Supporters of keeping the gun registry cited that better gun controls would prevent events such as the Dawson College shooting in 2006 and the Ecole Polytechnique massacre in 1989 . One of the victims of the Dawson shooting also challenged Harper for a debate on gun control . Among the groups opposed to the Conservatives plan included the Canadian Auto Workers and the Quebec Women 's Federation . A study from Swiss research group , Graduate Institute of International Studies , also cited , in a report called Small Arms Survey 2006 , that maintaining the gun registry was more cost effective saving Canada up to $ 1.4 billion a year in costs associated with gun violence while citing a sharp decrease in the number of gun deaths and injuries
Dawson College shooting
Dawson College shooting
Domestic policy of the Stephen Harper government