Alberta names Dr. Teri-Jane Bryant as new CFO

Alberta has a new chief firearms officer. Dr. Teri-Jane Bryant takes on the job, as the first provincially-appointed person in that role. Previously, the federal government controlled Alberta's chief firearms officer position.

Dr. Bryant is a well-known shooting community insider. She's served as director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, president of the Military Collectors Club of Canada, and secretary of the Alberta Arms and Cartridge Collectors Association. She also runs NambuWorld.com, a website detailing history and other details of Japanese-made Nambu automatic pistols (a common World War II bring-back item). That website has details of her personal collection and gun show displays.

Dr. Bryant was a faculty member at the University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business; she retired in 2015.

Along with her work for volunteer orgs, Dr. Bryant was a member of the Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee, starting in 2020. As such, she should be well familiar with the inernal machinations of provincial government bureaucracy.

The move to a provincially-appointed CFO came after the Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee heard considerable discontent from the province's shooters over 2020's Order in Council firearms bans and other federal gun control.

"A comment we heard over and over again when talking to Albertans through the Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee was that Alberta needs a provincial chief firearms officer," said Committee chair, Michaela Glasgo, MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat. "I believe appointing Teri Bryant is a smart step – she is a talented and knowledgeable leader who is an extremely valuable member of the committee. I know she will work hard to get a fair deal for Albertans. It’s a challenging time to be a firearms owner in Alberta, and Ms. Bryant can provide a strong voice to stand up for our way of life and personal responsibility.”

The province's press release says "As chief firearms officer, Bryant will demonstrate that public safety and a flourishing firearms community are mutually complementary goals. She will ensure that we preserve for future generations a firearms heritage that reflects Alberta’s values of safety, responsibility and respect for individual rights." Translation: Alberta's current government might be wresting some control back from the feds, but they aren't throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Firearms safety is still a priority for the program.

However, the comments from the province's politicos must be of some encouragement to firearms owners, especially the words from Dr Bryant: "As a lifelong firearms collector and enthusiast, I could not be more excited for this opportunity to represent Albertans and stand up for our province’s way of life and lawful firearms culture. I cannot wait to meet with other passionate Albertans ... to find out how we can get a fair deal for Albertans."

In fact, Canadian shooters could look at this as a bit of a tidal change. Alberta is the second province in two years to appoint a provincially-selected CFO, choosing someone with a practical knowledge of firearms from a sporting/collector perspective. Back in 2020, Saskatchewan chose Robert Freberg to head up its provincial firearms program. Instead of a law enforcement/bureaucratic background, Freberg had served as a volunteer with the Saskattoon Wildlife Federation for more than 40 years (including a role as president), along with a stint on the board of directors for the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and as an RPAL/PAL safety instructor. It seems Alberta just chose a CFO cut from the same cloth.