Eliminating the controversial long-gun registry will be among the first issues dealt with by the new Conservative majority government, promises Yorkton-Melville Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz.
And for firearms owners like Ken Somogyi and Neil Parker, both of Melville, and others across the country, the death of the much-hated registry that could come as early as this summer, couldn't be any more welcome.
The Conservative electoral victory gave the party the majority it needs to eliminate the registry, a pledge the party - and its Reform and Canadian Alliance predecessors - has made almost since Bill C-68 was introduced by the Liberal government in 1995.
Breitkreuz, who first was elected to Parliament in 1993 as a Reformer, has arguably become the fiercest critic of the registry, and has built a national profile on his attempts over the years to kill it.
"The registry is history. The Prime Minister has assured me that it's going to be one of the first things we deal with," Breitkreuz says.
He expects the matter to be addressed within the first 100 days of Parliament resuming sitting, likely by the end of the month: "I don't know if it'll be gone by the end of June but it should be gone by October."
Firearms owners like Somogyi, who is president of Melville Fish and Game League, and Parker expect the Conservatives to act swiftly on those promises to address the registry quickly.
"The election couldn't have went any better - majority government and we'd get rid of the gun registry. Now, finally, we see the light at the end of the tunnel," Somogyi says.
Gun owners have ridden a proverbial roller coaster over the years, hoping preceding elections would have given the Conservatives majorities to kill the registry, and even coming so close on the Private Member's Bill last fall losing by just one vote, Somogyi points out.
To Parker, the widespread animosity toward the registry was generated by several factors. Many opponents saw it as an outright infringement on their rights and a further sign of government intruding into their lives; others deemed the registry as an expensive exercise that had no practical use.
"Everybody knows it's just a waste of money. The Opposition was opposing (elimination of the registry) just to oppose. It was the brainchild of the Liberals and they didn't want to turn tail on it but everybody knew it was a waste of money," Parker says.
The long-gun registry targeted responsible gun owners while "the criminals weren't running out and registering their firearms."
Other than the registry's elimination, relatively little will change with Canada's gun laws, Parker explains. Those wishing to buy, possess or use firearms are still going to need licences and restricted weapons like handguns must still be registered, Parker says.
Once the long-gun registry is dead, Breitkreuz doubts any future government will try to resurrect it.
