Legal firearm ownership in Canada

By Kati Panasiuk

Blitz Reporter

Gun laws in Canada are a questionable topic when it comes to responsible ownership of firearms and whether they are efficient at keeping the public safe.

The Liberal Party of Canada has listed their new policy changes on their website, which they intend to implement in the course of their riding. While most changes are widely acceptable in the firearms community, people like Nathan Soucie worry some of the changes are impractical.

“Look at the statistics,” Soucie said. “Compared to the United States, we are a far safer country when it comes to gun violence. Does that mean we need more laws to continue to make it safer? No, we are at an equal part right now, where gun crime and crime in general has decreased over the last 10 years, year by year, over and over again.”

According to Statistics Canada, victims of firearm-related violent crimes have fallen each year. There has been 1,800 fewer gun related incidents in 2012 compared to the 2009 reports. It has resulted in a 27 per cent decrease in the overall findings of firearm-related crimes.

Soucie has been employed at General Gun & Supply for five years. Soucie said the changes they want to make on implementing the imported gun marking regulations is ridiculous.

“They want to take a gun that is already serialized and laser engrave or stamp ‘CAN’ on each individual firearm saying it came into Canada,” said Souice. “That right there would drive up the cost of guns by $200 or $300 per gun. By the time that you pay the labor to have someone come in, mark each individual gun and put it back out would be a waste of time and resources. If we did stamp it, it is going to rust. It is just a problem that is not going to solve anything.”

The Liberal Party of Canada is also planning on investing more in border infrastructure and Constable Broeckel of the Windsor Police Training Facility said he likes the idea of more money coming to aid the removal of illegal guns off the street.

“From a police perceptive, I don’t see gun ownership a problem in Canada,” said Broeckel. “I can say that from responding to calls. You don’t see someone take their shotgun that they bought from Canadian Tire and go do a robbery. Usually that’s a gun that has been stolen.”

Shawn Teskey is a registered gun owner. Teskey said while Canadian laws may seem strict, they are in place to ensure not just legal ownership but responsible ownership.

“Surprisingly, I find myself agreeing with a lot of what the liberals propose,” said Teskey. “At the end of the day, the saying is true, guns do not kill people, people kill people!”

Teskey said guns are inanimate objects that, when stored correctly, are no more harmful then a baseball bat.

“They cannot load, nor carry themselves,” said Teskey. “Perhaps people should be educated in what it means to be a proper owner/user of firearms, then perhaps the big stigma about guns would change.”