The Conservative government took its first steps Wednesday to scrap the controversial long-gun registry, beginning with a one-year amnesty for those who have not yet registered their non-restricted firearms.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the government will introduce legislation to eliminate the program brought in by Jean Chrétien's Liberals 11 years ago.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says long-gun owners will no longer have to pay to register their weapons.
(CBC)

But until the legislation makes its way through Parliament, Day announced a number of measures that would effectively gut the registry while keeping it the law.

"Our new government simply will not continue to fund ineffective programs. Instead, we will invest our resources to better protect Canadian families and their communities by putting more police officers on the streets and in their communities."

Day said long-gun owners will no longer have to pay to register their weapons and won't be prosecuted if they don't register them at all.

He said the government would provide refunds to those who have already registered their long guns.

Among other changes Day announced:

• The government will transfer responsibility from the Canada Firearms Centre to the RCMP.
•  It will cut the annual operating budget for the program by $10 million.

The Tories have long opposed the registry, and promised during the election campaign to scrap it. But the minority government has apparently put those ambitions aside for now.

All three opposition parties support the registry and would probably defeat any legislation that would dismantle it.

Fraser report slams cost of registry

On Tuesday, Auditor General Sheila Fraser issued a report that said the former Liberal government hid the cost of the registry, which totalled $946 million at the end of the 2005 fiscal year.

Fraser said the Liberals cooked the books and ignored legal advice while hiding the costs from Parliament.

Opposition to the long-gun registry is highest among rural Canadians and hunting enthusiasts, who say the registry penalizes legal gun owners and does nothing to reduce crime.

Many Tories believe they have public support for their plans to dismantle the registry, but it has strong support in Quebec and the country's biggest cities, areas where the Conservatives want to build support.

The registry also has support from police. The Canada Firearms Centre says officers consult the firearms databank about 6,500 times a day.