OTTAWA, ON – NEWS – The Honourable Greg Rickford, Member of Parliament for Kenora, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, today marked the passage of Bill C-42, the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act, through third reading in the House of Commons. The bill will now proceed to the Senate.
“Our Government has always stood up for law-abiding hunters, farmers and sport-shooters in Northern Ontario and across Canada. While opposition parties opposed us every step of the way, we successfully scrapped the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry. With the passage of the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act, we are following through on our plan to simplify and provide clarity to the firearms regime, while keeping communities safe and secure,” stated Minister Greg Rickford, MP-Kenora, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
In a telephone interview with Minister Rickford, he commented that issues with the firearms file have been a huge on in Northwestern Ontario. The Minister commented that the actions of Northern Ontario New Democrat MPs in voting against the legislation shocked him.
Minister Rickford commented that while Thunder Bay Rainy River MP John Rafferty had voted for the legislation dismantling the long gun registry, that seems to be far off the MP’s plate now as he voted against the Conservative bill on firearm issues.
The Harper Government introduced the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act in the House of Commons on Oct. 7, 2014, to help achieve our goal of cutting red tape for law-abiding firearms owners and enshrining safe and sensible firearms policies in law.
Changes to the Criminal Code and the classification regime would ensure the rights of lawful firearms owners are respected.
Quick Facts
The amendments to the Firearms Act and Criminal Code would:
- Create a six-month grace period at the end of the five-year licensing period to stop people from immediately becoming criminalized for paperwork delays around license renewals;
- Streamline the licensing system by eliminating the Possession Only License (POL) and converting all existing POLS to Possession and Acquisition Licenses (PALs);
- Make classroom participating in firearms safety training mandatory for first time license applicants;
- Amend the Criminal Code to strengthen the provisions relating to orders prohibiting the possession of firearms where a person is convicted of an offence involving domestic violence;
- End needless paperwork around Authorizations to Transport by making them a condition of a license for certain routine and lawful activities;
- Authorize firearms import information sharing when restricted and prohibited firearms are imported into Canada by businesses; and
- Allow the government to have the final say on classification decisions, following the receipt of independent expert advice.
