New Brunswick gun stores to scrap long-gun ledgers

New Brunswick firearms dealers will no longer be required to record purchase information on long-guns, Public Safety Minister Robert Trevors announced on Wednesday.

And the provincial government's chief firearms officer and inspectors will no longer inspect such records, he said.

"Our government is aligning our approach on firearms, to be consistent with the spirit and intent of federal Bill C-19, which eliminated the long-gun registry," Trevors said during ministers' statements.

Firearms dealers will be instructed to start new ledgers, which include information only on prohibited and restricted firearms, he said.

The changes take effect immediately, he said.

Up until now, firearms dealers have been recording long-gun purchase transactions, as well as purchases of prohibited and restricted firearms.

The provincial government's chief firearms officer will instruct dealers on how to deal with their old ledgers, which include the long-gun information they no longer need to record, as well as the prohibited and restricted firearms information they must continue to record, said Trevors.

"The provincial government was never collecting long-gun owner information, and we will not create a provincial long-gun registry," he said.

"We respect the directive of our federal partners, and we will ensure that it is carried out."

C-19 became law last month. The new law requires the RCMP to delete all the data in the registry, and requires each provincial firearms office to destroy records under its control, which the province of Quebec is fighting in court so it can keep the records on Quebecers.