BERNARDO: Punishing the law-abiding to stop the lawless — why targeting international students misses the mark

Tony Bernardo is the Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.When public fear rises, politicians reach for the closest lever. In BC, that’s international students with firearms licences.Former BC solicitor general Kash Heed says it is “absolutely ridiculous” that international students can obtain a Possession and Acquisition Licence.His statement follows reports that several international students were identified as suspects in violent extortion cases across BC, Ontario, and Alberta.On the surface, Kash Heed sounds decisive.Close a loophole. Cut off access. Protect the public.But if you slow down long enough to ask one simple question, his argument falls apart.Were these crimes committed with legally obtained firearms owned by licenced international students?If not, what exactly is the problem that needs to be solved?The article acknowledges that most guns used in extortion are illegally obtained.It also references the latest Criminal Intelligence Service Canada report, which notes that organized crime groups rely heavily on smuggling and other illicit acquisition methods..Organized crime groups rely on smuggling primarily, followed by illicit manufacturing, theft, and straw purchasing.In other words, the primary supply chain feeding violent extortion in Canada is criminal from start to finish.Yet the proposed “fix” is to restrict lawful applicants who undergo background checks, provide references, and comply with all federal firearms licencing requirements.That is not a strategy.That’s public safety theatre.Extortion is a serious and growing problem.The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada report notes that extortion-related criminal organizations have increased significantly in recent years. Organized crime groups are targeting businesses and diaspora communities to generate revenue and assert dominance.Extortion is terrifying. Communities deserve protection.That reality demands a serious response, not symbolic restrictions.Here’s the lie buried beneath the urgency..If we tighten eligibility for international students, we will meaningfully reduce extortion violence.There is no evidence that licenced international students are supplying organized crime with legally purchased firearms.This approach treats visa status as a proxy for criminal risk. Because some suspects were international students, all international students are treated as potential threats.That logic would fail spectacularly in any other policy domain.If a Canadian citizen commits tax fraud, we do not suspend the right of all citizens to file returns.If a permanent resident commits assault, we do not prohibit permanent residents from entering public spaces.We prosecute the offender. We dismantle the organization. We target the actual mechanism of harm.If the goal is public safety, then policy must follow evidence, not headlines.The government’s own data indicates that organized crime groups are acquiring firearms through smuggling and illicit channels. Consequently, the real pressure points are evident: there is a need to strengthen cross-border interdiction, increase intelligence sharing with US counterparts, expand specialized organized crime task forces, invest in financial crime tracing to disrupt extortion revenue streams, and improve secure reporting channels for victims within affected communities..Those are complex, resource-intensive measures.They don’t deliver instant press conferences with slick talking points. They don’t allow politicians to offer a simplistic, if symbolic, announcement.But they address the real problem.If there are specific cases where licenced individuals abused their privileges, present the data.If there is a documented pattern of PAL-holding international students supplying organized crime, publish the statistics and justify the response.Transparency builds trust.Kash Heed’s attempt erodes it.British Columbians deserve a policy that confronts criminals, not paperwork..They deserve a government that’s willing to dismantle organized crime’s infrastructure, not one that confuses regulatory tightening with enforcement success.You don’t stop criminality by eliminating the rights of the compliant.You stop criminality by confronting criminals.That means targeting organized crime groups, choking off smuggling pipelines, and prosecuting extortion aggressively and visibly.It means protecting vulnerable communities with real security measures, not more public safety policy theatre.If the BC and federal governments really want to reduce extortion violence, they must abandon their reactive responses and commit to action based on evidence.Public safety is too important to be driven by optics and sound bites.When the government conflates lawful firearms licencees with criminal supply chains, it doesn’t make the public safer.It leaves those criminal supply chains intact and untouched.Tony Bernardo is the Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.