.
The bill would only end the long-gun portion of the registry, eliminating the need to register rifles and shotguns. The requirement to register handguns would remain in place.
If the bill makes it through Parliament, it would mean the dismantling of eight million firearms records, say police.
The registry has been the source of many court battles, bitter party infighting between rural and urban MPs, political rhetoric -- and a scathing 2002 report from the federal auditor general that found that final tab to implement the program would ring in at more than $1-billion, dramatically more than the $2-million original estimate.
The Harper government, which has strong rural support, has introduced legislation to kill the registry, but the bill has languished due to a lack of opposition support and government will to propel it through Parliament....
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
Goodbye and good riddance to this overpriced fiasco.
For your viewing too.
Good.
What is going on in Canada? Is this going to last?
I would like to see the numbers on the folks in the Yukon Territory even giving a shit about this stupid law.
Great, let hope it actually gets done. Imagine that, dismantling a stupid government program.
They’re beginning to want out of government-run health care, and now this.
Looks like they’re getting a clue.
Meanwhile, here in the US, we’re just entering the dark tunnel at the other end.
Pretty hard to justify a program that:
(a) went about 1000% over its initially-promised cost; and
(b) didn’t do what it was supposed to do.
BTW, this is an excellent preview of how a good-intentioned idea degenerates into a expensive, non-functional political farce (hello, ObamaCare!)
Can you name any government program that does not fit into that category?
Bravo. A small step in the right direction.
Thats exactly what will happen.
They haven’t passed it and its already 30% more expensive than 2 weeks ago.
The idiots will be back from another angle, they never give up!
I’m in shock.
After 40 years of socialism, we're going in the "right" direction......where are you headed?
It was very expensive to run the registry, and had widespread non-compliance in the West (where the Canadians are more like Texans). Largest rodeo in the world - the Calgary stampede.
For ping list consideration.
Congrats to our friends to the north for taking a step in the right direction.
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A good start. Hopefully, your government will eventually do the same thing with handguns.
Incidentally, this is the first time that I heard mention of a Canadian Senate. How are your Senate’s members elected? Are they appointed by provincial parliaments, the way our U.S. Senators were once appointed by state legislatures, or are the members elected by the people? Are there an equal number of Senators for each province?
Who said gun registries and socialized medicine are enacted for benevolent reasons? (Oh, I know government officials say that, but I don’t mean them.)
Our federal Senate, ostensibly a body of “sober second thought”, is in fact made of members appointed by the governing Prime Minister at the time of a vacancy. Senators are appointed for “life”, which means until 75, when they must retire. Easy work, and you don’t even have to show up most of the time to get a hefty paycheck.
Not surprisingly, there have been many calls to reform it, and make it more like the US version - especially when these unelected turkeys start obstructing legislation that WAS passed by the elected House of Commons (e.g., the Torey crime bill, delayed by Liberal senators). Others just want it abolished (since the HOC is doing all the real work).
BTW, each province in Canada also has an appointed Senate.
Well, the problem with our Senate is that it is apparently TOO MUCH like our House of Representatives. Unfortunately, one of the problems with Democracy is that it can result in centralization of power. Our Founders, in their wisdom, had our Senate appointed by state legislatures for limited terms of 6 years, which, besides providing a more deliberative body, helped prevent this centralization.
Perhaps, in your efforts to reform your Senate, you could have an equal number of Senators appointed for limited terms by each provincial parliament. That should hopefully prevent the populous province of Ontario from running roughshod over Alberta and Saskatchewan, for example.
Our U.S. Senators are now elected by the people, of course, thanks to our Seventeenth Amendment.
Actually, Quebec is often the one complaining most loudly, because they don’t like the idea of tiny PEI (pop. 300,000) having the same number of votes as their province (pop. 7 million).
They LIKE having one-quarter of the seats in the HOC, and throwing their electoral weight around! Reform means they lose.
Well, the HOC would remain the same in my idea of reform. Proportional representation of the people in the HOC; equal representation of the provinces in the Senate. Quebec would still have their 1/4 of seats in the HOC.
Again, just the suggestion that a second deliberative body - where Quebec wouldn’t have all that voting power - could exist, makes the idea a non-starter in that province.
And anyone who suggests it is immediately shouted down as “trying to destroy the Quebec people” (or some similarly-overheated rhetoric). Other Canadian FReepers will back me up on this!
Seriously, having Quebec makes it a real pain in the arse to run Canada (just ask Stephen Harper how “Quebec arts cuts” cost him a majority). Get rid of Quebec, and Canada gets rid of about 90% of its problems - sad to say.
“What is going on in Canada?”
The opposite of what the government is trying to do here.
FUBO!
Next step, Western Provinces apply for statehood.
It was 500 times over its original estimate, or something like 500,000% if I did the math right (100% over is over by 1 times; 1,000% over is 10 times over). The reported expenditures were $1 billion versus $2 million.
That's why you guys will never make it in government; you think too small. :-)
OK, but the 2nd question was also kind of important...
All RIGHGHTTTT!
Related
Many folks give up thinking once freedom's gone it's gone, but this proves that freedoms can be regained, and without bloodshed.
The pro-gun forces in Canada are already planning their next step; they will not be resting on their laurels.
$125/gun.
The fact that it passed with multi-party support suggests the committees and Senate probably won’t mess with it too much.
Criminals taking advantage of unarmed Citizens and over zealous enforcement taking the lives of those who refused to comply in the first place....
No. Nothing like this happens "without bloodshed".
Point taken, though.
good move Canada.
I do not envy those in law enforcement having to both try to protect the public, and carry out idiotic laws that make victims of us all. The contradiction would keep me up at nights were I in law enforcement as my father was.
The blame for those Citizens being made victims goes to the Actor that made that Citizen a victim in the first place. Be it a common robber, or a legislator pushing an agenda. Stopping either by ALL MEANS NECESSARY to protect the innocent should not be disregarded.
We are already bleeding because of them. By all means, let's use all the peaceful tools at our disposal first. Let's also not get so caught up in the peaceful means that we forget that "peace" had nothing to do with how our Country won its freedoms to begin with.
I doubt any of us haven't already had these thoughts, but sometimes I feel a need to say it out loud just in case.
/rant
Congratulations Canada!
Egad! This is excellent news. A pat on the back from a FRiend from Down South.
Woohooo!!! Good job to the Canadans! Makes me proud to be an Americian
I already have registered firearms, does this mean they will delete my information? I doubt it.
Yes, the original purpose of the US Senate, was to represent the State legislatures, and act as a barrier to expanding federal power.
Excellent! People that President Palin will be able to work with.
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