Mr. Speaker, almost everything has been said about this very troublesome piece of legislation.
I listened with concern and share the concerns of the hon. member for Souris-Moose Mountain. I listened to the concerns and share the concerns of the hon. deputy whip. I listened to the statistical projections of the hon. member from the Reform Party. I do not know whether there are many more details to add to the debate. I will add a few and then make a few points.
I do not know that every concern regarding registry has been addressed. There is still the concern about weapons that have no serial number, weapons that are home-made. There are still some people whose hobby it is to manufacture firearms and ammunition. I have not seen anything in the bill which covers that.
It was pointed out to me the other day by one of my constituents that serial numbers can overlap, that there can be the same serial number on more than one weapon if there are two licensed manufacturers of the same model of firearm. I put those forward as a concern.
Other concerns about the issue of confiscation and so on, about the provision for firearms that have special significance for families to be preserved, will be addressed in the justice committee. Handguns in prohibited classes will be addressed in the justice committee. Firearms used in re-enactments and heritage events will be definitely addressed in the heritage committee.
I have asked for time to address that committee in order to highlight some of those concerns.
I also realize that registry is an issue that is larger than individual weapons, unless I misread the bill. The registry goes beyond individual ownership and gives the government the right to have other weapons in transition registered so that the law enforcement people will be able to calculate the shrink that comes from a shipment of weapons into the country.
I will restate what many other members have pointed out. The bill has three legs. One leg has to do with the smuggling of guns and the attack on smugglers. I think everyone agrees with that. Regardless of whether we are Reform members, rural members or urban members we all very much agree. We all appreciate some of the stepped up activity of the police, especially around the area where I live. Recently they have been able to seize large quantities of weapons.
The second leg is the question of sentencing, the imposition of a four-year mandatory sentence. With the imposition and with the moves the Minister of Justice will make on the issue, I sincerely hope the offence will not be plea bargained away in the future as has been done in the past. I find the plea bargain aspect offensive in itself.
The third leg concerns registry and the other aspects of firearms ownership. I have concerns. It has been painful to go through the exercise, but I point out to those who are opposed to registry that every law made in the country is in one way or another an infringement of rights.
Laws are not made for the vast majority of law-abiding citizens but are made for the few. There is no dichotomy here with the laws regarding guns. These laws are brought into being for the few who have no regard for human life, who lose regard for human life, or who want to use a firearm to commit a crime and have no conscience about doing so.
I plead with those who are opposed to consider that laws concerning robbery, laws concerning theft and laws concerning speeding are not made for the many. They are written to protect the many from the few. I must go on record as saying that there is no right to bear arms in Canada. Ownership of firearms in the country is a privilege and not a right. We should always remember that.
With the struggle I have personally had as a member with the bill and my struggle with the conviction that a registry will be effective, I do not want to throw out the baby with the bath water.
I want to see the legislation go to committee to be amended without affecting the principle of the bill necessarily but injecting some common sense and projections into the bill so that legitimate firearms owners will feel comfortable and that the sacrifices they are making will be made in the spirit of protection of the many.