This is also a proposed amendment in the bill which would clarify that when an individual is issued a prohibition order, which prevents them from owning or possessing firearms or other weapons, that any firearm that is currently in the possession of the police, for example, is subject to a bail condition. The police would have seized those firearms or seized them on public safety grounds.
This amendment would clarify that these firearms would also be forfeited to the crown because currently an Ontario Court of Appeal decision in 2012 interpreted section 115 of the Criminal Code to mean that firearms in the possession of the person are forfeited to the crown. The Ontario Court of Appeal interpreted that section to mean that firearms in the possession of the police at the time that the prohibition order is issued are not forfeited to the crown.
This has created a situation whereby these firearms in the possession of the police have to be retained by the police until the end of the prohibition order and at that time they may either be returned to the person, that owner, or sold to another licensed individual. A number of these firearms include firearms related to gang activity. I have had anecdotal conversations with prosecutors who were very frustrated that these firearms would be returned and put back into circulation.