The RCMP's deputy commissioner came out in favour of the embattled federal gun registry Thursday even as his political boss affirmed the government's desire to abolish it..

Bill Sweeney told the Commons public safety committee the long-gun registry helps police officers and citizens.

"I believe that there's compelling evidence that the registry promotes officer and public safety," Sweeney said. "That's a personal opinion."

The veteran officer said the RCMP was working with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police on a position paper on the registry that may soon be presented to a cabinet committee.

Minutes earlier, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews denounced the system for tracking long guns, ushered in by the Liberals, as a waste of money.

"We don't believe it's an effective use of taxpayers' money and we are committed to seeing the abolition of the long-gun registry," he told MPs on the public safety committee.

A Conservative MP's private member's bill to dismantle the long-gun registry has passed second reading and will be studied by a Commons committee.

Since its inception in the 1990s, the registry has been the focus of controversy, derided by some as a needless intrusion into the lives of law-abiding gun owners and lauded by others as a worthy tool for police who use it daily to glean valuable information.