National media splash silenced on eve of gun registry data destruction

OTTAWA – Public servants spent a full month last fall preparing two splashy announcements heralding the destruction of the long-gun registry data — only to have the events cancelled at the last moment without explanation.

Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under access to information show civil servants spent weeks preparing speeches and news releases after receiving an urgent request from Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

The final deletion of millions of gun registry records on October 31 could be seen as a crowning achievement for a Conservative government that fought the registry for more than a decade.

But when the moment arrived, Toews quietly informed a closed door meeting in Regina about the data destruction.

It prompted some puzzled gun owners to suggest the government had slid the announcement under the door.

The government is providing no reason why it cancelled the national media events to announce the data destruction.

However longtime sport shooting advocate Gerry Gamble says the Conservatives have decided to start keeping their gun reforms low key so as not to inflame the non-gun-owning public.

The Coalition for Gun Control predicts that ending the gun registry will result in more gun crime and says Conservatives with an eye on the next federal election are worried about the optics of dancing on the registry’s grave.