The latest Conservative gun bill has been quietly pulled from the government’s agenda in light of the Ottawa shooting Oct. 22.
The Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act (C-42) was supposed to be debated for the first time Oct. 22. The debate was set to last three days.
Instead, members of Parliament found themselves in lock down for more than 13 hours after a lone gunman shot and killed a reservist at the National War Memorial and then made his way into Parliament’s Centre Block.
Not surprisingly, the bill hasn’t made it back onto Parliament’s daily agenda since.
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Public safety minister Steven Blaney first announced the pending bill in July. It was later tabled in the House of Commons in early October.
The legislation includes several changes to Canadian gun laws, including making it easier for gun owners to transport their firearms, making safety training mandatory for first-time gun owners, prohibiting those convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun and giving cabinet, rather than the RCMP, final say over what constitutes a dangerous weapon.
The bill would also create a grace period for gun owners whose licences have lapsed, removing the threat of possible jail time.
However, those with expired licences would not be able to buy new guns or ammunition until their licence was renewed.
There was already talk in July that the Conservatives’ bill would prompt debate over Canadian gun control laws. Critics of the bill lamented that the proposed changes would serve only to weaken existing laws, while proponents were arguing it did nothing more than ease bureaucratic red tape.
It’s a debate the Conservatives were likely anticipating. What they weren’t anticipating, nor is it fair to suggest that they could have expected it, was the Ottawa shooting.
It’s amazing how much panic and fear one person with a gun in a public place can create.
Conversations about guns and gun control in Canada have always been divided along several lines: urban and rural, male and female, young and old.
Rural Canadians have long argued guns play a crucial role. Gun supporters insist there’s an element of protection that comes from a gun, particularly when living in an isolated part of the country.
Then there are the thousands of Canadians who hunt, an activity in which owning a gun is almost essential.
On the other hand, there are many Canadians who have struggled to understand the need for a gun, especially when the news is often dominated with the latest gang or school shooting.
And, while one doesn’t want to generalize, these Canadians are often from urban areas, where some type of chaos usually follows the sight of a gun in public.
The Conservative decision to delay the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act — a title that will likely need to be reviewed in light of the Ottawa shooting — is political.
The fact the Ottawa shooter used a long gun doesn’t help matters.
Police have not said where the gunman acquired the gun, an 1894 Winchester lever action 30-30 rifle. The gun, if purchased legally, would have had to be registered under the now defunct federal gun registry.
It is impossible to determine whether the registry, if it still was in place, would have prevented the Ottawa shooter from gaining access to a gun. Too much information is unknown.
Still, sources say given the events of the past few weeks, it would have been irrational for the Conservatives to expect the House of Commons to debate the proposed legislation without someone drumming up the obsolete gun registry.
Revisiting the gun registry debate is likely something most right-wing political strategists would like to avoid, considering that a federal election is getting closer.
Still, gun and gun ownership debates are not something the federal Conservatives will be able to avoid forever. The issue has too much play both in the West and within the party’s base.
Nor will gun owners affected by the proposed changes in C-42 be willing to forget the promises al-ready made.
If the bill doesn’t make it back to the House of Commons before the election is called, those close to the file say this will be an election issue.
Timing, therefore, is everything.
