Gun regulation misses the mark, Westshore hunters and RCMP union say

Federal legislation is raising ire from a local shooting range, after a proposed criminal code amendment expanded to include some types of guns used by hunters. If the bill passes, owning those guns will be illegal.

Jim Whyte, a member of the South Vancouver Island Rangers shooting range in Langford, said this legislation is nothing more than government posturing.

“They’re targeting legal gun owners because they can’t solve the real problem, which is illegal guns being brought in from the ‘States, and the gangs who use them,” he said.

The list of affected guns is several hundred models long, and includes some semi-automatic rifles and shotguns currently sold by hunting outfitters. Long guns that hold more than five rounds are already prohibited in Canada, but the new legislation would also target guns that could potentially hold more than five cartridges.

The hope is to target people who are manufacturing guns with 3D printers, because there’s one part they still have to buy: the barrel. A Liberal committee member added “firearm parts” to the draft criminal code amendment to make that part illegal.

The goal of C-21 is to tackle gun violence, but the amendments are so broad it will also make several popular hunting guns illegal. The draft legislation bans long guns that generate more than 10,000 joules of energy and guns that have a muzzle wider than 20 millimetres. Hunting rifles tend to generate 5,000 joules or less, and are smaller than 20 millimetres, but included in the list of banned firearms are many gun models that are outside of those specifications.

Whyte equated this legislation to banning BMWs in an effort to curb drunk driving.

“What does the ownership of a BMW have to do with drunk driving? Nothing, but that's the same mentality they're using with this legislation. They can't solve the problem, so they invent a problem that doesn't exist and pretend that they're solving it,” he said.

The RCMP union, the National Police Federation, agrees.

“Bill C-21 does not address criminal activity, illegal firearms proliferation, gang crime, illegal guns crossing the border or criminal use of firearms,” the union wrote in a report submitted to the Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

Instead of helping, the federation warned that the legislation as written “diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”

The union recommended enhanced border security and wants a new multi-jurisdictional task force to tackle illegal gun smuggling and manufacturing (including 3D printing).

Whyte is a bird hunter, and uses a semi-automatic shotgun, which will be illegal if this legislation passes.

“The people who are committing the crimes don't… care about the law. You can have as many laws as you want, but if you don't address the problem—which is illegal guns, and illegal use of guns—you'll never solve the problem. Going after those people who follow the law is not going to solve anything,” he said.

Bill C-21 is being reviewed by a federal committee, which will submit a report back to parliament for a third reading. If that reading passes, it will advance to the senate for approval.

The Westshore asked NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, who sits on the Committee on Public Safety and National Security, for comment, but he was unavailable.