Evidence of meeting #53 for Public Safety and National Security in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was firearm.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
If you were to distill this down further, into the specific kind and then the variants A, B, C and D within each of those brand types—not variants—what would that number actually look like?
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
It would be approximately 480.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
It would be 480, but you're saying that includes variants.
Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
That includes variants.
Technical Specialist, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
I think the word you're searching for is families. We have referred to them as families of firearms. In the new list in schedule 2, it would be those firearms in clauses 97 to 232. I don't have a calculator to do the subtraction, but that would be the number of new families listed.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you.
You talked a little bit about the classification system under which a firearm can be non-restricted, restricted or prohibited.
What does non-restricted mean to the average person?
Technical Specialist, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The firearms classifications affect how an individual can use the firearm and whether or not the individual can actually possess the firearm.
In the case of non-restricted firearms, which is the least regulated classification of firearms, what it means to the average firearms owner is that they must obtain a firearms possession and acquisition licence at the lowest level, the non-restricted firearms licence, which is commonly referred to as a non-restricted PAL—PAL meaning possession and acquisition licence. That entitles the individual to acquire a non-restricted firearm and to possess it provided that the licence is continuously maintained. Thereafter, the individual is free to use the firearms in any way that is permitted by law.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
What would be an example of a commonly used non-restricted firearm?
Technical Specialist, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
It would be a typical hunting rifle, say, a bold action rifle like a Remington Model 700, or something of that ilk. There are something like 20,000 families of those kinds of firearms available to choose from. You really can't categorize that breadth of firearms makes and models with a couple of examples. It's a very wide range.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
That's a fair point.
Let's talk about restricted then. What does that mean? I'm assuming that you need a restricted PAL for that, an RPAL for that, but what does that mean?
Technical Specialist, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
If a firearm is restricted, it means the individual must obtain the higher-level firearms licence, the restricted possession and acquisition licence, or RPAL as you indicated. It also means that the firearm itself would need to be registered with the Canadian firearms program firearms registry.
Also, if you wished to use that firearm for any lawful purpose, you would require an authorization to transport in most cases for that purpose. There are some exceptions. There are automatic authorizations to transport for regular uses like going to the range, but broadly speaking you have to have an authorization to move a restricted firearm from your home to use it.
Conservative
Alex Ruff Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Mr. Chair, on a point of clarification, another element of Mr. Noormohamed's question to Mr. Smith is that any restricted firearms' owners are run through the police database every 24 hours. Is that correct?
Technical Specialist, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
I believe what you're referring to is called the FIP system. Firearms interest police is what that decodes to. That system has been in place since the Firearms Act came into force in the 1990s. Under that, if there is a police incident that matches certain criteria, usually crimes related to violence, then any names in the police investigation associated with that particular criminal investigation are flagged with what's called a FIP hit. Where a FIP hit has occurred on a person who also has a firearms licence, that goes to the chief firearms officers for review.
The checking process that you're referring to does not take place every day for every firearms owner. Rather it occurs only when a firearms owner is somehow connected to a serious police investigation and not necessarily as a criminal. There could be some other element through which the individual firearms owner is connected to a police investigation that is serious enough that it is flagged and goes to the chief firearms officer so there will be a review of the licence. That's what that's all about.
Director, Strategic Policy, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
If I may...?
Director, Strategic Policy, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Just to clarify with a quick answer, yes, it does apply to individuals with a possession and acquisition licence with restricted privileges. It also applies, though, to people who have possession and acquisition licences, so it's both. It's not just exclusive. Anybody who has a firearms licence is run through those same processes.
Thank you.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you.
Just to clarify, though, this depends on the police department doing that. Is that correct? Is it done universally or does it depend on whether or not a particular police department or police force decides they're going to do that?
Technical Specialist, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
It's done universally.
The program is run by Statistics Canada, and it's part of the obligatory reporting process for police agencies. I believe the nickname for it is UCR—uniform crime reporting. That's a StatsCan program and it's mandatory for police.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
For what purpose would an average Canadian need an RPAL?
Technical Specialist, Canadian Firearms Program, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
An individual would need an RPAL if they chose to acquire a restricted firearm. They fall, broadly speaking, into two categories. One is handguns and the other is restricted long guns—rifles and shotguns that happen to be restricted.
The individuals would generally acquire those for the purpose of target practice, but there are other reasons. For example, someone whose employment depends on a firearm will have to get the RPAL in order to use the firearm in the course of their employment.
There are a number of possibilities all laid out in the Firearms Act. Those are the two most common.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Now, what about “prohibited”? What is a prohibited firearm? What does that mean? What does that look like in terms of a Canadian's ability to obtain it? What is a prohibited firearm in this context?
