Madam Speaker, I thank my friend across the way, who I also respect personally and professionally.
I believe background checks serve a purpose. Currently, we have a five-year background check and a daily check for those who already have a valid licence. However, there is a matter of concern that I have heard from gun owners across the country. It is not the fact that we want to expand background checks, which should never alarm anyone who is a law-abiding gun owner, and it never will. The issue is that at what point would an error from 20 years ago, a lapse in judgment 20 years ago, or an individual who has returned from a war theatre, or someone who has had a mental health challenge at some point in their lifetime, prevent people from hunting or having possession of a firearm when they no longer pose a threat to themselves or or to anyone else? We have not heard from the government how that would be regulated or how the regulations would ensure we have a mechanism in place that would be fair to the individual applying for a licence and would protects public safety. Public safety needs to be the number one priority.
Quite frankly, some of the witnesses we heard at committee suggested that some of the enhanced background checks would have value. I agree. We just need more time to flush those out so we can put some parameters around what that might look like in amendments for the bill moving forward.