Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke for the opportunity to rise in the House tonight and provide some up to date and accurate information on compliance with the Firearms Act.
Over the years, opponents of the firearms program have established a virtual cottage industry approach to fabricating and characterizing related to the firearms programs. Their latest creation concerns the number of firearms owners who have yet to register their firearms. This evening I would like to take a moment to reflect on that.
I would like to remind the House that the Firearms Act, which was passed by Parliament in 1995, established the licensing and registration deadlines. It also is this act, which was passed by Parliament, that requires firearms owners to obtain a licence before they can register their firearms.
Today more than 85% of the estimated 2.3 million firearm owners have complied with the licensing requirement of the Firearms Act.
Licensed owners were required to register their guns before the January 1, 2003 deadline. This deadline was not extended. Rather, we put in place a six month grace period to facilitate the processing of late arriving registration applications. We also have included in the grace period those who submitted letters of intent to register. It was incumbent on all those who submitted these letters to send a registration application and obtain their certificates before the grace period ended on June 30.
On July 4, 2003, the federal Solicitor General announced that the firearms registration grace period was a success. As of November 1, more than 6.6 million firearms have been registered. That includes more than 300,000 firearms registered since July 1, 2003. The Canada Firearms Centre continues to receive and process firearms registration applications.
These firearms owners have done everything needed to comply with the law and have satisfied the requirements of the Firearms Act. I would encourage anyone who has not yet registered their firearms to do so right away.
It is important to note that properly completed registration applications are processed within 30 days. CAFC also continues to receive more than 2,000 licence applications each week. The firearms program provides an excellent tool for police officers across the country and they are using it on a daily basis.
Since December 1, 1998, the Canadian firearms registry online was queried 2.7 million times by police officers and other law enforcement officials.
As the government has often said, the intent of the Firearms Act is not to make criminals out of responsible, law-abiding Canadians. The main purpose is to protect Canadians from the criminal and accidental misuse of firearms.
As members have seen and as the record shows, the majority of Canadians have complied with the requirements of the Firearms Act. Moreover, that record shows the public interest is best served through a Canadian firearms program that is more efficient and client service oriented while enhancing the safety of our communities.