New Firearms Measures Welcomed By MP Allen

May 22, 2008

TOBIQUE-MACTAQUAC – Changes to the Canadian Firearms Program are good news for long-gun owners and make the registry more effective, says Mike Allen, Member of Parliament for Tobique-Mactaquac.

“I’m pleased to see this additional action taken as a key step toward the elimination of the gun registry,” said Mr. Allen. “The changes encourage folks with expired registrations to renew them with a lot less paperwork.”

The measures, announced earlier this month, renew the amnesty period for non-restricted firearms until May 16, 2009. The fee waiver involved with renewing or upgrading an existing licence has also been extended until that same date.

“One of the best things about the changes is that people with expired Possession-Only Licences don’t have to take a safety course or test to renew them before next May,” Mr. Allen said.

Previously, if a person’s Possession-Only License (POL) expired, they were unable to get a straight-forward renewal. They were required to get a Possession and Acquisition License (PAL), which requires firearms safety training.

“There are so many people in my riding who have long guns as keepsakes and don’t even hunt anymore, so taking a course or test caused them a lot of concern and worry,” explained Mr. Allen. “They want to be on side with the law, but the rules made it very difficult for them.”

Under the regulatory changes, people with expired POLs have until May 16, 2009 to apply to renew them. Once they renew, the new POL will be good for five years.

“Effective gun control requires a high level of compliance,” Mr. Allen said. “These latest measures help long-gun owners to legally possess their firearms.”

At the current time, nearly 100,000 POLs have expired and this number continues to increase. This month’s changes to the Canadian Firearms Program address the issue by amending regulations enacted by the previous government which stipulated that licences could not be renewed after expiry.

“Our government believes in targeting criminals and not hunters and farmers,” Mr. Allen said.  “As it stands now there is not enough support from the opposition parties to help us completely eliminate the long-gun registry as we would like to do.  For now, this is another positive step to protect law-abiding people.”