Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank Mr. Julian for tabling this amendment, as well as Mr. MacGregor, with whom the committee had worked previously on this important issue.
As Ms. Damoff stated, when we visited the RCMP's vault, we were able to see how easy it is to convert an airgun into a real firearm, because the components of a firearm fit easily into the housings of an air gun. However, as my colleagues have mentioned, I think it would be a step too far to prohibit air guns in bill C‑21.
Moreover, when industry representatives came to testify before the committee, they were very conciliatory and said they were open to the idea that the industry be regulated. I will quote part of the opening statement given by Mr. Brian McIlmoyle, the director of ASIC, the Airsoft in Canada association, when he testified before the committee:
We believe the best means to mitigate these risks is an 18‑plus restriction on the purchase of airsoft, which would prevent children from buying airsoft without parental knowledge. In addition, a legal acknowledgment of risk or waiver, when signed and combined with some clear educational material, will impress upon parents and young adults the importance and very mortal responsibility of owning airsoft gear.
He also stated that he was willing to go further and made the following proposal:
[...], ASIC has studied a self-regulatory system similar to the United Kingdom's Airsoft Retailers Association and the UK's Violent Crime Reduction Act, which stipulates membership in an airsoft association in order to possess airsoft. This kind of measure would require a higher administrative overhead, but there is a feasible appetite for it within our community.
To which he added:
These measures benefit from joint positions with the FSAQ, or Fédération Sportive d'Airsoft du Québec; the AABC, Airsoft Association of British Columbia; and the CSAAA, the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association.
By the way, I would just like to thank the FSAQ, which helped us in our work.
Mr. McIlmoyle ended his presentation with this:
We suggest that this committee empower the Governor in Council to work with consulted bodies such as ASIC to more comprehensively and exhaustively defined “ replica firearm” and/or “airsoft” through regulation. We hope today that the committee can work with our community to develop a solution.
I now have a question for the public servants.
Are you able to confirm that the government is currently able to regulate airsoft guns without these guns being expressly mentioned in bill C‑21? Is there something in the bill right how that would allow the government to regulate airsoft guns?