From: brewnoserii@gmail.com   
      
       
   Vying still for the Quebec vote . . .   
   Now Quebecers are going to have to decide between niqabs and gun control . . .   
   .   
   _________________________________________   
      
   National Post - October 7, 2015   
      
   Firearms groups apoplectic after Liberals promise new gun control measures   
      
      
   Seemingly undaunted by their experience with the ill-fated 1995 long-gun   
   registry, the Liberals are positioning themselves as the toughest   
   gun-control...   
      
   Seemingly undaunted by their experience with the ill-fated 1995 long-gun   
   registry, the Liberals are positioning themselves as the toughest gun-control   
   proponents in the federal campaign.   
      
   The platform released Monday by Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promises a   
   series of measures to reverse Conservative initiatives that "steadily weakened   
   our gun laws," while proposing a broad range of  initiatives "to get handguns   
   and assault weapons off    
   our streets."   
      
   The Liberal plan drew immediate criticism from organizations representing   
   gun-owners.  "They've firmly established themselves as the anti-gun party.   
   They want to attack the legitimate ownership and use of firearms in Canada,"   
   said Blair Hagen, executive    
   vice-president of the National Firearms Association.  "They've learned nothing   
   from the 1990s, it appears."   
      
   The Liberals specify that they would not re-introduce the long-gun registry   
   scrapped in 2012 by the Conservatives, who referred to it as "billion-dollar   
   boondoggle."   
      
   But Trudeau is promising to repeal elements of Bill C-42, dubbed the Common   
   Sense Firearms Licensing Act by the Conservatives, which came into force last   
   June.   
      
   The Liberals would restore the requirement for a specific permit to transport   
   restricted and prohibited weapons to and from such locations as a shooting   
   range or gunsmith.  Under the Conservative law, the authorization to transport   
   the weapon became    
   automatic with the granting of a licence.   
      
   The Liberals would also repeal a section of C-42 that gives cabinet, not   
   police, final say over which firearms are restricted.   The Conservatives used   
   the new power in August to reverse an RCMP ban on certain Czech- and   
   Swiss-made rifles that closely    
   resemble prohibited automatic firearms.   
      
   The Liberals also promise to modify membership of the Canadian Firearms   
   Advisory Committee, which advises the government and which critics say tilts   
   too much in favour of gun-owners.   Trudeau wants committee membership to   
   include public health advocates,   
    women's group representatives and police officers.   
      
   A Liberal government would require enhanced background checks for anyone   
   buying a handgun or other restricted firearm, it would require anyone selling   
   a firearm to confirm that the buyer holds a valid licence and it would   
   implement long-delayed    
   regulations requiring the marking of imported guns.  Vendors would be required   
   to keep records of their inventory and sales to assist police in investigating   
   crimes.   
      
   Heidi Rathjen, founder and spokeswoman for the gun-control group   
   Polysesouvient, said that even though the Liberals stopped short of promising   
   to revive the registry, their platform is courageous.   She said Conservative   
   legislation had opened loopholes    
   that made it easier for criminals to obtain illegal guns.   
      
   "This platform will certainly be viciously opposed by the gun lobby, and in   
   that sense, Justin Trudeau is not sitting on the fence," Rathjen said.   "He   
   has taken a strong stand in favour of gun control and I think we should   
   applaud that."   
      
   Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association,   
   accused the Liberals of playing politics on the backs of law-abiding gun   
   owners, who would face additional hassles under the Liberal plan.   
      
   "There are a couple of million Canadians out there who have firearms licences.   
   Apparently the Liberals still don't understand those people," he said.   "They   
   have made no attempt to understand those people.  And they are willing to take   
   a couple of    
   million Canadians and quite frankly crap on them for their political agenda."   
      
   Hagen said up until Monday, gun control had not been an issue in the campaign,   
   and gun-owners were not necessarily in the Conservative camp.  "This is just   
   going to inflame that gun vote to come out and support the Conservatives, and   
   that wasn't    
   necessarily going to happen at the start of the campaign," he said.   
      
   Bill Blair, former Toronto police chief and Liberal candidate in the riding of   
   Scarborough Southwest, said he is not worried the platform will drive rural   
   gun-owners away from the Liberals.   
      
   "I do not believe that the measures we propose are too onerous," he said.  "I   
   do think they can contribute significantly to keeping our communities safe,   
   and ultimately that's in everybody's interest."   
      
   NDP leader Tom Mulcair has called the long-gun registry a failure and said he   
   would not re-introduce a registry if elected.  The NDP did not respond to a   
   request for more information on its proposals for gun control.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)