Police Chiefs Respond to C-21

The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs has produced their formal response to the new gun control bill, Bill C-21. The response, which is heavily laden with political tones and language, supports numerous components of the bill - such as increased red flag measures, intensified border controls, and stronger penalties for gun trafficking charges, but falls slightly short of fully endorsing the much-discusses handgun "freeze" that largely headlines the bill:

"The CACP supports a national, versus municipal patchwork approach to managing the issue of handguns in Canada. We believe that a handgun freeze is one method of reducing access to these types of firearms, while allowing existing law-abiding handgun owners to practice their sport. However, we continue to maintain that restricting lawful handgun ownership will not meaningfully
address the real issue: illegal handguns obtained from the United States that have led to the disturbing current trend in gun violence that is largely related to gangs, street gangs, and more sophisticated organized crime groups."

The CACP has continuously opposed the previously proposed federal program of supporting municipal- and provincial-level handgun bans with federal funds and legislation; measures that have been removed from Bill C-21 for obvious reasons. So it's not surprising that they continue to reiterate their support for a national approach to firearm regulation, and at no point do the CACP state that the so-called "freeze" will be effective; they merely point out that the "freeze" is one way of reducing access to pistols while allowing current owners to continue using them (which is simply a statement of fact).

The letter closes with two noteworthy comments; the first being the organization's continued withholding of comment on the "assault-style weapons" buyback while awaiting further details of said plan, and the second stipulating that while the organization agrees with C-21 "in principle," they must now focus on what these new regulations mean in practice, and what law enforcement's role in enforcing these regulations will be.

Click here to read the response PDF direct from the CACP website.

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