Saskatchewan firearm educators doubt the government can run gun safety courses more cheaply than they can.
Effective Feb. 1, the federal government took over administering the classes, previously managed by the Saskatchewan Association of Firearms Educators.
Michelle Snyder of the Canadian Firearms Centre in Edmonton said the switch was made as part of a government cost recovery initiative, and expects costs will be minimal.
The course is compulsory under Canada’s Firearms Registry.
Snyder said the federal justice department offered start-up funding to SAFE and the Alberta Hunters Education Instructing Association to run the course. SAFE declined.
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The course is being managed by the federal justice department in Manitoba.
SAFE executive director Rick Wyatt, said his group was advised it would no longer receive the $65,000 in annual funding from the federal government used to deliver the program in Saskatchewan.
“We said we can’t do it for nothing,” he said.
About 1,300 designated instructors delivered the course, which cost $25 per student. The volunteer instructors are reimbursed for their expenses and mileage costs.
Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation’s firearms chair, Greg Lilburn, finds it ironic that the reason given for the switch was to save money, when the government licensing registry has an estimated $1 billion price tag.
He said the change represents more evidence that gun owners are persecuted in Canada.
He said the course had a good track record, was nationally recognized as a quality program and was delivered cheaply through volunteers for 30 years.
The programs once incorporated both the firearms safety course and hunter safety education.
“If they were concerned about saving money, they would have continued with the first course that combined both,” he said.
Snyder expects course costs will remain the same, noting 500 designated instructors have agreed to continue providing the class.
For more information on firearms safety courses, phone 800-731-4000 or visit www.producer.com and go to Links in the News.
