Save the Gun Registry

Dear Honourable Vic Toews, We the undersigned are concerned with everyone's safety, but feel women's lives, especially those living in rural areas, would be increasingly endangered should the long-gun registry fall. Stephen Harper's Conservative government has made a number of attempts to scrap the long-gun registry, most recently with Bill C-19. This Bill would not only nullify the current requirement to register non-restricted rifles and shotguns, but would remove measures which have been in place for over 30 years regarding the sale and transfer of these firearms. This Bill would allow individuals to stockpile firearms without ever having to provide a valid licence. Furthermore, it would also result in the destruction of data on the over 7 million currently registered firearms as well as no longer require gun dealers to record who they are selling firearms to. The gun registry saves lives! -between 1995 (the year the registry was introduced) and 1999, gun violence decreased from 69 cases to 29 -most firearm-related deaths in Canada are caused by rifles or shotguns -Police consult the Canadian Firearm Registry Online 14,000 times a day, and can see if there are, and then remove, firearms present in a household for which there have been reports of domestic violence -rifles and shotguns ("family guns") are the fireamrs most often used in family violence -72% of gun-related spousal homicides in Canada invovle a shotgun or rifle -UN suggests that states that do not adequately regulate fireamrs fail to meet their obligations under international law particularly with respect to the safety of women and children -rural women are especially at risk, as there are far more long guns and rifles in rural households (as hunting still very much exists) Northern women are especially at risk. -“Women have told us that the guns used here [in the North] predominantly for hunting – that is, long guns – are also used to intimidate, subdue and control them. We hear this over and over again, in small communities without RCMP and in larger communities with RCMP. Women do not want these guns to be unregistered, but do not feel safe expressing this opinion other than in whispers to people who may be able to voice these ‘unpopular’ opinions and who may be heard. […] Please make it clear that it is not city-born, city living folks who are asking for this registry to continue; it is the voices of northern women who fear for their lives and their mental health who are asking for protection. We see women who have experienced years of brutal intimidation. These women cannot safely express their need for protection themselves, and it is up to Canada to understand this and respond in an appropriate way.” – Lyda Fuller, YWCA Yellowknife, NWT The Tory government claims that the gun registry will unfairly target law abiding gun owners. This is NOT true. The goal of the registry is not to punish or confiscate of the registered firearms belonging to law-abiding citizens, but rather to keepguns away from dangerous people. It does not cost any money to register a gun, and can be done extremely quickly at the point of sale. Scrapping the gun registry would save the country a mere $4 million dollars per year. This amount pales in comparison to the money spent on investiagting gun-related crimes and treating gun-related injuries. There are NO BENEFITS to scrapping the registry. We the undersigned urge you to re-examine the effects dismantling the long-gun registry would have on the safety of all Canadians and specifically women. Thank you,