Friday, December 29, 2000
Gun law 'a mess'Police not planning to enforce new firearm licence legislation
City police say they don't have any plans of charging gun owners who fail to apply for or acquire a firearms licence by the end of Dec. 31. "Obviously, (the law) is coming across rapidly and nobody knows what's going on," said Acting Deputy Chief Dale Burn. "We're not going to be involved in this right away." Another veteran officer said the province's decision not to participate in enforcing the licensing and registration provisions of controversial Bill C-68 means they'll look the other way. "The province has taken the position the Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC) will be responsible for enforcing that act -- the Calgary Police Service will not be responsible," said Insp. Keith Pollock. When asked who will enforce the new law in Alberta cities served by their own police forces, Janet Long, a spokeswoman for the CFC, which is administering the legislation, said: "I can't answer that question -- I don't know." If caught, unlicensed gun owners will face a maximum of five years in prison and the document is required to purchase ammunition. The RCMP said its members won't actively seek out unlicensed firearms owners but will lay charges when such cases crop up in jurisdictions which don't include Calgary. A leading opponent of Bill C-68 said the disarray in enforcement is just one example of the incompetence and failure surrounding the measures. "The situation is going to be one hell of a mess," said Dave Tomlinson of the National Firearms Association. "We warned Ottawa over and over again what they were doing was getting them further into a swamp." The CFC said up to 2 million of Canada's 2.2 million gun owners have either received or applied for licences but critics say at least 5 million have yet to apply. Gun owners must register their weapons by Jan. 1, 2003. Previous story: Edmonton man wants Calgary Trudeau street Next story: Police killer freed
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