NRA rears its head in Canadian politics

[marmar]

Tories deny NRA gun registry ties
McGuinty says U.S. 'extremist' group should stay out of registry debate

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | 3:53 PM ET
CBC News


The Conservative government is dismissing allegations by the Opposition Liberals that its intent to scrap the federal long-gun registry is linked to or influenced by the National Rifle Association.

The comments come a day after CBC News reported that the NRA, a powerful U.S. lobbying group that advocates fewer gun controls, has been involved for more than a decade in efforts to get Canada's long-gun registry abolished.

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said the Liberal "conspiracy theory" attempts to "demonize" rural Canadians who have been already unfairly criminalized by the registry.

Poilievre, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, told reporters in Ottawa that the government is proud to work with "distinctly Canadian organizations" who want to end the long-gun registry, which the Conservatives have long denounced as wasteful and ineffective against crime.

Earlier Tuesday, Liberal House leader David McGuinty said Canadian politicians should conduct the debate on the long-gun registry without being influenced by the most powerful gun lobby in the world. He also accused Harper's Conservatives of playing "the worst of right-wing Republican wedge politics" in an attempt to "pick off eight or 10 ridings" with the gun registry. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/09/14/long-gun-registry-nra-liberals.html#ixzz0zbjD15DT

[polly7]

1. NDP has enough votes to save gun registry: Layton

NDP has enough votes to save gun registry: Layton

Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton says enough members of his party will vote to defeat a Conservative backbencher's bill to repeal the long-gun registry.

NDP Leader Jack Layton has said he wants to submit legislation to fix the long-gun registry. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Layton said Tuesday an "overwhelming majority" of his rural caucus is on his side after consultations at the party's caucus meeting in Regina.

"After all these discussions, I'm very confident that the votes that are needed to continue the registry so that it can be fixed will, indeed, be there," Layton told reporters. "I'm feeling very optimistic about what lies ahead as a result."

With all Liberals and the Bloc Québécois poised to vote on Sept. 22 to halt Tory MP Candice Hoeppner's private member's bill and the Conservatives set to support the bill, the fate of the registry lies with the NDP, which allows its MPs to vote however they want on private member's bills.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/09/14/ndp-long-gu...


I can remember when I was running the post office and the registration forms were picked up there, not many at all complained about this. A few about what a pain in the butt it was to fill out, but as to the actual registration ........ very few (in a rural area where long-guns were kept in nearly household).

[polly7]

2. NRA - worry about your own guns and leave our concerns with them

to us.

[Lucy Goosey]

3. The best thing the Liberals can do...

...is to keep calling the Conservatives "Republicans" and "teabaggers". That association would turn off a lot of potential Con voters, especially swing-voter types, I think.