Quebec Could Launch Own Gun Registry

If the federal Conservatives decide to axe the long-gun registry, the provinces could simply create their own.

The Quebec government says it might introduce its own gun registry if the federal government finally, after years of raising stinks about it, kills the national program. While Premier Jean Charest's Liberal government is focused on getting the federal Tories to keep the program around, civil servants have been working on a replacement registry in case the Tories follow through on the announced intent of ditching the long-gun registry, which requires rifle owners to register their weapons in a database so that police can better determine if households they're entering contain firearms. A private member's bill from a backbench Tory MP that sought to eliminate the registry was narrowly voted down last year, 153-151, but with their majority mandate, passing a bill to kill the program will prove to be much simpler.