Last month, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-71. Among its provisions are tighter background checks for potential gun buyers and a requirement that gun providers — including independent sellers and large retailers — maintain sales records and profiles of those purchasing weapons from them for at least two decades.
Citing recent gun violence in some of Canada’s larger cities, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wholeheartedly backed this legislation. Gun violence within Canada has been climbing steadily since 2013 and often rears its head in gang-related incidents within the urban settings. This bill would seek to limit firearm access for those previously convicted of crime, a provision that is included in the background check.
Opposition
Canada, like its neighbour to the south, has a long tradition of outdoorsmanship, including both hunting and fishing. The previous administration tapped into these sentiments and in 2012 helped to dismantle the nation’s national registry, no longer requiring owners of shotguns and rifles to register their weapons. The registration of handguns and other alternative firearms more commonly used in criminal situations remained on the registry.
While there are no proposals for reinstating the rifle and shotgun registry, many of the opponents of the bill believe it is the first step in reinstating the past registry. Further, some of the provisions of this new law would significantly increase the scope of current background checks — presently set at the past five years of a buyer’s life — allowing the authorities to gain access to a buyer’s entire record. So an 80-year-old could be denied firearm purchasing for a crime committed when they were 18.
Criminologists in and around Canada note that the legislation may not be as necessary and urgent as it sounds. Gun homicides, though apparently surging in the past five years, are still comparatively low by historical standards. 2013 — which is often the year used for comparison with today — was a 20-year low, and is considered a statistical anomaly. Politicians may be skewing the numbers by comparing the current rate of violence to that of 2013.
Over the border
Some Canadians believe the bill’s focus is misguided. While firearm homicides within Canada are not significantly higher than historical numbers, the number of restricted or illegal firearms within Canada is. Many of these — which include AR-15s, commonly used in American mass shootings — come illegally across the southern border. The law itself has made no changes in the status of several semiautomatic weapons — including the AR-15 — which can be sold legally with a special permit.
Many Canadians fear that allowing the purchase and ownership of these weapons could result in the same carnage recently witnessed in Florida. However, under the current system, gun ownership is still extremely stringent within Canada, and with the extension of background checks to one’s entire lifetime, it could prevent such violence from erupting.
Stronger gun legislation
With the acceptance of this new bill, Canada will continue its trend of stricter gun legislation, further distancing itself from its southern neighbour. While opinions on the bill are heavily mixed—with some proponents seeing it as a good and necessary step towards a safer future, and opponents seeing it as statistically unsupported—it will certainly make the purchasing of firearms more difficult.
With an influx of foreign weapons coming over the border and a recent bump in gang violence throughout major cities, politicians have chosen to heed the public outcry against gun violence in Canada.
This guest post is written by Kate Harveston, a writer and political activist from Pennsylvania. She blogs about culture and politics, and the various ways that those elements act upon each other. For more of her work, you can follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her blog, Only Slightly Biased.
