Hunters rally against Quebec long-gun registry in downtown Montreal

About 100 people gathered at Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle in Montreal Saturday to protest the provincial long-gun registry that came into effect Jan. 29.

The demonstrators want Premier François Legault to abandon the registry and instead invest in mental health services.

According to a statement put out by the group behind the protest, the registry is "ineffective" and paints hunters as would-be criminals.

Firearms can be registered by mail or online. The process is free. Once the weapons are registered, gun owners will have 90 days to affix a serial number to them.

Those who do not register their firearms can face fines of up to $5,000.

The government has put the number of long guns — mostly shotguns and rifles — in Quebec at roughly 1.6 million.

Gun-control advocates, such as survivors of the Polytechnique shooting of 1989, have spoken out in support of the registry, urging the provincial government to enforce the law.

The province started working to create its own long-gun registry after the federal registry was dismantled in 2012.

The accompanying legislation, Bill 64, was adopted by the National Assembly in June 2016 with cross-party support.