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 \u2014 including independent sellers and large retailers \u2014 maintain sales records and profiles of those purchasing weapons from them for at least two decades.<\/p>\n

Citing recent gun violence in some of Canada\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Opposition<\/h2>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 presently set at the past five years of a buyer\u2019s life \u2014 allowing the authorities to gain access to a buyer\u2019s entire record. So an 80-year-old could be denied firearm purchasing for a crime committed when they were 18.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 which is often the year used for comparison with today \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Over the border<\/h2>\n

Some Canadians believe the bill\u2019s 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 \u2014 which include AR-15s, commonly used in American mass shootings \u2014 come illegally across the southern border. The law itself has made no changes in the status of several semiautomatic weapons \u2014 including the AR-15 \u2014 which can be sold legally with a special permit.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s entire lifetime, it could prevent such violence from erupting.<\/p>\n

Stronger gun legislation<\/h2>\n

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\u2014with some proponents seeing it as a good and necessary step towards a safer future, and opponents seeing it as statistically unsupported\u2014it will certainly make the purchasing of firearms more difficult.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> or subscribe to her blog, Only Slightly Biased<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u2014 including independent sellers and large retailers \u2014 maintain sales records and profiles of those purchasing weapons from them for at least two decades. Continue reading Tighter gun legislation introduced in Canada<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":3447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[205],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n