Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, and Mr. Brown in absentia. On behalf of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the largest conservation-based organization in Ontario, our 100,000 members, supporters, and subscribers, and our 725

Public Safety committee  I think my colleague out west, Mr. Brown, has outlined what could potentially happen. Do I think there are going to be a spate of charges against 12-year-olds for inappropriately storing or transporting a BB gun or a paintball gun or a pellet gun under the current law? No. Is tha

Public Safety committee  Again, I'm not aware of that. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Certainly this is different from high-velocity guns that exceed certain standards in muzzle velocity, which are subject to storage and transportation restrictions under the law because of their velocity. I'm not awar

Public Safety committee  I do. For instance, the OFAH has a very large heritage hunting and fishing centre next door to our head office in Peterborough that was opened several years ago. There is a rifle range and an archery range in the basement. We use low-velocity air guns on the rifle range. These ar

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much for the question. I appreciate it. I have not discussed it with police officers; however, we did have a meeting last week with the Chief Firearms Officer of Ontario at her offices to discuss a number of issues. This was one that was on the table and there was

Public Safety committee  Candidly, no, I'm not aware that any of our members have been charged under this section of the Criminal Code, but we do have 100,000 members across the province and I'm not always aware of what's happening to each individual member at any given time. There has been significant

Public Safety committee  Mr. Norlock, yes to all your questions. We work very closely with our affiliates across the country, in every province and every territory, from coast to coast to coast. I sit on several panels and committees with many of them on issues related to firearms and other issues. We ta

Public Safety committee  Yes. I agree. Most definitely we are first and foremost a science-based conservation organization concerned about the conservation of our fish and wildlife resources in both Ontario and across this country. Indeed, we work with partners across North America on those issues. We're

Public Safety committee  That's correct. I'll speak to a couple of things there. Most police officers, the vast majority of them, do their job very well and do it as they understand it. Until this bill came forward, I admit quite candidly, I did not realize that this loophole existed, and I deal with fi

Public Safety committee  They are not subject to licensing requirements or storage requirements that I am aware of. Certainly not—

Public Safety committee  They're certainly not subject to the same requirements as firearms.

Public Safety committee  Thank you, Mr. Easter, for the questions. The courts in previous judgements have said that a firearm becomes a weapon only if it is used, or intended to be used, to cause death or to threaten or intimidate a person. If somebody is using a firearm, regardless of what type of fire

Public Safety committee  No, I'm not, but I would point out that, as I said earlier, we live in a very litigious society. We also live in a society in which there are people—and everybody is entitled to their views—who very adamantly oppose the use of firearms in any way, shape, or form. There are people

Public Safety committee  That's correct. Anybody who uses a firearm, no matter whether it's an air gun, a BB gun, a pea gun, whatever type of article that is a firearm or a gun of any sort, in a threatening manner is subject to charges. The amendment proposed in this bill doesn't change that fact at all.

Public Safety committee  That's correct.