Public Safety committee  Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Bill C-42 is a complex bill and includes many measures, and we won't be able to address them all. This morning I would like to address two specific ones. The first one concerns the ability of the RCMP to classify certain types of weapons.

Public Safety committee  I think it's important to ask that question in a larger context. This is not just about hunters and their licences expiring. First, there's police discretion in laying charges or not in various cases. Second, the reason we have licences is to make sure, as this government has said many times, that those who own guns are authorized, are able, and are safe to own guns.

Public Safety committee  I would like to specify that we are not a women's group specialized in preventing domestic violence. We are simple citizens who represent witnesses to and victims of gun violence. The issue of domestic violence is absolutely critical. Firearms are often an important factor in domestic violence.

Public Safety committee  It's extremely worrying. We want assault weapons to be prohibited, or at the very least, restricted, because they are extremely dangerous. They are designed to kill human beings in war situations. There are different models of firearms. They have to be assessed and experts need to be able to review the criteria and the different military features of weapons in order to classify them.

Public Safety committee  It's by weakening controls on a number of levels.

Public Safety committee  I have not been made aware of their concerns. But one thing is sure, by loosening the safeguards around restricted firearms—and the current government has admitted that these are dangerous weapons—we are increasing the risk of their falling into the wrong hands, and the risk that they could be used impulsively.

Public Safety committee  Would you like me to answer?

Public Safety committee  Do you want me to answer?

Public Safety committee  Well, I think the whole point of merging the possession-only licences with the possession and acquisition licences is to exempt the half a million gun owners who have not gone through screening to get an acquisition licence. It allows them to acquire new guns without going through that process; otherwise,they would just go through the process and get an acquisition licence because that's what you have to do as a gun owner if you want to buy guns.

Public Safety committee  I don't have a list. I think that's one of the reasons it would be important to have police and some representative of the chief firearms officers here to testify. As I've said, we are not experts. The examples that I named are examples I found just doing my own research, based on media stories, and also complaints from the gun lobby.

Public Safety committee  Well, we live in a democracy. I know that we don't agree with all the laws that are passed, but we do have on the books criteria and laws regarding assault weapons that have been reinforced by the Supreme Court. That's why semi-automatic weapons that can be converted to automatic are deemed to be automatic weapons and prohibited.

Public Safety committee  Obviously, mental health is a key factor in screening certain people. In the screening process, there is an opportunity to check if someone has had mental health problems, and it occurs when the licence is about to be granted. This is extremely important. The possession licence granting process has been severely weakened.