Outdoor Network requests release of firearms studies
April 25, 2011
For Release April 19, 2011
Outdoor Network requests release of firearms studies Hidden documents may offer different perspective on long gun registry
Canada’s Outdoor Network, representing over 500,000 outdoor enthusiasts across the country, is calling for the release of a long-buried Liberal study on the effectiveness of the controversial long gun registry.
In 2004, after admitting there were “flaws” in the long gun registry, former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed Cabinet Minister, Albina Guarnieri, to undertake a thorough review of the registry. Gaurnieri spent three months criss-crossing the country, talking to stakeholder groups and firearms owners while compiling a document that would support the Prime Minister’s personal promise to firearms groups that changes would be coming. However, Ms. Guarnieri’s full report, much like a previous report by Liberal MP Shaughnessy Cohen in the 1990s, has never been made public. Both reports remain protected by Cabinet confidentiality.
As part of their election platform, the Liberal party has included its vision of a “new and improved” long gun registry, hoping to convince Canadians that they have a solution to the ongoing debate over the badly flawed firearms system they created. The acknowledgement that change is needed, stands in direct contrast to comments made by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff last fall, when he made it clear that the Liberal policy is “strict and unrelenting gun control.”
“Mr. Ignatieff claims he is against secrecy and withholding information from the public”, says Greg Illebrun, firearms spokesperson for the Outdoor Network. “If this is so, why won’t he release the results of his own party’s study of the long gun registry done by Liberal MPs in 2004. What is he afraid of? Do these reports make it clear how many tens of millions the Liberals have wasted on a program with no positive results, while effective public safety programs are ignored for political expediency? It’s time Mr. Ignatieff walks his own talk and shows us the report now.”
It is the goal of the Outdoor Network, says Illebrun, to make sure all Canadians understand the concerns of outdoors enthusiasts in Canada. Illebrun says the divisive registry debate underlines a lack of tolerance for a lifestyle largely misunderstood in some urban centres. He believes attacks on legitimate gun owners demonstrate a lack of tolerance that is “un-Canadian”.
This is an archived version of the OFAH website as of 06/19/2024; not all functions and features are available, and it is intended for reference only. Please visit www.ofah.org for the fully functional website.
