I can point you back, sir, to the comments of the minister when he was here, which were that the current process does not require the verification of a licence. It is voluntary to do so. He has proposed that it is in the interest of public safety that anyone selling a firearm verify that the person who is purchasing the firearm hold a valid licence.
The act as currently drafted simply requires that a person have no reason not to believe someone is eligible to purchase the firearm. The minister has suggested that creating, in law, a positive obligation on anyone selling a firearm to verify that the person purchasing the firearm has a valid licence to purchase it is in the interest of public safety. By extension, it is in the interest of the person who is selling the firearm that they have some proof to be able to show that they did in fact check the licence, that they were assured by the Canadian firearms program that the licence was valid, and they are issued a reference number to provide them with that proof that they have done their due diligence.