Mr. Speaker, the second group of petitions I am pleased to present contains 60 pages with 1,493 signatures from responsible law-abiding gun owners from coast to coast who are calling on the government to repeal Bill C-68, the Firearms Act. These citizens are from Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C., Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
The petitioners are concerned that the billion dollar licensing and registration scheme will do nothing to curtail the criminal use of firearms, is not cost effective in addressing the crime problem in Canada and is opposed by the majority of police on the street. These petitioners therefore request that parliament repeal Bill C-68, the Firearms Act, and direct their hard earned tax dollars to more cost effective measures to fight crime.
In keeping with my constituents' request that I keep a running total of petitions on the repeal of Bill C-68, this presentation brings the total number of signatures this year to 18,835.