I have sent a ton of letters and emails concerning this most serious issue (if your a legal firearms owner) great laws for ignorant people, thugs, criminals and gangers. I received only 1 personal response, must hand it to Mr MacGregor for taking the time to respond. He does have a few blatant errors in his response that I responded with clarity and I asked him HOW exactly this will provide tools for public safety. I personally believe that there is nothing that can be done to change the minds of the crazies in power. They have something wrong in their heads, nothing we say, prove or tell them over the years sinks in, same old BS as soon as Liberals take power, its the merry go round I speak of. Attack legal gun owners and let the criminals run amuck, I reminded Mr MacGregor that immediately upon the Liberals taking power one of the first things done was stop the Conservative tough on crime legislation and now we pay terrorists large sums of money. Bill C-71 is a done deal, second reading passed already. Can only wait till 21 Oct 2019, maybe then history will repeat itself. Can't believe so many on here who called me out when JT was elected with statements about him saving our fishing/hunting and outdoor way of life have gone so silent??? I say on record we are far worse now than with Mr Harper. One good thing, I have ordered some early Xmas presents to beat any new regs or registry inbound (its not a registry because JT said so).
Mr MacGregors response;
Thank you for sharing your concerns on C-71.
I will be studying the bill very closely in the coming days and weeks to ensure it meets the basic standard of ensuring the public safety of Canadians. This bill does not bring back the divisive politics and failed policies of the past, and I want to see the legitimate concerns of rural and northern communities addressed while ensuring that police have the tools they need to keep our streets safe without imposing heavy burdens on legal gun owners. I am not looking to make this a wedge issue, as was done by previous Liberal and Conservative governments.
When applying for a Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL), the current Firearms Act does not prevent reviewing officers from considering the applicant’s history more than 5 years into the past in addition to the legislated 5-year period. This has sparked numerous court challenges which have ultimately decided that it is in the interest of public safety to include considerations beyond 5 years when making a decision. This change provides clarification which will prevent future costly litigation on an issue that has already been ruled upon.
The bill does set out a requirement for basic record keeping by businesses who sell firearms for a minimum of 20 years. This is common practice in many businesses as the information recorded is already asked for from businesses during the PAL verification process and does not require specialized software to keep. This is a tool already in use by US law enforcement to assist with determining the owner of a gun associated with a crime, as American businesses are required to keep their gun sales records indefinitely and has not shown to be financially burdensome.
Another important change that bill C-71 proposes is the requirement to verify the validity of a PAL. This system already exists in Firearms Act and is currently available for use; however, it is being adapted to become mandatory instead of optional. While the current system allows you to complete this process within minutes of speaking to an agent, I am looking for more clarification on how the anticipated increase in requests will be handled to ensure this will have minimal impact on the ease of access while avoiding major spending.
Lastly, I agree with other stakeholders who point out that this legislation is not going to resolve the issue of gang and gun violence; it is one piece of a larger puzzle. The government must tackle the epidemic of young, vulnerable people being recruited into gangs and tackle the issue of gun smuggling at the border as well as domestic theft of guns. Finally, the government should bring back the Police Recruitment Fund which would provide provinces and municipalities with additional law enforcement resources.
My New Democrat colleagues and I believe this bill is a step in the right direction, and we will push for any necessary improvements. I invite you to continue sharing your concerns so that we may better suggest amendments to the bill in order for it to better respect the rights of Canadians to own firearms while improving the tools available to protect public safety.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts on this important legislation.
Sincerely,
Alistair MacGregor,Member of Parliament
Cowichan-Malahat-Langford
Critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food
alistairmacgregor.ca
alistair.macgregor@parl.gc.ca
