The Canadian Firearms Centre says gun owners are slow on the draw and may end up missing the target deadline to obtain a firearm licence.
Gun owners have until Dec. 31, 2000, to acquire a licence to legally own a firearm or to buy ammunition. But David Austin, communications officer for the firearms centre, doesn’t advise waiting until the last minute.
That’s because the screening process can take up to three months.
To date, 550,000 gun owners have obtained or applied for a licence, which is only one quarter of the estimated firearm owners in Canada.
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“Frankly, we’d like to be further along,” said Austin.
“We have not been getting the returns that we expected initially.”
He said there could be a number of reasons for the low application rate.
- Seven provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, refuse to enforce the new gun registration laws.
- Some gun owners are waiting for the Supreme Court of Canada to decide whether the new gun law is constitutional.
- There has been confusion over deadlines.
The registration deadline is not until Dec. 31, 2002, but before gun owners can register their guns, they must obtain a firearm licence, said Austin.
The centre estimates that 800,000 people will sell or dispose of their guns before the licence deadline. That leaves an estimated 1.6 million gun owners who intend to keep their firearms but have not yet applied for a licence.
The prairie response rate is below the national average. Saskatchewan’s rate is 20 percent, Manitoba’s is 18 percent and only 13 percent of the estimated firearm owners in Alberta have applied for or obtained a valid licence.
Owners can apply for two types of licence: a $45 possession licence for those who simply plan on keeping their existing guns, or a possession and acquisitions licence. There are two types of posession and acquisition licences: $60 for those who plan to buy a new unrestricted firearm and $80 for those who plan to buy a new restricted weapon.
The price for a possession licence will rise to $60 on all applications received after Sept. 1, 2000.
Austin said some people still have Firearms Acquisition Certificates. They will be considered a valid licence as long as they haven’t expired.
People who possess firearms without a licence after Dec. 31, 2000, will be contravening federal law and could be subject to fines or gun confiscation. Repeat offenders could receive a prison sentence.
