In Depth
Dawson College
Gun control
The rules for shooting clubs and restricted weapons
Last Updated September 19, 2006
CBC News
In the aftermath of the shooting at Montreal's Dawson College, it became quickly known that the assailant, Kimveer Gill, was able to legally purchase and own a restricted weapon because he was a member of a gun club in Lachine, Que.
What wasn't immediately apparent at the time was that gun clubs have little responsibility when it comes to ensuring gun safety or policing their members.
The Canada Firearm Centre, a division of the RCMP, treats clubs as a business, a media spokesman said. Clubs are responsible for checking that members have passed a government safety course; and club safety officers ensure individuals use guns safely and properly while on the range.
But the responsibility of the gun club to ensure safe use is limited to the shooting range. What members do after they leave the premises isn't the club's concern.
The Canada Firearm Centre requires all gun clubs in Canada to keep record of members and guests who fire a gun on the premises. These lists are kept on record for up to five years. However, a representative at the RCMP media centre says it is "unlikely" that the CFC would request this member information.
No legal big brother
The CFC has "no legislative big brother role" when it comes to monitoring what goes on at gun clubs, the RCMP told CBC. Clubs have no legal responsibility to report members to the CFC if they are misusing firearms or acting suspiciously.
Instead, the CFC relies simply on members of the public to report suspicious activities to the CFC's public safety line.
By law, restricted firearms, such as the one Gill owned, can only be fired at gun clubs. It is illegal to hunt with restricted firearms in Canada.
Anyone wishing to be in possession of a restricted firearm must pass the Canadian Restricted Firearm Safety Course. Family members also have to sign off on the application.
There are additional requirements for restricted firearms owners wishing to transport their gun — to the gun club, the gunsmith or somewhere else. They must apply for a special one-time permit each time they want to transport their firearm.
But members of guns clubs can apply for and receive a transport licence, usually valid for about a year, for specifically bringing the gun between the member's house and the club. The CFC issues the licence but the club has to sign off on it as well.
At one point a gun club attendance requirement was proposed for owners of restricted firearms. But that rule was never enacted when the gun control law was passed.
Const. Clayton Pecknold, deputy chief of the Central Saanich Police in B.C., says the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police recognize the imperfections of the gun registry but still regard it as a valuable tool. "CACP are completely in support of the present registry," he says.
The CACP acknowledges imperfections with the registry such as the management of resources and cost overruns, but they believe the RCMP will manage the registry more responsibly.
Pecknold says that while ordinary citizens have no special onus to report crimes, by imposing licensing on gun clubs, the government can impose requirements on the businesses, such as reporting on their members.
No one at Club Tire Ville St. Pierre, the gun club in Lachine, Que., which Gill belonged to, would comment when contacted by CBC.
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