The first step in getting rid of the boondoggle known as the long gun registry was taken in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

MPs voted to scrap the requirement to register individual rifles and shotguns — a registry that has consumed more than $1 billion, been condemned for its wasteful and reckless spending by the Auditor-General, and pitted urban residents against those who actually use guns as tools for hunting, sport shooting and predator control.

All Conservative MPs and a handful from the NDP and Liberal parties voted to scrap the registry, getting behind a private member’s bill sponsored by Conservative MP Candace Hoeppner. The bill will now go to committee, and it will be interesting to see what emerges.

What was equally interesting is that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has recognized, at long last, that the registry has been deeply offensive to legitimate gun owners. This is a complete about-face from the party that brought in this registry against heated and ongoing opposition.

Ignatieff represents a downtown Toronto riding, and that area of the country is perhaps the most vocal in supporting continuation of this registry.

Ignatieff has been touring the country since taking over as Liberal leader earlier this year and has spent a considerable amount of time in Western Canada, unlike many of his predecessors. He has found that opposition to this registry is as deep-seated and visceral as it was when first brought in by Liberal cabinet minister Allan Rock more than a decade ago.

No law-abiding citizen wants to see an increase in gun crimes. But most gun owners know that registering hunting rifles and shotguns won’t do a thing to reduce gun crime. Almost all gun crimes are committed with handguns, and most of them are illegally imported from the United States.

It would make far more sense to give Canada Border Services Agency additional powers to patrol the border between crossing points and install infrared detectors, like those on the U.S. side, to actually catch gun smugglers in the act.

Canada has required registration of handguns since 1934, and this bill would not stop that practice. It also calls for licensing of people who wish to own guns — whether handguns or long gunds. This is a far more logical measure than requiring registration of individual rifles, and has in fact existed in one form or another since the late 1970s.

Here’s hoping the bill sails through committee and become law. The sooner this page of wasteful bureaucracy can be turned, the better.

—Frank Bucholtz