Gun politics in Canada

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Gun politics

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Gun politics in Canada is controversial, though less contentious than it is in the United States. The history of gun control in Canada dates from the early days of Confederation, when Justices of the Peace could impose penalties for carrying a handgun without reasonable cause.^[1] Criminal Code of Canada amendments between the 1890s and the 1970s gradually increased the controls on firearms, while in the late 1970s and 1990s significant increases in controls occurred. A 1996 study showed that Canada was in the mid-range of firearm ownership when compared with eight other western nations. Nearly 22% of Canadian households had at least one firearm.^[2]

Contents 1 History of gun politics in Canada 2 Laws and regulation 3 Other 4 Violent crime in Canada 5 Complex political situation 6 Notes and references 7 See also

[edit] History of gun politics in Canada

The following is a summary of the history of gun control laws in Canada:^[3][4]

• The Criminal Code of Canada enacted in 1892, required individuals to have a permit to carry a pistol unless the owner had cause to fear assault or injury. It was an offence to sell a pistol to anyone under 16. Vendors who sold handguns had to keep records, including purchaser's name, the date of sale and a description of the gun.
• In the 1920s, permits became necessary for all firearms newly acquired by foreigners.
• Legislation in 1934 required the registration of handguns with records identifying the owner, the owner's address and the firearm. Registration certificates were issued and records kept by the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or by other police forces designated by provincial Attorneys General.
• In 1947, the offence of “constructive murder” was added to the Criminal Code for offences resulting in death, when the offender carried a firearm. This offence was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in a 1987 case called R. v. Vaillancourt
• Automatic weapons were added to the category of firearms that had to be registered in 1951. The registry system was centralized under the Commissioner of the RCMP.
• In 1969, Bill C-150 created categories of “non-restricted,” “restricted” and “prohibited” weapons. Police were also given preventive powers of search and seizure by judicial warrant if they had grounds to believe that weapons that belonged to an individual endangered the safety of society.
• In 1977, Bill C-51 required Firearms Acquisition Certificates (FACs) for the acquisition (but not possession) of all firearms and introduced controls on the selling of ammunition. FAC applicants were required to pass a basic criminal record check before being issued an FAC. Fully automatic weapons were also prohibited.
• In 1991, Bill C-17 tightened up restrictions and established controls on any firearms that had a military or paramilitary appearance. Legislation also made changes to the FAC system. FAC applicants were now required to pass a firearms safety course, pass a more thorough background check, and wait a minimum of 28 days aftering applying for an FAC before being issued one. Also an FAC was now required to purchase a crossbow. Finally in addition to the above changes, laws were put into place that restricted ownership of high capacity magazines, limiting handguns to 10 rounds and most semi-automatic rifles to 5. The restrictions did not cover rimfire rifles or manual (e.g.: bolt action rifles). Provinces have the choice to opt-out of this regulation.
• In 1995, Bill C-68 introduced new, stricter, gun control legislation. The current legislation provides harsher penalties for crimes involving firearm use, licenses to possess and acquire firearms, and registration of all firearms, including shotguns and rifles.^[3] This legislation was upheld by the Supreme Court in Reference re Firearms Act (2000). The FAC system was replaced with Possession Only Licenses (POLs) and Possession and Acquisition Licenses (PALs). Referring to Bill C-68, John Dixon, a former advisor to Justice Minister John Tate, stated that the Firearms Act was not public safety policy, but rather an election ploy by the Liberals intended to help defeat Prime Minister Kim Campbell.^[5]
• As of 2006, while legislation is still in place, the government is no longer asking long gun owners for a registration fee and will not prosecute long gun owners who do not register at all.^[6]

[edit] Laws and regulation

By law, a potential customer must be 18 years of age or older to purchase a firearm or legally maintain possession of one. Citizens of Canada under the age of 18 but over the age of 12 may procure a Minor’s Licence which does not allow them to purchase a firearm but allows them to borrow a firearm unsupervised and purchase ammunition. Children under the age of 12 that are found to need a firearm to hunt or trap may also be awarded the Minor's Licence. This is generally reserved for children in remote locations, primarily aboriginal communities that engage in sustenance hunting.^[7]

By law, as of January 1, 2001 all firearms in Canada must legally be registered with the Canadian gun registry. Soon after being elected, Stephen Harper's Conservative Party of Canada announced an amnesty period of one year in which all long gun owners would not be punished for not registering their long guns. The legal requirement to register as set forth by law has not been revoked.^[8]

[edit] Other

It has been estimated that as many as 5 million gun-owning Canadians have not registered their firearms. As of June 2003, only 6.4 million firearms had been registered, despite a 1974 estimate of 10 million guns in Canada. In February 2003, the government announced plans to strengthen the administration of the gun control program. Two days before the election in May 2004, the government dropped all fees for transferring firearms. Currently, all provinces and territories, with the exception of Quebec, oppose the registry and refuse to prosecute violators.^{[citation needed]}

Supporters of the firearms registry argue that it makes no sense to abandon the project midstream. Opponents point out that the massive error rate and the non-compliance by violent criminals with the legislation indicates there is little hope of future success. They further claim that their fears that registration would inevitably be used for confiscation of legally owned firearms have been proven by small scale confiscation of some types of firearms and the Liberals' promise to confiscate all handguns if elected in the 2006 general election.^{[citation needed]}

The gun control program continues to be supported at an estimated cost of $100 million per year. To date, while the Firearms Act and Regulation keeps track of legal firearms owners and provides criminal penalties for those who fail to keep the government advised of their current address, there is no registry of offenders who are prohibited from owning firearms or a requirement that they keep the government advised of their place of residence.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Violent crime in Canada

Canada did not have serious gun control until the late 1970s. The homicide rate in Canada has been stable or declining since (e.g., the homicide rate has declined 40% from 1991-2004) while several other categories of crime, such as violent crime, increased until the 1990s and then began to decline.^[9]

[edit] Complex political situation

Matters of gun politics are further complicated by factors such as different police bodies and the role of provincial jurisdictions in gun law applications. Long before the present federal laws were enacted the two biggest provinces, Ontario and Quebec (with more than half of the Canadian population between them) had very strict provincial firearm registration systems. Again unlike the other provinces, Ontario and Quebec have separate provincial police forces (much like the larger state police forces in the US) while all other provinces have the federally-controlled Royal Canadian Mounted Police doing all police work outside the big cities. Thus, groups who might have normally opposed (or favoured) gun control in other circumstances find themselves in the other camp because of their desire to uphold provincial rights (or the identity of Quebec society) against federal centralization or vice versa. Thus, some provincial groups who might have opposed gun control because of the nature of their normal philosophical stance, had they been located in the US, are often in a political situation where they are asking for even stricter controls than those called for by the federal government, with the provision of course that application of these controls be left in provincial hands. It has to be recognized, however, that gun politics is not the flagship issue for the political right in Canada that it is in the US. In Canada, it is more of a rural versus urban issue. But this may be because the U.S. has a much larger rural population than Canada as a percentage of the total population.

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] See also

• Canadian gun registry
• Possession and Acquisition Licence