Students from Dawson College joined Quebec public security officials on Thursday to protest against the federal government's decision to scrap the gun registry.

Audrey Deveault, chairperson of the Dawson College student union, representing 10,500 students, spoke at the parliamentary hearing in Ottawa reviewing the bill to end the registry.

The Standing Committee on National Security is in the midst of hearings on the bill, which was introduced last month by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

Audrey Deveault, chairperson of the Dawson College Student Union, addressed the parliamentary committee Thursday. CBCDeveault told the committee that she requested a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to talk about his plans for the gun registry just after the five-year anniversary of the shootings at Dawson College in September but never heard back from his office.

Kimveer Gill — the 25-year-old who opened fire in the college, killing one student and injuring 19 — used three guns, including a registered Baretta rifle, in the shootings.

Wendy Cukier of the Coalition for Gun Control told a press conference after the hearing in Ottawa that as many as a third of guns recovered in crimes are long-guns and shotguns.

"Every illegal gun begins as a legal gun," she said.

"One of the purposes of regulations and licensing gun owners and registering guns is to reduce the chances, not eliminate, but reduce the chances that legal guns will end up in the hands of potentially dangerous people. For that, you need the licensing provisions and you need to hold gun owners accountable for their firearms."

'A war that sows discontent'

The representative from Dawson College told the hearing that the Prime Minister's decision to get rid of the registry ignores what Canadians want.

'We're concerned that our government is disregarding reports submitted by doctors, nurses, psychologists and police officers.'—Audrey Deveault, Dawson College student union

"We're concerned that our government is disregarding reports submitted by doctors, nurses, psychologists and police officers," said Deveault. "We are concerned that our government prefers to orchestrate a war that sows discontent among Canadians."

The government wants to pass legislation that would eliminate the registry and the records contained in it. Bill C-19 would mean provinces such as Quebec, which is considering launching its own registry to replace the federal one, would have to start from scratch.

Quebec Public Security Minister Robert Dutil also spoke at the parliamentary hearing, arguing Quebec should have access to the registry's data because its citizens have paid into the registry since it was created in 1995.

"The registry is an essential tool for the police," Dutil said, calling it a cornerstone for investigations.

Yves Francoeur, president of the Montreal Police Brotherhood, spoke to the media after the committee hearing in Ottawa. CBCAt the press conference, Yves Francoeur of the Montreal Police Brotherhood, said the loss of the registry would constitute a serious setback for investigators and one that will inevitably cost police time.

“Tomorrow we're going to lose [track] of sixty-thousand long guns on the island of Montreal," he said.

Often, he said, the registry is the first place police turn to determine if an accused has guns in his or her possession and how many investigators can expect to find if they have to enter a residence.

He says losing that tool means police will have to go through the legal process to search the home and verify no firearms are present.

“In domestic violence cases, it happens all the time,” he said.

“The judge, when he releases the husband, there’s an order not to own a gun. So we can know right now. . . But tomorrow, what we’re going to have to do is to ask the judge to have a search warrant to go in the house, maybe in the cottage, to see if there’s guns inside or not."

“It’s going to be very heavy for our system.”

Conservatives call registry ineffective

The government says the registry is wasteful and ineffective at reducing crime and targets law-abiding gun owners instead of criminals, who don't register their firearms.

The Conservatives have tried several times to scrap the registry, but were unable to in a minority Parliament.

Now, with a majority in the House of Commons and Senate, the government is expected to be able to pass the bill with little trouble.