Ottawa, Ontario – Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen and Conservative Shadow Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Pierre Paul-Hus issued the following statement regarding Bill C-71, the Liberals’ new firearms legislation:

“Canada’s Conservatives believe that the safety of Canadians should be the number one priority of any government.

“Unfortunately, this legislation has no new measures to combat gang violence in Surrey, gun violence in the GTA and escalating crime rates in our rural communities

“Liberals cannot be trusted when it comes to firearms legislation because they fail to tackle criminals who use guns to commit violent crime, meanwhile they treat law-abiding firearms owners as criminals. Conservatives will adamantly oppose any attempt by the Liberals to create a new long-gun registry.

“Conservatives will continue to fight for concrete actions to keep Canadians safe and focus our efforts on the criminal element behind firearms violence.”