Public Safety committee  I very much think the importance is in the details of how this will be rolled out. Police services and police officers, as Mr. Sauvé talked about, will follow and enforce the law. The buyback program is an administrative process. At the end of the amnesty period, the law becomes the law.

Public Safety committee  Yes, for sure. It's guaranteed to be a factor. That's why when you have advocates and others helping people who find themselves in a domestic situation, there's a very strong willingness on the part of law enforcement and the justice system in general to use those advocates and their influence in trying to enhance safety.

Public Safety committee  No. They would definitely be able to respond to that.

Public Safety committee  I would call it steps in the right direction. I think that's what you heard us talk about when we talked about replica firearms. Right now they look exactly like firearms, and anyone can walk in and purchase them. There's no recording of information. There's no requirement of age.

Public Safety committee  I don't. Especially in the area of ghost guns, I think we're deficient.

Public Safety committee  Is that question for me, sir?

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the question. Canada has some very good, strong firearm-related laws and regulations. When you compare us with many other countries, including the one to the south of us, they fail in comparison with what we have. We do a good job now in trying to restrict firearms and access to firearms among those who are licensed and legally able to possess them, but I think we have to focus on and consider the fact that law-abiding firearm owners are predominantly not the problem we have when we talk about this sharp increase in firearm-related crimes.

Public Safety committee  Yes, I absolutely do agree. Can I add one quick thing? I know you're short on time. Here's my other worry. If we continue to prioritize calls—meaning we'll go to mental health emergencies and go to assaults in progress—and this administrative work falls lower on the priority scale, I worry about the effect that can have on law-abiding gun owners becoming criminals once the amnesty period is closed.

Public Safety committee  The short answer to that question is yes. I think at the end of the day, the notion of firearms itself is a very divisive issue in Canada, and I think you probably see, even in some of the CACP communications, that there's a bit of a balance there. We recognize that that is a sport people are engaged in, and I think talking about Olympic or international competition is a good example of that.

Public Safety committee  Yes, that's correct. I think that's a good balance.

Public Safety committee  That's correct. Yes.

Public Safety committee  It's an important balance, and I appreciate the question. In Saskatchewan and many provinces, families have the ability to help youth who are having problems with alcohol. We have something in Saskatchewan called the youth detox warrant, where a family goes proactively to the court and says that one of their children or a child in their care is having a problem with some sort of substance.

Public Safety committee  I've had meetings and direct conversations with people in that industry on an international basis. The reality is that even if a gun looks like a toy gun and has the orange cap on the end of it or is a completely different colour, or looks like a nerf gun, there are ways it can be converted to be real.

Public Safety committee  I think that is an important part of this discussion. Ultimately, we, too, in the Prairies deal with the 3-D printing and manufacturing of firearms. The reality is that people can print the predominate pieces of the firearm. They can order parts of a firearm online, which by themselves as just a part—whether it's a trigger or a different component of the firearm—are not illegal to purchase, and they don't really signal any sort of warning sign if someone brings in those types of things through the mail or through other forms.

Public Safety committee  I think there's probably a lot, and that would likely need a bit of exploration to understand. I think right now if I order a firing pin out of Germany, there's no tracking of it. There are no requirements for that to be regulated in any way, whereas if I go to buy a firearm, ammunition or something else, in most cases there's a need to produce some sort of licence that shows I can do that.