OTTAWA -- The federal government says millions of records of registered long guns have all been destroyed, with the exception of court-protected data from Quebec.

A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews confirmed the registry's destruction "as of last night" after gun enthusiasts began spreading the word.

No formal news release appears to have been issued by a Conservative government that has made repeal and destruction of the long-gun registry one of its bedrock promises.

Nor has the government said exactly how much taxpayer money will be saved by repealing the registry, although a study by The Canadian Press suggests it is a small fraction of the millions spent annually on gun licensing.

Last year there were almost eight million firearms logged in the registry, including more than seven million non-restricted weapons.

The latest data from the RCMP shows that, as of last July, there are still more than 564,000 restricted firearms and more than 191,000 prohibited weapons in the federal gun registry.

"Our Conservative government is proud to say that as of last night, all contents of the long-gun registry have been destroyed, except those related to Quebec," Toews's director of communications Julie Carmichael said in an email Thursday.

"Make no mistake, the tax-and-spend NDP will not hesitate to bring back the long gun registry. Now that these data have been deleted, they can never be recovered -- even by Thomas Mulcair," she wrote.

While there was no formal news release from Public Safety, groups such as the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters issued public praise for the move after Toews apparently told representatives at a federal-provincial meeting Thursday in Regina.

"We are delighted that the Harper government has followed through on its promise in such a timely fashion," Greg Farrant of the Ontario association said in a release.

The Canadian Sports Shooting Association, meanwhile, issued a statement telling its members to "rest-assured, we are the envy of international firearms advocates everywhere" because Canada is almost alone internationally in rolling back gun-control laws.

"The removal of the registry is, however, more nibble than bite," added the commentary from the association.

The emboldened gun lobby now wants to see recent rules on marking guns repealed and some are also calling for an end to the licensing system.


-- The Canadian Press

Hurray!!!

quote:

with the exception of court-protected data from Quebec

Got to love the french! how wonderfull that we can vote to get rid of it all and the french want to do their own thing.

Of course they do, and as always, they'll get to do it too...'cuz they're special.

One of the really irritating aspects of this is that a number of retailers still insist on collecting personal information from firearms purchasers, and they maintain their own cute little "registries" despite there being no legal requirement to do so. Canadian Tire is one that leaps to mind, but there are others.

Even more incredible is that some folks still buy from them. Score another one for social engineering.

This past June I tried to purchase a rifle from Wholesale Sports. They told me I had to fax them a copy of my PAL. I told them they could keep their rifle. Haven't bought anything else from them since.

Not trying to sound like a smart-aleck, but after all, it is called a "Possession and Acquisition Licence," pertaining to firearms and ammunition. If there's been any legal change to the way that applies to purchasing firearms/ammunition, I'm certainly unaware of it. Based on that, can you think of a legitimate reason why Wholesale Sports should not have asked to see a copy of your PAL, snowman?

Anyway, glad to hear about the records being destroyed!

Davis Any other Sporting goods dealer asks for your PAL number. They then check with the firearms centre to ensure that the number you have given them is a valid PAL number and your PAL has not been revoked. Your firearm is then shipped to you. Any business that wants a copy of your PAL is keeping their own registration system and will NOT get any more of my business.

I recently ordered a shotgun from WSS a couple months back...submitted my PAL # online, no photocopy required?!?

snowman

Okay, fair enough, I had not caught the distinction you were making there first time round.

Walked into bass pro a few weeks ago

Pal
Fac
Driver's licence

Bobs your uncle

FAC? No longer any such thing.

The question is: Did they merely look at your PAL to confirm that you indeed have one (which is all that they are required to do) or did they record the info on it or on your Driver's Licence (which is not a legal requirement, and is the bone of contention with many gun owners here)?

We voted for the CPC in the last election, we wrote our MP's, we sent in petitions and emails, we demonstrated at Queen's Park and we were generally the squeakiest wheels on the wagon because we wanted to end the Federal Long-Gun Registry. We did NOT do that only to be burdened with a Bass Pro Long-Gun Registry or a Wholesale Sports Long-Gun Registry.

Things will be bad enough for gun owners if/when the Lieberal Party gets back into power. We don't need to start paving the road to hell any earlier than that.

John

Its called cover your ass.

They want copy of your PAl so if you sell it to someone else, and they blow their head off or do something else firearm related. They can confirm that they did not sell that firearm to a non licenced user.

Exactly as FredB says.... its the only way the store as a licensed retailer can prove that a firearm was sold to a responsible owner and as such the store does not create its own personal registry even though it may seem that way. Technically all gun stores are required to do so and if they can't cough up a proof of sale, they will lose their license to sell.
Unfortunately the law is the law....

Well I quit buying new firearms a long time ago and I no longer buy from dealers. With the individuals I have dealt with we satisfy ourselves that PAL's are valid and away we go.

Most stores are just doing what they have to in order to stay on the right side of the provincial CFO. You can hardly blame them for that.

It is NOT the law that some stores keep a record of your PAL. That is some stores warped interpretation. The law says NOTHING about stores setting up their own little registery,unless they are in Quebec. A friend of mine claims he called Wholesale sports a couple weeks ago to inquire about the photo copy of the PAL and was told that Wholesale no longer requires a copy. H'mmmmmm did Wholesale listen to customer complaints are were they told they had no legal right to collect that information? I would bet the latter.

You ACTUALLY BELIEVE that any government anywhere actually ever destroys ANY records that will allow it to keep people under their thumbs ?
You can be sure that ALL those records are on a computer somewhere and when the "correct" government is elected by all the sheep who are being educated to worship at the alter of big government, and confiscation becomes the law of the land, those records will be trotted out when "they" come knocking at your door.
Having grown up in upstate NY, I know a lot of folks from Canada ...... very nice people but very few have any concept of the absolute right of the governed to control the government.
See: England, Australia, New Zeland if you are still confused.
Thankfully here, the liberal courts have had the opposite effect they intended and scared a lot of people into arming themselves. "More guns, less crime", "an armed society is a polite society".
Notice that RED DAWN is being remade .... even some folks in OZ aka Hollywood are waking up !

quote:

Originally posted by snowman:
It is NOT the law that some stores keep a record of your PAL. That is some stores warped interpretation. The law says NOTHING about stores setting up their own little registery,unless they are in Quebec. A friend of mine claims he called Wholesale sports a couple weeks ago to inquire about the photo copy of the PAL and was told that Wholesale no longer requires a copy. H'mmmmmm did Wholesale listen to customer complaints are were they told they had no legal right to collect that information? I would bet the latter.

I don't think anyone is disputing that it is NOT the law, but until the CPC gets a handle on the provincial CFO's there will always be inconsistencies on how things are applied. The problem with the provincial CFO's is a big one as they should all be applying the legislation the same in all provinces, but they are not.

Just go and compare how the Manitoba CFO handles requests for wilderness carry and compare it to Alberta and BC. The office of the CFO has created little bureaucracies in each province. They need to be done away with or made to tow the line and apply the legislation exactly the same way in each province. Until that happens there will always be problems.

Congrats Canucks !

You must realize that someone has almost certainly downloaded the records onto a disk, thumb-drive, etc.

Which is why there was the great Canadian gun swap. Even if someone did download the records, they are totally useless.

Canuck32,

you re so right. i dont think that any of the long guns ones i owned under the registry are still in my possession ...

I thought it was never going to happen, so happy it did, makes me proud.

The small local shops in my area have all had a increase in long gun sales since the registry went away.

I also swaped a bunch of firearms soon after, it felt so good to not have to call in the transfers.

quote:

Originally posted by 45-70 shooter:

Having grown up in upstate NY, I know a lot of folks from Canada ...... very nice people but very few have any concept of the absolute right of the governed to control the government.
See: England, Australia, New Zeland if you are still confused.
!

Don't include NZ in there! We dont have a registry and no limits except on pistols.

quote:

Originally posted by Carlsen Highway:

quote:

Originally posted by 45-70 shooter:

Having grown up in upstate NY, I know a lot of folks from Canada ...... very nice people but very few have any concept of the absolute right of the governed to control the government.
See: England, Australia, New Zeland if you are still confused.
!

Don't include NZ in there! We dont have a registry and no limits except on pistols.

So you can own full auto weapons and seimi auto versions of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Carlsen Highway:

quote:

Originally posted by 45-70 shooter:

Having grown up in upstate NY, I know a lot of folks from Canada ...... very nice people but very few have any concept of the absolute right of the governed to control the government.
See: England, Australia, New Zeland if you are still confused.
!

Don't include NZ in there! We dont have a registry and no limits except on pistols.

As I recall, and Carlsen Highway can correct me, New Zealand's government implemented a gun registry 30+ years ago. The people of New Zealand, including the police, realized it was a useless restriction on law abiding people and that it was full of errors and had the registry done away with.

I have always held the people of New Zealand in high regard and a shining example as we have gone through the process of getting rid of the albatross around our necks in Canada....... and it took a lot of work.

The good people of the US had best pay attention to what is happening at home right now, because I have never seen the ant-gun types on the attack from so many directions in many decades.

I'm also very happy this regestery is gone and i'm a little jealous of you guys as I live in Quebec. These poor french idoits, if the rest of Canada would want the regestery, they would want to get rid of it.What can you expect of people who think they are distinct