December 05, 2013 - 3:36 PM
OTTAWA - The Conservative government has once again postponed rules on serial numbers for guns until 2015.
The decision was taken by decree in late November and posted on the Privy Council's website on Wednesday.
The announcement comes just before Friday's commemoration of the 24th anniversary of the massacre at Montreal's Ecole polytechnique, Canada's worst mass shooting.
Fourteen women were killed during gunman Marc Lepine's rampage, which led to a call for stronger gun laws.
The rules would help keep Canada in compliance with international conventions on arms smuggling.
Some gun enthusiasts have objected to the regulations because they said they would increase costs for manufacturers, who would pass the increase on to gun buyers.
The government noted in October 2012 that the repeal of the long-gun registry has created a gap in Canada's international obligations with regard to two protocols on arms smuggling.
The government posting of the measures in the Canada Gazette said that ensuring most firearms in Canada had unique serial numbers would meet some of the specifications of those international protocols.
The Conservative government, which scrapped the gun registry created in response to the Ecole polytechnique killings, has delayed the serial numbers measure at least four times.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013