ARCHIVED - Government of Canada extends firearms compliance measures

Ottawa, March 25, 2011 — The Honourable Vic Toews,Minister of Public Safety, today announced that the Government ofCanada has extended the current amnesty intended to encourage compliance with federal firearms legislation.

“This Government is committed to improving public safety througheffective gun control and tackling the criminal use of firearms, whilereducing administrative requirements on lawful firearms owners,” saidMinister Toews.  “We are extending the current measures to continue toencourage gun owners to comply with federal firearms legislation.

The Government has extended, until May 16, 2013, the amnesty thatprotects non-compliant owners of non-restricted firearms from criminalliability while they are taking steps to comply with the licencing andregistration requirements of the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code.

“The Government is determined to focus its efforts on combating thecriminal use of firearms. We have introduced mandatory prison sentencesfor those who commit serious gun crimes and tougher bail rules forserious weapon-related offences.  In addition, we continue to invest $7million annually to strengthen the licensing process by enhancingfront-end screening of first-time firearms licence applicants,” addedMinister Toews.

For further information, please refer to the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP).The Canadian Firearms Program is part of the Royal Canadian MountedPolice (RCMP) Policing Support Services, and is responsible for theadministration of the Firearms Act which governs the possession, transportation, use and storage of firearms in Canada.

See also:

• Backgrounder: Increasing Compliance among Firearms Owners

Information:

Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657

Date modified:

2015-11-20