spectr17
06-05-2003, 01:36 AM
June 4, 2003
Ontario won't enforce gun registry law
Sterling calls it 'badly flawed'
Says Ottawa should prosecute
CAROLINE MALLAN AND RICHARD BRENNAN
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU, Toronto Star
Ontario is refusing to prosecute anyone who fails to register a rifle or shotgun because it's a dumb law, Attorney-General Norm Sterling said yesterday.
Ontario joins Nova Scotia and three Western provinces in refusing to have anything to do with the federal gun registration law that so far has cost more than $1 billion.
Sterling told reporters if Ottawa wants to prosecute the "misdirected" law, then it should fall to federal prosecutors.
"They should take the responsibility for a badly flawed piece of legislation, which really persecutes the wrong people, innocent people, good people who want to use long firearms for hunting and recreational use. It is a piece of legislation which is totally misdirected," Sterling said.
The attorney-general said the federal gun registration law holds out "the false promise that this registry is going to somehow enhance our ability to catch criminals."
Public Security Minister Bob Runciman said Ontario has taken this position for some time but never publicized it.
"I know the former attorney- general, David Young, indicated that clearly at the beginning of the year, Ontario wouldn't be in on it, our crowns wouldn't be participating in prosecutions of the federal gun registry legislation," he said.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta have also stated they won't co-operate with Ottawa in prosecuting those who fail to register long guns.
In Nova Scotia yesterday, Justice Minister Jamie Muir said he has directed the province's Public Prosecution Service to refer Criminal Code and Firearms Act charges involving the registration of long guns to federal prosecutors.
"It's their law; let them enforce it," he said of the federal requirement that long-gun owners register their weapons by July 1 or face the possibility of legal action.
Flanked by several rural members of the Nova Scotia legislature, Muir called the registry a flawed process that will only burden the province's legal system if enforced.
"We believe the public is served best when our prosecution service focuses on serious criminal matters," he told a news conference in central Nova Scotia.
However, Alberta officials have said the province will act if the matter involves the federal Criminal Code but not the federal Firearm Act. Both sets of laws state that anyone possessing a firearm as defined in Section 2 of the code must hold a firearms registration certificate.
In Ottawa, federal Solicitor-General Wayne Easter said the laws must be upheld.
"Governments have a responsibility ... to uphold the laws of the land and it's up to the province to prosecute under those laws," he said after leaving a cabinet meeting.
However, Easter said he would prefer if gun owners simply registered their firearms.
"I want to outline very, very specifically that it is not our intent to go after legitimate gun owners.
"It is our intent to have them register under the system so that we can have safer communities and safer streets."
Originally tagged at $2 million, the registry's costs could surpass $1 billion by 2005, the federal auditor-general said in December.
Ontario won't enforce gun registry law
Sterling calls it 'badly flawed'
Says Ottawa should prosecute
CAROLINE MALLAN AND RICHARD BRENNAN
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU, Toronto Star
Ontario is refusing to prosecute anyone who fails to register a rifle or shotgun because it's a dumb law, Attorney-General Norm Sterling said yesterday.
Ontario joins Nova Scotia and three Western provinces in refusing to have anything to do with the federal gun registration law that so far has cost more than $1 billion.
Sterling told reporters if Ottawa wants to prosecute the "misdirected" law, then it should fall to federal prosecutors.
"They should take the responsibility for a badly flawed piece of legislation, which really persecutes the wrong people, innocent people, good people who want to use long firearms for hunting and recreational use. It is a piece of legislation which is totally misdirected," Sterling said.
The attorney-general said the federal gun registration law holds out "the false promise that this registry is going to somehow enhance our ability to catch criminals."
Public Security Minister Bob Runciman said Ontario has taken this position for some time but never publicized it.
"I know the former attorney- general, David Young, indicated that clearly at the beginning of the year, Ontario wouldn't be in on it, our crowns wouldn't be participating in prosecutions of the federal gun registry legislation," he said.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta have also stated they won't co-operate with Ottawa in prosecuting those who fail to register long guns.
In Nova Scotia yesterday, Justice Minister Jamie Muir said he has directed the province's Public Prosecution Service to refer Criminal Code and Firearms Act charges involving the registration of long guns to federal prosecutors.
"It's their law; let them enforce it," he said of the federal requirement that long-gun owners register their weapons by July 1 or face the possibility of legal action.
Flanked by several rural members of the Nova Scotia legislature, Muir called the registry a flawed process that will only burden the province's legal system if enforced.
"We believe the public is served best when our prosecution service focuses on serious criminal matters," he told a news conference in central Nova Scotia.
However, Alberta officials have said the province will act if the matter involves the federal Criminal Code but not the federal Firearm Act. Both sets of laws state that anyone possessing a firearm as defined in Section 2 of the code must hold a firearms registration certificate.
In Ottawa, federal Solicitor-General Wayne Easter said the laws must be upheld.
"Governments have a responsibility ... to uphold the laws of the land and it's up to the province to prosecute under those laws," he said after leaving a cabinet meeting.
However, Easter said he would prefer if gun owners simply registered their firearms.
"I want to outline very, very specifically that it is not our intent to go after legitimate gun owners.
"It is our intent to have them register under the system so that we can have safer communities and safer streets."
Originally tagged at $2 million, the registry's costs could surpass $1 billion by 2005, the federal auditor-general said in December.