PolySeSouvient, a leading gun control advocacy group, accuses the federal government of watering down its promise to ensure new models of firearms are properly inspected before entering the Canadian market .
The Liberal government in Ottawa recently released draft regulations aimed at ensuring that all makes and models of firearms for sale in Canada are known to the Federal Registrar of Firearms.
Companies that import or manufacture firearms are currently not obliged to share technical specifications with authorities, meaning it is technically possible for weapons to be placed on the market for sale without having been fully assessed.
The proposed regulations would require companies to provide certain data to the Registrar before importing or manufacturing a batch of firearms, such as make, model, firing capacity, caliber, barrel length, type stock and if the weapon can accept a detachable magazine.
Upon request, companies should also be able to provide tracking details. They would also be forced to keep documents that prove they provided information to the registrar, whose work is supported by the firearms program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
However, businesses would not have to wait for a response from the Registrar, which would ensure that there is no disruption to a business’s supply chains or operations.
PolySeSouvient, which has long called for stricter gun laws, requested that federal authorities collect this data from companies, but also conduct a technical evaluation of a firearm before it reaches the Canadian market.
The group believes this would be the best way to ensure that a restricted, or even prohibited, firearm is not misclassified as an unrestricted firearm suitable for hunting.
He points to a 2023 episode in which the RCMP asked owners to surrender fully automatic military surplus firearms after hundreds of them were misidentified and allowed into Canada for commercial sale.
A federal analysis released late last month, alongside the proposed new measures, says the regulations would “partially address” the group’s concerns, but would fall short of calls for physical inspection of all firearms before their entry into the Canadian market.
The government is inviting public comment on the proposed regulations until February 11.
“Very disappointing” approach
In a statement, PolySeSouvient argued that the planned measures do not respect the commitment of the former Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc.
During testimony before a Senate committee in October 2023, Mr. LeBlanc said regulatory changes would be made “to impose a mandatory physical inspection by the RCMP of all new models of firearms before they are placed on the market.” Canadian market.
“These regulatory measures will ensure that no firearm enters the Canadian market without having been properly listed or classified by the competent government authorities,” he assured.
David McGuinty, an Ottawa MP, recently took over from Mr. LeBlanc as Minister of Public Safety. Rachel Bendayan, an MP from Montreal, has been named associate minister of public security.
PolySeSouvient calls the approach Ottawa plans to take “very disappointing,” arguing that the new regulations would simply mean that the RCMP would have the technical information in its possession.
“There is no new requirement for the RCMP to verify and certify that an unrestricted model is correctly classified before entering the market, meaning that misclassifications will continue,” the group said.
“As before, the RCMP will be in catch-up mode when reviewing technical data. »
