RE: Canadian Gun laws
I'll give it a shot Stuck, but I'm no expert. I'm not sure if my experiances apply to all of Canada, or are Ontario specific.
Up here gun ownership is a privelage, not a right, a lisence is required and if they don't want you to have one they won't give it to you.
To obtain a lisence I was required to complete a firearms safety course, 16hrs if I remember correctly (different from the hunter safety course, required to hunt with a firearm in Ontario). The application required two references from professionals, and a number of promises about mental health and criminal activity, (one question asked about relationships and employment ending, apparently looking to see if applicants had reason to be depressed). My application had to be accepted in person at a police station, by the local firearms officer that was only there on Wednesdays so I had to skip some school, I had to provide a recent passport photo, $50 (non-refundable), and of course there was an extensive back-ground search. I got my FAC (Firearms Acquisition Certificate) in the mail close to a year later.
Fast forward 15yrs, there are no more FAC's, now they call it a PAL (posession and acquisition lisence). Firearms must be registered (all guns, not just hand guns). When they introduced the registry they allowed for people who were grandfathered guns and others to apply for possesion only lisences, but I was allowed to get the acquisition portion because I had already jumped through all the hoops years earlier.
The registry is a >1billion dollar srew-up recognized by all involved, even the Liberals that brought it in, but they won't cancel it because it would be an admission of fault, political suicide. All guns are to be accomanied by a registration card at all times, new guns (and used bought from dealers) cannot even leave the shop untill the registry office has been called and the transfer approved (more money, $40 I think).
I have never had a real problem with the safety course or back-ground checks because I'm just a hunter, we expect red tape and inconvenience from the government up here. The registry on the other hand, I could go on and on about the waste of $, how it deters people from joining our sport, how it does absolutely nothing for public safety, how cowardly the Liberals are for continuing to enforce it when they Know it does nothing but funnel money away from police and other productive measures. It was introduced to make urban housewives feel safe when they left the house, but instead it has robbed our police forces of vital resources that they need to make a difference, instead we have a billion dollar partial list of law abiding hunters, I promise you there is not one gang-banger on the list, gang members that buy black market hand guns don't register very often!
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"guns aren't for killing people, guns are for killing dangerous and delicious animals"
- Homer Simpson
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