Canadian gun owners say “red flag” laws are a solution in search of a problem. The federal government recently announced its intentions to confiscate guns from owners when there is a perceived risk to themselves or others. These laws are recent in most of the 17 United States that have adopted them, but in Canada, they’re old news. .“When it comes to red flag laws, Canada has had them for decades, under section five of the Firearms Act and under Section 117 of the Criminal Code,” says Rod Giltaca, CEO and Executive Director for the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR)..“If you were to call 9-1-1 and you said, ‘I’m a gun owner, I really don’t want to live anymore, I’m considering killing myself,’ I assure you that the police would be at your door within minutes and they will have your guns in hand and you’ll be led off to the hospital for evaluation.”.Public Safety Minister Bill Blair made the announcement in an exclusive interview with the Globe and Mail. He said, “There are dangerous situations where the firearm presence becomes deadly. And so we want to empower not just the police, but doctors, victims, communities and families to be able to take steps to render a dangerous situation safe.”.Last April, Dr. Alan Drummond with the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) testified before a Senate committee examining firearms regulations. Drummond called for “mandatory reporting by physicians of those individuals at risk by virtue of untreated severe mental illness and of those identified at risk of intimate partner violence.”.Drummond also told the Globe and Mail that doctors can share concerns with the Chief Firearms Office, which controls licensing, but an investigation and seizure could take weeks..“No, that is patently false”, says Blair Hagen of the National Firearms Association. He says anyone can tell the police about a risk and the complaint “doesn’t have to be substantiated…The guns are gone until the investigation is performed at two levels: law enforcement and provincial chief firearms office.” .“Now police come to your house and they’ve said, ‘Look we don’t think you should be in possession of firearms right now’ either because of your domestic situation or the fact that you’re having some troubles right now. ‘Somebody made a report, we’re not going to tell you who that is. We’re just going to take your firearms for a while.’”.Hagen says gun owners suffer from “a guilty until proven innocent law.” Even after they are cleared following psychiatric treatment or evaluations, they often face unreasonable obstacles when they try to get their guns back..“I talk to firearms owners daily and they think it’s the most flagrant abuse of personal rights. ‘How could this happen to me?’ [they ask.] And I say, ‘The law is there to do this to you. The law is there to deprive you of your rights and property.’”.In the last parliament, the Liberal government passed Bill C-71 to turn some non-restricted rifles into prohibited weapons, while inventing new laws against gun owners and stores. In the last election, the Liberals promised to ban AR-15s and other “military-style assault rifles.” .“It speaks directly to the Liberals’ intent to seize millions of guns despite what they might say. Because we think there’s about 21 million guns in Canada. So if they were to [ban] semi-fire, semi-auto rifles and shotguns for example, this is in the fives-of-millions of guns, probably.” Giltaca says..Minister Blair has said in the past that not all such guns would be banned. However, the phrase “military assault rifles” is not a formal classification, nor has any specific list has been provided..The government intends to use a cabinet order to ban and buy these soon-to-be prohibited guns at a cost of at least $250 million. Many experts believe the cost would reach into the billions. More than 153,000 Canadians have signed petition E-2341 to insist such a move be authorized by an act of Parliament..“If they’re going to do that, they need to use legislation because that’s what gets debated and that’s where there’s a process involved,” Giltaca says. “We still wouldn’t like it, don’t get me wrong, but that’s the appropriate path to take with that magnitude of effect that would have on many Canadians.”.Statistics Canada reported 249 firearms-related homicides in Canada in 2018. According to CAEP, suicide by firearm accounts for 500 cases per year. This is a small percentage of all suicides, which was 4,405 in 2017..Giltaca says the government has no justifiable reason to target the 2.2 million Canadians who lawfully own guns..“Gun control is probably the least understood and most lied about topic in politics in Canada. It’s just absolutely breathtaking, the amount of disinformation generated by political parties, governments, anti-gun groups. It’s just incredible.”
