New Pathway – Ukrainian News.
Bill C-71, which could become law in early June, proposes to tighten Canada’s firearms regulations with changes to the background check system, with new mandatory record-keeping practices for vendors, new transportation rules, and more power to RCMP on classifying specific guns. The government and the official opposition have completely opposite views on the major measures in the bill.
The Conservatives argue that the bill does nothing to address gun crime and just creates more hurdles for licenced gun owners. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, in particular, has indicated plans to create a firearms ombudsman to advocate for gun owners and has said that the RCMP should no longer have the power to reclassify guns.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted that RCMP has to have the final say on classifying guns: “We don’t think politicians should be the ones determining what weapons are restricted, what weapons are prohibited. We trust the experts making decisions on the basis of facts and evidence.” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said that changes in the classification system likely will not happen soon and pointed out that the measures on background checks and licence verification in the bill are important improvements. He also said that police chiefs have called the bill “sensible and practical legislation.”
In his comment for the New Pathway – Ukrainian News, Andrew Scheer said that the current Liberal policies make Canadian cities less safe: “Not only does their firearms legislation fail to address gangs and criminal organizations, it doesn’t even mention those elements in C-71 once.”
Andrew Scheer believes that this bill targets “law-abiding hunters and farmers” and has nothing to do with gun violence: “All this is just forcing the people, who already follow the law, to just follow the new regulations that have more to do with red tape.” He pointed out that the majority of crimes committed with firearms happens in the cities with illegal handguns. He said: “A real piece of legislation that would go after criminals would tackle handguns that are trafficked illegally into Canada.”
Mark Holland, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, believes that Bill C-71 provides firm and effective gun control which is “not only a response to the horror of mass shootings south of the border” but also addresses “a serious and growing problem with gun violence in Canada, too.” (huffingtonpost.ca)
Conservatives support the idea of a “robust” regime for licensing and background checks ensuring that dangerous criminals don’t have access to guns, said Scheer. He pointed out that this conviction is what differs Canada from the U.S.: “The Liberals are trying to import a divisive debate into Canada from the United States, they are trying to import American tragedies into Canada to take advantage of them. The culture here is much different than in the United States, in Canada all parties agree on licencing and on robust checks.”
The differences in culture and the much lower rate of gun violence in Canada than the U.S. have to do with the history of the two countries and everything from the events going back over 200 years, said Scheer: “In the U.S. the Constitution is different than our Constitution. But I think it also has to do with our regime, which existed for decades in Canada. That’s where that balanced approach always comes in. When the government doesn’t harass the law-abiding firearms owners but instead focuses on background checks, on licensing and on organized crime and gangs – we end up with a safer society.”
The post Andrew Scheer on Guns: The Culture in Canada is Different than in the United States appeared first on New Pathway Ukrainian News | Новий Шлях Українські Вісті.