Spin or interpretation (en francais)

Anybody else besides me read this article and come away with the impression that Stephen Harper is in favour of completely scrapping the gun registry?

What would ever give Canadians the impression that Stephen Harper's plan is to "completely scrap the country's expensive gun registry program" ?

From CCN Matthews, the original News Release.

Two-thirds of Canadians (67%) are of the opinion that the new Conservative government under Stephen Harper should "keep in place some sort of system that makes gun owners across the country register their fire-arms", while in comparison 31% feel they should "eliminate the idea of a gun registry entirely" -- 2% say they "don't know".

Next up is the Canwest version:

Canadians don't want gun registry scrapped: poll

Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, May 15, 2006

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will have a tough time convincing Canadians it's time to completely scrap the country's expensive gun registry program, a new opinion poll suggests.

The Ipsos Reid survey, conducted for CanWest News Service and Global National, indicates two out of three Canadians believe the government should revamp the gun registry system.

''There's nothing ambiguous about this,'' said John Wright, senior vice-president at Ipsos Reid.

''The concept of a gun registry has taken root across the country. There's a majority, 67 per cent, that's not a small majority, who believe that Stephen Harper shouldn't be doing away with all gun registries.''

From the Conservative Party platform, we get a decidedly different impression:

Conservative Party Platform (pdf file)

Invest in effective gun control, not phoney measures

The plan
Conservative government will:

*• Repeal the wasteful long-gun registry legislation (Bill C-68).

* Reinvest savings from scrapping C-68 into hiring front-line law enforcement officers and assisting victims of crime.

* Maintain the existing handgun registry and bans on all currently prohibited weapons.

* Work with the provinces on effective gun control programs designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals while respecting the rights of law-abiding Canadians to own and use firearms responsibly.

Measures will include:

- Mandatory minimum prison sentences with restricted parole eligibility for the criminal use of
firearms, trafficking or possession of stolen firearms, or illegal possession contrary to a bail, parole, or firearms prohibition order.

- Strict monitoring, including tracking place of residence, of high-risk individuals prohibited from owning firearms.

- Tighter restrictions on individuals on bail or parole for firearms offences, including the use of
electronic monitoring.

- Cracking down on gun smuggling.

- Safe storage laws.

- Firearms safety training.

- A certification system requiring a background check and safety training for all those wishing to acquire and use firearms legally.

- Eliminating exceptions to firearms prohibition orders following criminal conviction.