OTTAWA

One of Canada's top gun law specialists is taking aim at provincial efforts he believes are undermining the federal government's dismantling of the long-gun registry.

Ontario's chief firearms officer wrote to gun shop owners last month to tell them they had to keep detailed records of everyone who buys hunting rifles.

Lawyer Ed Burlew said that still maintains most of the data contained in the federal long-gun registry that was scrapped last month.

"This really defeats the purpose of the newly enacted (federal) legislation," he said. "A registry is not defined as a centralized databank of information. It¹s any official recording."

He is also concerned that the records gun shops must keep are property of the firearms officer.

Burlew adds that he takes no comfort in Premier Dalton McGuinty¹s assurances that the provincial government doesn't intend to use the data collected by gun shops as the backbone of a formal provincial registry in the future.

"I think that¹s a valid statement ­ this week," Burlew said, noting McGuinty can always change his mind.

That echoes the concerns of Progressive Conservative MPP John Yakabuski.

"That's our concern, that the next request is for centralization and compilation of this data," Yakabuski said Wednesday. "If it is, that's a gun registry by provincial name."

Federal Safety Minister Vic Toews said he won¹t help provinces create provincial long-gun registries, but he won't stand in their way either.

"I don't know specifically what provincial authorities in Ontario are doing, or under what authority they're doing it," Toews said. "All I can say is that they are not entitled to use information that was collected pursuant the federal criminal law power."

Burlew said Toews's job isn't done until he orders provincial firearms officers to stop demanding the collection of firearms-buyers' information.

"You can't just enact legislation and then not give the command to those officials under your command," Burlew said.