On April 29, 2022, Bill Blair, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, put through two Orders in Council under Bill C-71 to amend the Firearms Act that will take effect on May 18, 2022.
The amendments impact sections 5, 7, 9-11, 13 (1) (3) and 14.
There are some changes with the Authorization to Transport (ATT) process for handguns, but the most notable change is with long guns.
As of May 18, all sales of long guns, whether purchased from an individual or store, or ownership transferred between family members, will need to be registered through the RCMP with a reference number.
Authorization to transfer non-restricted firearms
23 (1) A person may transfer one or more non-restricted firearms if, at the time of the transfer,
Marginal note:Information — transferee’s licence
(2) The transferee shall provide to the transferor the prescribed information that relates to the transferee’s licence, for the purpose of enabling the transferor to request that the Registrar issue a reference number for the transfer.
Marginal note:Reference number
(3) The Registrar shall issue a reference number if he or she is satisfied that the transferee holds and is still eligible to hold a licence authorizing them to acquire and possess a non-restricted firearm.
Marginal note:Period of validity
Marginal note:Registrar not satisfied
(5) If the Registrar is not satisfied as set out in subsection (3), he or she may so inform the transferor.
Marginal note:
There are additional new requirements for businesses that sell long guns that includes keeping records of the sale for a period of 20 years.
Conditions — licence issued to business
58.1 (1) A chief firearms officer who issues a licence to a business must attach the following conditions to the licence:
(a) the business must record and, for the prescribed period, keep the prescribed information that relates to the business’ possession and disposal of non-restricted firearms;
(b) the business must record and — for a period of 20 years from the day on which the business transfers a non-restricted firearm, or for a longer period that may be prescribed — keep the following information in respect of the transfer:
(c) the business must, unless otherwise directed by a chief firearms officer, transmit any records containing the information referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) to a prescribed official if it is determined that the business will cease to be a business.
These changes were put through without explanation and without justification. They were put through without an opportunity for debate nor was there any public input. With the Liberal government’s track record of stomping on rights, blatant tracking of individuals without a warrant, failure to provide transparency and illegal actions by party members, one must wonder what the motivation was behind these actions.
What do firearms rights groups have to say about this?
The following is the statement from the CSAAA (Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association) on May 11, 2022:
Important Update Regarding Bill C71
It has been confirmed by Public Safety and the CFP that Bill C71 will in fact come into effect in one week, on Wednesday, May 18th of 2022 at midnight.
As of midnight on May 18th, businesses and individuals wishing to transfer/sell a non-restricted firearm will be required to obtain a “reference number” through the Business (or individual) Web Services.
The buyer will not be responsible for obtaining this reference number.
The call center will be available from 9am-5pm nationally as an alternative to the web services.
This reference number should be automatically generated if nothing is flagged through the buyer/transferee’s firearm license number.
The seller and buyer/transferee must remain consistent with each reference number. An additional reference number must be obtained if a buyer/transferee wishes to purchase a firearm from a different seller.
Reference numbers will be valid for a total of 90 days, unless revoked during that time period. The buyer will be notified and asked to contact their CFO if their reference number has been revoked.
Businesses will not be required to enter any firearm specific information when transferring a non-restricted firearm.
This reference number is required for firearms only, and will not be required for ammunition purchases.
CSAAA requested that a tutorial on this new system be made available for our industry members. We should expect to see this tutorial available as of Monday, May 16th. We will notify our members as soon as this tutorial is available.
We have made it clear to CFP and Public Safety that this system will not work for gun shows and trade shows. CSAAA suggested an “on demand” call center for such events. No such services are available at this time, but we will be following up on this.
Members are welcome to email, call or text if they require any further clarification.
CFP will be issuing a letter to firearm businesses and the CFOs by email and mail today reviewing the full business requirements for record keeping once Bill C71 comes into force on May 18th, 2022.
The CCFR (Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights) published this statement, dated May 11, 2022:
Liberals reintroduce registry, C71 measures
Canadians are once again subjected to expensive and ineffective measures to further regulate licensed, legal gun owners, while the Liberal government turns a blind eye to the very real and increasing street crime being committed by criminals with illicitly smuggled guns.
Since the election campaign back in 2015 (page 54 of the pdf), the Trudeau Liberals have vowed not to reintroduce a long gun registry due to the massive expense and its failure to prevent or solve a single violent crime. Today they broke that promise by re-introducing a registration process for sales of legal firearms and a requirement of gun stores to retain records for two decades. Not only are these measures ineffective at reducing crime, they put licensed gun owners in direct danger due to the sharing of their private information. This reckless policy will undoubtedly lead to an increase in fraud, break ins and thefts.
The Liberals have gone a step further by allowing law enforcement the ability to determine their own “reasonable circumstances” to access these highly sensitive and personal records. There will be no warrant needed.
More than 80% of crime guns in Canada are illegally smuggled across the border using a variety of methods including rail, shipping and individual smuggling operations, most recently using drones. Law enforcement, CBSA and experts from across the country have repeatedly asked for resources to curb the smuggling of illicit firearms that directly fuel the violence we see in cities and towns from coast to coast, and yet this unconscionable, hyper-political Liberal government continues to use legal gun owners and their firearms as a wedge to divide Canadians.
In Mendicino’s statement, he makes several false statements and protests those who would call the Liberals latest regulation a “registry”. He does this while describing an obvious registry run by a Registrar.
Mendicino also welcomed the leaders of all the anti gun lobby groups to attend this announcement and thanked them for their work in helping to further regulate legal gun owners.
Canadians know, and the evidence is clear, registries, gun bans and record keeping does not reduce crime and violence. We need real solutions in our communities and this government refuses to act.
You can count on the CCFR to continue to oppose these useless and dangerous policies while demanding credible action to reduce violence and illicit smuggling.
Canadians deserve better.
You can help
Read more on this from our industry partner, the CSAAA:https://www.csaaa.org/2022/05/11/important-update-regarding-bill-c71
Watch Mendicino’s press conference: https://youtu.be/a9bDTAbSPMs
Watch Rod in our lastest podcast discussing this: https://youtu.be/tcnPB2NrzaI
Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights
