By Sheldon Spackman

Yet To Be Reviewed

Veer says it’s too early to say whether Red Deer will look at handgun ban

Feb 19, 2021 | 4:21 PM

Red Deer’s mayor says the city has yet to review newly proposed federal legislation that would give municipalities the authority to create their own bylaws banning handguns in their respective communities.

Tara Veer says the potential impacts of such a bylaw are still unknown at this point.

“Obviously it’s a significant matter that we will need to look at over the coming months now that they’ve formally tabled legislation,” explains Veer. “But I think from a preliminary view, firearms legislation has always fallen under federal jurisdiction and it will be very difficult to consider that from a municipal perspective because of the variations you can get in a region.”

Veer says she feels the federal government is trying to resolve a political issue, but likely with unintended consequences from downloading it to municipalities.

“If you look at our region alone, there’s Red Deer, Sylvan Lake, Innisfail, the County, Lacombe County, Blackfalds, there’s 12-15 municipalities that could have differing legislation,” she points out.

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“We’ve been looking at harmonizing our regulations on other matters in our region to help reduce government bureaucracy on matters such as a rides-for-hire bylaw, and our COVID response to try to ease the bureaucratic burden on our citizens,” she noted.

“So it will be very challenging to look at legislation of criminal code import at a municipal level when there’s so many different municipalities in a populated area.”

On Feb. 16, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the introduction of new legislation to amend the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act to make communities safer while respecting law-abiding gun owners.

Key targets of the proposed legislation include combatting intimate partner and gender-based violence, and self-harm involving firearms by creating “red flag” and “yellow flag” laws.

The laws would allow people such as concerned friends or relatives, to apply to the courts for the immediate removal of an individual’s firearms, or to ask a Chief Firearms Officer to suspend and review an individual’s license to own firearms.

The proposed legislation also aims to fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, and by enhancing the capacity of the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency to combat the illegal importation of firearms.

Federal officials say support would also be made to municipalities that ban handguns, through bylaws restricting storage and transportation in their jurisdictions. Individuals who violate the municipal bylaws would be subject to federal penalties, including license revocation and criminal sanctions.

Municipalities and Indigenous communities would also receive funding to support youth programs giving young people the opportunities and resources needed to avoid criminal behavior.

New offences for altering the cartridge magazine component of a firearm and depicting violence in firearms advertising would also be established, in addition to tighter restrictions on imports of ammunition, and ensuring the prohibition of imports, exports, sales, and transfers of all replica firearms.

A completion of the prohibition of assault-style firearms to ensure they cannot be legally used, transported, sold, transferred, or bequeathed by individuals in Canada would also be done.

Government officials say they futher intend to move forward with a buyback program in the coming months to support the safe removal of these firearms from Canadian communities.

The Alberta government responded to the proposed legislation this week by noting that MLA Michaela Glasgo has introduced private member’s Bill 211, which would limit municipalities’ ability to pass bylaws on these matters.

The province plans to expedite that bill and remain on track to appoint Alberta’s Chief Firearms Officer.

Federal officials highlight that a Criminal Code amnesty is in place until April 30, 2022 to protect lawful owners from criminal liability and to enable them to comply with the law. Under the amnesty, the newly prohibited firearms can only be transferred or transported within Canada for specific purposes.

According to Statistics Canada, firearms were used in over 40 per cent of homicides in Canada in 2019.