Mr. Speaker, what the government really put forward was that anyone who currently had a restricted licence, who had possession of one of these firearms, could continue to use these firearms. However, part of this legislation is that there can be no new applications, other than a very narrow exemption for Olympic sport shooters. A Liberal member talked earlier about this great Olympic exemption. I would ask that member how people could become Olympic-level kayakers if the government said they were never allowed to buy kayaks in the first place to practise.
What the government is really doing is putting a time limit on the culture of responsible firearms ownership in our country. Over a number of decades, it is going to die out and we are going to lose this important part of our culture. Therefore, it is not a protection in the least.