In about a week, there will be a few more steps added to the process of purchasing a gun in Canada, all in the name of safety – but there are those who don’t think it’s going to do much on that front.
As of May 18, several clauses of federal Bill C-71 will come into force around what will need to be done to buy a firearm.
Currently, according to Darryl Schemenauer, owner at TnT Gunworks in Regina, a person goes into the shop with a firearm Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL).
Schemenauer will record the licence and some details from the person like their name and address, and he’ll verify that the PAL is good before completing the purchase.
The changes will add in a need to consult with the Registrar of Firearms. Whether it’s a transfer of the ownership of a gun through a store or a person-to-person purchase, the person selling or handing over the gun will need to get a reference number from the registrar.
The registrar will ask for information about the person’s licence to have a non-restricted gun and will verify that they’re eligible.
Businesses will then have to keep records for at least 20 years of the reference number, the date and the person who bought the gun, and information about the make, model and serial number of the gun. Schemenauer said he already keeps records and has for the 30 years he has been open.
For Schemenauer, this whole thing feels familiar.
“What I understand is that now when we sell a non-restricted firearm, what’s happening is it’s going back to the way the registry system was, which was a terrible and very expensive joke,” said Schemenauer.
Under the registry, Schemenauer said he or his employees had to sit on the phone for hours, potentially. The new system will be administered online but it will require an account and it’s unclear how quickly an answer will be delivered.
“They’re going back to the registry system, that’s exactly what it is. We heard that their side is saying it’s not a registry system if they’re not asking what the firearm is. But there’s a reference number attached to every purchase that you’ve made,” said Schemenauer.
A government news release states police will only have access to the business’ records on reasonable grounds and “often with judicial authorization.”
When it comes to an individual or person-to-person sales, Schemenauer asked how that is going to be regulated.
“How are they going to stop that? It makes no sense,” said Schemenauer.
The federal government called it an effort to fight gun crime.
“We are taking action to keep Canadians safe from gun violence,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in a news release.
Mendicino called them “common-sense” regulations in the release.
“Today’s regulations under Bill C-71 will help ensure that firearms do not end up in the wrong hands, assist police in tracing guns used in crime, and are part of the broader strategy to keep communities safe,” he said.
However, Schemenauer said guns, crime and criminals don’t have anything to do with it.
“They’re only going after people with a PAL,” said Schemenauer. “It’s going to be a pile of money, a pile of paperwork, a pile of numbers and stuff that really is not going to do anything to stop a bit of crime.”
Christine Tell, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, had a similar reaction. She said the provincial government doesn’t like the law changes coming into force.
“It doesn’t address the crime and public safety issues that we’re facing, whether it’s in this province or in this country,” argued Tell.
And Tell said the changes are “eerily familiar” to the long-gun registry that she called a “billion-dollar boondoggle”.
Schemenauer spoke Wednesday, before any details around the changes were announced. He said no one from the government or firearms office had mentioned anything to him about the changes.
“It’s just like a surprise, so what are we supposed to do? I guess when it comes it comes and if they phone us that day or whatever it is, I guess we just do what we’re told,” said Schemenauer.