SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The federal long-gun registry could soon be abolished, and Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington is looking forward to the day.

"I think this issue has been used as a political football for some time," said Bevington.

The final House of Commons vote on a private member's bill to kill the registry will take place Sept. 22. Given that NDP leader Jack Layton has stated his party will be allowed a free vote, the math seems to imply the motion will pass.

"I think it's absolutely in keeping with NDP tradition," Bevington said of the free vote, who was one of 12 NDP MPs to vote against the registry during second reading on the private member's bill when it was last up for a vote in November, 2009. It passed 169 to 137.

While he acknowledged he hasn't had an overwhelming number of public complaints regarding the registry, he said his vote against it will be in keeping with the concerns of most Northern residents.

"It's pretty clear in the NWT ... the support for changing the registry is there."

He said the registry undermines traditional practices, aboriginal rights and restricts the ease of hunting.

That's a position echoed by NWT Conservative candidate Brendan Bell.

"You'll hear from (Northerners) loud and clear that they don't want the registry," said Bell. "The money could be better spent on policing."

The RCMP conducted a report on the registry in February, which was obtained and published in other media. The Mounties say the registry is a cost-effective and important tool for law enforcement.

NWT Liberal candidate Joe Handley said he believes the police should be allowed to keep the registry.

"If it saves one life each year, it's worth it," he said.

He said it was mostly large cities in the south that would benefit from the registry with respect to crime.

Bevington contests the position of the police.

"They say it's effective, but effective for what?"

Layton announced he would be proposing a compromise in Parliament, seeking a bridge between the concerns of rural and urban Canadians.

Bevington said he could not comment on "something that hasn't been seen yet" but that he would wait and see what the party proposed.

Layton, who represents a downtown Toronto riding, has said he personally supports the registry, which was introduced in 1995 by Jean Chretien's government following the killing of 14 women at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique.

Bevington, Bell and Handley all agree the issue is a divisive one for Canadians. But Handley said the dissenting NDP MPs should vote with their leader, which could save the registry.

"These are the kinds of issues people get elected to deal with," he said.

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