The Canadian government is looking at a new set of arms control measures, including a national freeze on the import, purchase and / or sale of weapons.
The announcement came days after a mass shooting in Texas killed 19 students and two teachers.
But in Kelowna, Dan Shemley of Great North Precision says legal gun owners are not the problem.
“It’s quite difficult to see something like this in the news, but I don’t want to live it. I don’t want to shoot anyone, but we need to address the basic issues. In most cases, it’s mental health, it’s the people who have access to a firearm who shouldn’t be, “Shemley said.
BC Wildlife Federation executive director Jesse Zeman said some are taking the political opportunity to compare gun crime in the U.S. to the situation in Canada, which is not supported by the data.
“Ninety per cent of the crimes come from weapons that have been smuggled into Canada. So from our perspective, if 90 per cent of the crime comes from the south of the border, we have to make sure that that these guns don’t end up in Canada, ”Zeman said.
“And then we also have to catch people who use illegal firearms, and that’s where the Canadian government should focus its resources.”
Zeman says negative comments from elected officials about legal gun owners give a misinterpretation of a massive majority of people who are honest citizens and want to see used weapons as safely as possible.
“I think it’s very important that people who don’t have guns understand what a legal gun owner is going through. It’s a multi-month process with a course, testing, background checks, background checks. “Criminal record, references … It’s very important for everyone to know that what’s happening south of the border has nothing to do with what’s happening on that side of the border,” Zeman said.
Key elements of the Liberal government’s gun control announcement on Monday:
– A national freeze on the import, purchase, sale or transfer of weapons, with very limited exceptions;
– Automatic withdrawal of weapons licenses from persons committing domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as harassment;
– Increase the maximum penalties for smuggling and arms trafficking from 10 to 14 years;
– Authorize the disclosure of information on gun license holders to the police if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the license is being used for the purchase of straw and the trafficking of firearms;
– A new “red flag” law that allows courts to require people who consider themselves dangerous to themselves or others to hand over their firearms to the police, including a measure to protect the safety of people who they request during the process, often women at risk of domestic abuse, protecting their identities;
– Demand that long-range magazines be permanently altered so that they may never contain more than five cartridges, as well as prohibit the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines in accordance with the Penal Code;
– Creating a crime for a business that promotes or represents violence against a person in gun advertising.
with archives of The Canadian Press
Do you have an opinion? Send it to [email protected]