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The long gun registry could rise from the dead

The long gun registry could rise from the dead I read with great interest Larry Bagnell's response in the Yukon News to his record on voting to keep the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry. Larry brushed it off, saying it was no longer on the ta

I read with great interest Larry Bagnell’s response in the Yukon News to his record on voting to keep the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry.

Larry brushed it off, saying it was no longer on the table: “That’s passed, it doesn’t exist anymore, it’s not really an issue,” he said.

It is gone. That is correct. Gone because I made a commitment to get rid of it and with the government, voted to do so. As Yukon’s member of Parliament, I was part of a Conservative Party that ensured it passed.

However, it is still an issue. The issue is, when Larry was called to defend Yukoners, he didn’t. Larry campaigned on a promise to Yukon citizens that he would vote in favour of scrapping the long gun registry, and didn’t follow through on that promise. That is the issue.

What else will Larry chose his party over the territory on? In 2011, Larry told all Yukoners that he wasn’t prepared to leave his party over the vote to end the long gun registry, and he told Yukoners that he was clear about that.

However, he wasn’t clear about that: he campaigned on a commitment to vote one way, and he voted another. That is the issue. So yes, it is still very much an issue.

I wish the rights of peaceful, law-abiding gun owners to not be ostracized was no longer on the table, but that also isn’t true. The NDP has explicitly stated they would bring it back, and there are Liberals in the House of Commons who want to ban all guns and ammunition. Justin Trudeau said he would vote again to keep the registry.

Ensuring the long gun registry stays dead is a daily struggle, and Larry has already proven that he’s not willing to fight that battle for Yukoners.

Ryan Leef

Yukon member of Parliament