NDP shot themselves in the foot!

What do we elect a politician for?
Simply put, to represent the majority of the constituents.
Mr. John Rafferty is our federal Member of Parliament and from what I have seen is sincere when it comes to doing just that.
In this riding it has been no secret for the past decade or longer that the federal Long Gun Registry has not been a popular program. Many people in the region felt that they as law-abiding gun owners were being punished for the acts of a few... or worse yet painted to be villains for having guns.
Growing up here, I was one of the few in my group of friends that did not hunt. It was not that I was against it, I just never took it up.
However, I was around many friends who did, and sometimes went with them when they went with them as they searched for game. They were always careful to keep their guns unloaded and in a case when transporting them. At their homes all guns were accounted for and locked up. When the registry was implemented many of them felt like the wrong people were being targeted by government.
So when Rafferty stood up this past fall to vote with the Tory majority to abolish the registry, many constituents cheered him on for doing his job.
Then last week he did the same thing to the same praise.
However, the leader of his party, the New Democrats, immediately sanctioned him and another NDP MP for opposing the party line on the issue.
To me it seems like the NDP shot themselves in the foot. Isn't the name of their party New DEMOCRATIC Party? What's democratic about forcing an MP to vote against the majority of people's wishes in his or her riding?
I tip my hat to Mr. Rafferty for standing up for the people and not the party. If more politicians did this perhaps the public would not be so cynical when it comes to the entire democratic process.
–Until then,
Ken