Currently, and for some time, in Winnipeg, when the police attend a domestic assault call, presumably, but not always, the husband is arrested for assault. Then, and only then, is there a check made to see if the arrested person has a firearms licence and any firearms registered. Then the police seize both the licence and the firearms as a matter of procedure in the interest of victim safety. What protection did the victim have before the police arrived?
I agree wholeheartedly with all firearms owners being licensed, and we should continue to require that in law, but in the end, how much safety does that licence really ensure? I have no hard answer for that, other than that the discontinued FAC application process was much more thorough.
What I can say is, people in jail who have been charged with violent crimes do not have an opportunity to reoffend. It gets no safer than that.