Federal government adds changes to the Firearms Act

Canada's firearms regulations continue their descent into a Byzantine hell, with more changes to the Firearms Act regulations. On June 26, the Liberal government announced updates which might sound good to the uninformed at first glance. On closer examination, many of the changes will cause problems for firearms owners and the businesses that serve them.

These changes are all tied to Bill C-71, the Liberal government's planned overhaul of the Firearms Act. The government's explanation of the changes (see the list here) says these must take place in order to make C-71 work.

Changes that affect businesses

Cutting through the legal jargon, the regulatory changes say that businesses must now keep track of any firearm that comes through their door for any purpose. This doesn't just mean recording the details on all firearms sold by Bob's Gun Shop (a hypothetical example). If Bob's Gun Shop mounts a scope, replaces a firing pin, changes a stock, whatever, then the business must record the details of the firearm that came into its possession. Specifically, the business must record "Manufacturer, make, model, type of firearm, classification, action, gauge or caliber, barrel length, magazine capacity (in the case of a fixed magazine), and all serial numbers found on the frame and receiver."

The business would also be required to keep records of the shippers, and of what it did with the firearms in its possession: "Manufacture, importation, exportation, purchase, alteration, repair, storage, exhibition, deactivation, destruction, sale, barter, donation, consignment, pawn, or any other category related to the possession or disposal of the firearm, and the date on which the change occurred."

Then, "Businesses would be required to retain the possession and disposal records for 20 years from the record's creation."

Already, the firearms rights activists are saying these regulation changes are effectively creating a new gun registry, with onus, responsibility and cost of record-keeping on firearms businesses. It is hard to disagree with that statement.

Changes for firearms owners

There are several changes for individual firearms owners as well. Now, for transfers "The buyer would be required to provide the information contained on the front of the buyer's firearms licence card to the vendor (licence number, name, date of birth, date of expiration, height, gender, and eye colour). Businesses would then provide the buyer's information to the RCMP-CFP through an online portal or through a telephone call to the CFP's Call Centre. If the buyer's firearms licence is valid, the business will receive a reference number. If the licence is invalid, the request will be denied, and flagged to the applicable CFO for follow-up."

So, before buying a firearm, a purchaser must give the seller the details on their PAL. Then the seller must contact the Firearms Program and get authorization to transfer a firearm. This will also apply to private individual-to-individual sales.

Obviously, this will disrupt all sorts of private firearms sales, and also introduce another layer of complexity and inefficiency to firearms business dealings. As Alberta lawyer Ian Runkle points out in the video below, it also potentially enables identity theft. Individuals posing as private sellers will now have access to potential buyers' private details.

There are other changes to the Firearms Act regulations, including the announcement of a lifetime background check for firearms licence holders. How this background check will deter those who illegally procure firearms is unclear.

The bottom line

In summary, after reading through the updated regulations here (again, ably explained by Ian Runkle below), it seems it's about to be much more difficult to buy and sell firearms in Canada. And, there are supposed to be even more changes coming this fall …

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