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President’s
Message
Registration and Other Problems
by Sheldon Clare
The Conservatives have a problem. The government has
committed to terminate the registration of long arms in
the first 100 days of Parliament. By the time you read
this column that time should have passed and registration
should be gone. If that’s the case we can be pleased
that there has finally been some measure of rolling back
Canada’s regressive firearms laws.
However, the problem for the Conservatives is that the
firearms community expects that there will be action
on the rest of the Firearms Act. Despite the passionate
arguments made in opposition by no less than Stephen
Harper, among others, that Bill C-68 must repealed, the
recent spin has been that “all we committed to do was
end registration.” Unfortunately for the Conservatives,
firearms owners are well aware that registration is probably
one of the least egregious aspects of the Firearms Act.
The underlying philosophy that guns are bad and that
some guns are really bad remains very much entrenched
in government. The intensive activity by the RCMP
Firearms Program to have more firearms listed as
prohibited and restricted before the law changes is a
strong indication of that situation. It is becoming clear
that there are significant divisions in the Conservatives
regarding firearms law. It is not a consistent approach to
support additional policing resources and more punitive
laws for gun crime, while at the same time advocating for
improved individual rights and freedoms.
Many of us have thought that since we aren’t criminals,
then it is okay to support anti-crime agendas; however,
when one realizes the sweeping nature of the laws that
remain as part of the Criminal Code’s Firearm Act,
enhanced police powers look rather disconcerting. For an
obvious example, it is clear that most firearms owners do
not consider having an expired possession and acquisition
license to be grounds for criminal charges and permanent
loss of prohibited firearms, but that is what may happen
under our law - amnesties notwithstanding.
Yet, this has been the position in which gun owners find
themselves since 1995, when the Liberals made it an
actual crime under the Firearms Act to possess firearms in
Canada without a license. With a stroke of the proverbial
pen the Liberals transformed what most average citizens
would normally regard as a simple administrative issue,
arguably not even worthy of a token fine along the lines
of a parking violation, into a serious criminal code
offence with real jail time attached. This is unacceptable.
Similarly, Kim Campbell’s earlier legislation, Bill C-17
was also extremely damaging, and likewise deserves
repeal. The guiding principle for firearms law reform
must be that the peaceful possession of arms should not
be a crime.
At the same time, gun control advocates continue to
hold that preventing gun violence remains a legitimate
argument for further gun bans, despite the lack of efficacy
displayed by their flagship C-68 anti-gun legislation. But
on the surface of it, who isn’t against violence? Certainly,
Canadian gun owners are one of the most law-abiding
demographics in Canada and they remain outspoken
critics of the criminal misuse of firearms. Note the
difference between the two positions.
As I wrote recently to a researcher at Ryerson regarding
a proposal for firearms violence research, most firearm
owners would be in favour of armed self defence, as both
a reasonable and responsible reaction to criminal threats.
It is important to realize that defensive use of firearms
could include violence, and most people who understand
defensive use of arms would thus be completely in favour
of using violence to stop violence, or threats of it when
such a response is necessary. After all, when someone
encounters a bad person with a firearm, one’s natural
reaction is to protect oneself with another firearm, or
get someone who will perform that service. Often anti-
6 March - April www.nfa.ca