Dear Editor,
I appreciated the thoughtful editorial by Caleb Nickerson entitled “Bill C-71: Sensible for the most part” published in last week’s EQUITY. While Canada is one of the safest countries in the world, the reality is that gun crime has increased in recent years (a 23 per cent increase between 2015 and 2016). This pattern needs to be addressed and Bill C-71 is the first step towards doing so.
Minister Goodale’s proposal to extend background checks to include the full life history of a person, including any history of mental illness associated with violence, is a judicious measure that will, as Nickerson pointed out, address the prevalence of suicide in this country, which is often committed with a legally owned long gun.
In addition, the proposed mandatory record keeping of gun sales, which is already common practice for most major retailers, will not be an excessive burden on businesses. Our government is simply making the industry’s own best-practice standard across Canada. I want to be clear that these records will be accessible only to police officers (not governments) on reasonable grounds and with a warrant. This is not another federal gun registry.
Furthermore, this legislation proposes to restore a system in which Parliament defines firearm classes and then experts in the RCMP make the technical determination about the class into which a particular firearm falls into, without political influence. This will ensure the impartial, professional, accurate and consistent classification of firearms.
Finally, as Nickerson so justly affirms, “gun ownership in this country is a privilege, not a right, but legislation shouldn’t put undue hardship on law-abiding hunters and target shooters”. Pontiac farmers, hunters and sport shooters are among the most safety-conscious gun owners in the world. I know this for a fact having met with many gun owners in the riding. Bill C-71 proposes common-sense measures to address gun violence without infringing on the freedoms of law-abiding gun owners.
William Amos
MP for Pontiac
