Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Chair.
Amendment CPC-42 aims to preclude the possibility for the Governor in Council to make regulations for the provision of information by the transferor, the transferee, and the registrar for the purpose of issuing a reference number.
We feel that firearms owners in Canada are already the Canadians whose behaviour is most highly scrutinized and who are subject to the most verifications.
If we trust them enough to allow them to have firearms in their homes, why create this security theatre, as the Criminal Lawyers' Association has called it? Why create an even larger bubble around subsequent firearms purchases?
The public safety benefits of this kind of measure are very limited. It must be said that people who commit crimes do not buy their firearms at Cabela's or at Firearms Outlet Canada in Ajax, for example. They get them illegally.
All this measure does is encourage those who have limited knowledge of how the firearms authorization process works, and who suppose that we are like Americans, to think that we're doing the same thing.
Once again, this is consistent with the logic of this bill as a whole. An attempt is being made to scare people and make them believe that it's like the United States here: it's the far west. However, Canada is one of the countries with the highest level of firearms control.
I repeat that it is the criminals who are the problem. There are already enough constraints and verifications. There is no need to add more. That is why we recommend this amendment. At some point, we have to stop adding on.
Thank you.