Public Safety committee  Sure.

Public Safety committee  I don't think I can claim to represent that number of people, but that's pretty much the consensus I think of certainly most people who would have a restricted PAL, meaning they're licensed to own handguns, and certainly a great number of the 2.3 million other licensed Canadians

Public Safety committee  They haven't. We've been asking for a meeting with both the Minister of Public Safety back in the Bill Blair days and also the Prime Minister, and anyone else we can think of. We never got a reply, so no.

Public Safety committee  Members of the committee and Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to chat with you. I really appreciate it. I guess we can just jump right into it. Concerning Bill C-21, there are some provisions in this bill—or maybe the motivation behind them—that our gro

Public Safety committee  I didn't say that carrying a firearm was—

Public Safety committee  —an absolute right, just a right.

Public Safety committee  You said “absolute right” just now.

Public Safety committee  Did I say it was an absolute right? I'm pretty sure—

Public Safety committee  There wouldn't be a difference. They're essentially the same rifle, but the problem is that the AR-15 is functionally equivalent to millions of other rifles that are available in Canada. If someone is going to commit a crime with a semi-automatic rifle, they have their choice. Wh

Public Safety committee  In Canada, we have magazine capacity restrictions for a centre-fire semi-automatic rifle or shotgun. That's five rounds. In the United States, typically they don't have magazine capacity restrictions, other than in a few states.

Public Safety committee  The .223s are used constantly for hunting deer.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure what part of your question has to do with Bill C-71.

Public Safety committee  Well, I'm happy to talk about your philosophical question. In Canada, apparently, it's been determined that no one has a right to own a firearm and we understand that.

Public Safety committee  Yes, it's more of a privilege and we understand that there's—

Public Safety committee  There seems to be a lot of confusion around this, but we acknowledge that there's a system in Canada for regulation and, if you look at us, as a group, we don't object to the licensing system. We take a lot of heat from gun owners for that, but we're saying, as responsible gun ow