Public Safety committee  That's correct.

Public Safety committee  Yes, and that is rare, but there are certain models.... A lot of them come from Japan, where they don't really have real firearms, so they'll make things almost exact, but the RCMP does a good job at identifying these and signing FRT numbers if they determine there is a risk or if they don't pose a risk.

Public Safety committee  If we are implementing a measure such as an orange tip, that is relatively easy to do. All manufacturers are already set up to do this, because that is a requirement in the United States, and they are quite a large market for airsoft, along with Europe. Even if you had to retroactively go back and make current inventory comply by having an orange tip, that is pretty easy to do.

Public Safety committee  In consultation with the various retailers I deal with on a daily basis, most are definitely supportive of trying to adapt to a two-tier system as they do in the U.K. I believe it is probably the most effective and comprehensive solution to address all the issues. If that were to be the direction, further consideration would probably have to be given to how that would be implemented to other airguns that are affected by this industry.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure I understand the question.

Public Safety committee  I think I understand the point you're trying to make. If the product can be imported only by actual importers, such as my business or retailers, that puts an added level of control on how it makes it to the end-user, rather than end-users being able to import the products themselves.

Public Safety committee  That is something we could support, because the mechanism already exists to determine if they are allowed or not—it's getting a so-called FRT number. Typically, when something is imported, if there is a question it is submitted to the RCMP lab. They do their studies on it, and they assign an FRT number, either giving it basically the “all clear” or determining that it does pose a risk.

Public Safety committee  For transportation, the best way to get those rules across so players know is at the point of sale, through the waiver we discussed. I think education is probably the best approach to making sure people know that. I agree that the two-tier system that is used in the United Kingdom is probably the best approach to ensuring there's still regulation after sale.

Public Safety committee  I don't think it's as common as maybe we would think, but I think law enforcement could probably better answer that question. They would have the statistics on how often that happens. I believe that in order to avoid situations like that, having distinct markings such as brightly coloured tips or going a step further with the two-tier system the U.K. uses is probably a more effective approach to reduce that type of situation.

Public Safety committee  I agree that it would be mostly correct. It's very difficult to regulate criminals, because they don't follow the laws in the first place. Our proposals are more focused on reducing honest mistakes among people who don't have any ill intent or who maybe just didn't know the rules or what procedures they needed to follow when it comes to the use of airsoft or air guns in general.

Public Safety committee  As currently written, I would definitely have to agree with you. It's not even disproportionate; it's totalitarian. It completed closes our entire industry all at once. That's why we're committed to working with the government on finding solutions that address legitimate public safety concerns and, at the same time, will allow our industry to continue.

Public Safety committee  My best estimate would be over $200 million, and that is factoring in playing fields and retail locations. This is just kind of based on what I know my business and others import and the types of business my customers do. If you were to factor in the other industries, though, that are also affected, such as the more traditional BB guns and pellet guns you'd find in Walmarts and Canadian Tires, that figure would definitely grow significantly.

Public Safety committee  To answer the second part of your question first, I think the only reason you'd want to do that is if you were a criminal with ill intent, but as far as the convertibility goes, this really affects only a small percentage of airsoft guns that are available, and that would be typically guns that are called “gas blowback”.

Public Safety committee  I'm sorry. As for my advanced proposals, this one has been brought up to me before a couple of times in my conversations with the public safety office. It would be adopting a more comprehensive model that includes all of the above, such as the model that's used in the U.K. It's a two-tier system.

Public Safety committee  Hello. First, I would like to say thank you to the members of the committee for inviting me here today to speak on behalf of my industry. I am here specifically more to speak on airsoft, but I would like to make a point that has not been touched upon too much, which is that this bill affects not only the entire airsoft industry, but traditional BB and pellet guns as well, which are also very popular and common in Canada.