While the Liberals are bringing in laws to take guns out of the hands of Canadians, the UCP candidates in the race to be premier all agreed they will help Albertans hang onto their guns..The federal government recently introduced Bill C-21, which would prohibit new sales of handguns in Canada..In 2020, the federal government banned 1,500 different firearms. More recently, the federal government promised a bill to ban the sale, gifting or transfer of all handguns in Canada..At the Western Standard UCP Leadership frontrunners Debate Tuesday night, Danielle Smith, Travis Toews and Brian Jean all agreed they will fight the federal government for Albertans to keep their guns.."I began by talking about this and the role that we can play with our chief firearms officer," Smith said.."One of the things she mentioned is we already do the regulation on our shops that sell guns. And we also do sort of a higher order of gun licensing for those who need to have a second check, but most of our routine firearms licenses, they get processed in mirror machines, and it's taking not just months it's taking years to do."."I think the federal government is is trying to encourage people not to get firearms," Smith said.."If we repatriate that act, and we end up doing all of the administration here. It gives us more control over making sure that people who are law abiding get their firearms.".Smith said: "Then when we have an Alberta provincial police, and the federal government says they're going to start confiscating firearms. We can say actually, we have different policing priorities."."Our policing priorities is to make sure that those who live in rural communities do not have people going onto the property and stealing their stuff without it being taken care of. That's what our policing priorities are, but we can only do that if we take control," Smith said..Leadership candidate Travis Toews told the crowd at the jammed downtown Calgary Rooftop YYC that "Number one, you need to work with other provinces to push back on egregious federal laws and restrictions that limit the freedom of law abiding residents in the country.".Toews said in Calgary a few months ago he was able to fire automatic weapons at a shooting range.."The owner brought out automatics that day. We shot automatics. In a gun range and I said, how can you do that? He said, 'You know what, Alberta with our own CFO options to do this legally.' We benefited, I benefited that day from additional freedom for firearms owners."."I would absolutely repatriate the licensing function, and the transfer function," Toews said.."That administrative function needs to be conducted here in Alberta. We can do it. It's within our purview, and we will then create and set a course for firearms owners in Alberta. To transfer, buy, and sell guns legal expedition.".Brian Jean also agreed to fight the federal government gun laws for Albertans.."I've got a restricted licence for 35 years," Jean said.."I'm an avid hunter, I know that firearms are extremely important. So safety and the balance of courses section 91 and 92. I keep coming back to it because in order to do what we want, we have to open up the Constitution section 91, of course deals the safety of the public, section 92, of course, deals with personal property, what we need to do is first pass the personal property law that deals with this particular item ownership in order to make a decision on it."."If we don't do that, if we don't open the Constitution, we're gonna keep coming back to the same thing over and over and over again," Jean said.."In fact, what I would say to you now is this; is we can do that and we can pass it on the Supreme Court of Canada to decide where safety is, where personal property is, but more than that, during that process we have to make sure that the chief firearms officer slows down."."But you know, Toews is right. We need to slow down and take over the administrative process and just stop the federal government."
