Are the Liberals rethinking their stance on the controversial gun registry?

MP Wayne Easter dropped the hint today in Vancouver where the party is holding its convention.

Easter is among those Liberals strategizing how to win more ridings outside the big cities.

Alison Crawford

When asked how the party ended up being almost completely isolated in the big centres such as Toronto and Montreal, the MP from P.E.I. responded, "a number of factors really. One of the big ones, which was a catalyst to us losing a lot of constituencies in rural Canda, was actually the gun control bill, the long-gun registry.

"It just seemed to be a catalyst that provoked a reaction that the Liberals didn't identify with rural Canadians."

So what now? Well, Easter says a new policy is in the works.

He won't say much now, but Easter indicated the Liberals will maintain the registry while attempting to "soften" the problems rifle owners encounter right now.

The Conservatives recently introduced a new bill to scrap the long-gun registery. But they did it in the Liberal-dominated Senate where it is sure to fail.

Easter contends that anything the Stephen Harper government does on gun control is just "smoke and mirrors," designed to show the differences between the two parties on this issue.

Pointing to the three successfive amnesties for gun owners to put off registering their weapons, Easter says Conservatives simply "want the issue to be alive in the next election."

— Alison Crawford