Trudeau Says Government Will Tighten Storage Requirements

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government plans to tighten storage requirements for firearms in Canada.

The comments were broadcast on CPAC as Trudeau answered questions about the fallout from recent murders of police officers in Ontario. When asked what the Liberal government would do to address the problem of repeat criminals acquiring illegal handguns, the PM's answer was that the government needed to do more to keep communities safe, and that the federals had stepped up gun control and tightened the border to keep illegal firearms out.

From there, we got a few quotes about the Liberals' ban on handgun sales (which Trudeau seems to think is already in effect?) and the Order in Council firearms seizures (which Trudeau called a buyback of assault weapons). After that, Trudeau told reporters that one of the ways criminals get their hands on firearms in Canada is by stealing them from retailers or from legal firearms owners. As a result, Trudeau said the Liberals plan tighten the regulations concerning firearms storage:

"We are also bringing in stronger measures to strengthen the rules and the conditions of storage," he told reporters. "The vast majority of gun owners in this country follow safe storage rules, but we need to make sure everyone does, and we're strengthening those rules as well."

What might the changes look like?

What will the new rules look like? It's impossible to say for sure, but there are three possibilities. One, Trudeau could only be talking about storage rules for firearms affected by the Order in Council bans. This seems unlikely.

It's more likely that we are going to either see a requirement for firearms to be stored in a safe, with specs of that safe determined by government. Currently, trigger locks or similar locking deactivation methods are all that's needed for storage, and the government may wish to change this.

Or, maybe we'll simply see a re-writing of existing storage laws (see the RCMP's web page explaining current storage rules here). This could be portrayed as a move to tighten things up, but only really serve to clarify (or confuse) existing wording.

It's also possible we'll see a move towards central storage requirements. This has long been a rumoured desire of the Liberal government, with firearms stored at a police lock-up or similar location, not the owners' home. The sheer logistical nightmare of such a move, not to mention the pushback from lawful gun owners, would seem to make this an unlikely scenario in the near future. With western provinces already pushing back against federal firearms seizures, it's hard to see them accepting even further expensive law changes.