A right in the United States, a privilege in Canada

The new version of Bill C-21 on firearms represents such a change of position of the Trudeau government that one would believe Paul who had a revelation on the road to Damascus!

Starting with the national freeze on the purchase of handguns, which was the biggest surprise of this announcement. The idea of ​​shoveling the file into the courtyard of the cities, proposed last year, was nonsense. We were among those who had denounced her.

The new bill will also make mandatory the buy-back program for assault weapons that are banned in the country.

In the first version, it had to be voluntary (and therefore, necessarily, less effective).

The Liberal government has also decided to automatically revoke the license of a person subject to a protection order or involved in an act of domestic violence or harassment. We can therefore think that this will be done more systematically than at present.

These are not cosmetic changes. The turn is pronounced. It is important to salute him.

Poly Remembers Group Coordinator Heidi Rathjen couldn’t hide her excitement when we spoke to her on Wednesday. “For the first time in 20 years, we feel listened to,” she said.

The bill can still be improved, say those who call for better gun control (and they are right), but it represents a “marked shift in Liberal posture.”

On this issue, it must be said, political training comes a long way. Last year, after the unveiling of the first version of the legislation, a few dozen survivors of Polytechnique had warned Justin Trudeau that they would no longer agree to be seen with him at the next annual commemorations.

It is certain, this shift is due to the disappointment and the anger provoked by the first version of the bill. It is also probably linked to the observation that the majority of Canadians are calling for stricter firearms control measures.

The bloody killings that take place repeatedly in our neighbors to the south and the increase in the number of crimes committed with firearms in certain major Canadian cities – including Montreal – are certainly not unrelated to the consensus that is forming from this side of the border on the issue.

It is clear, with this new bill, that we are trying to distance ourselves from the situation that prevails in the United States.

The federal government is telling us more clearly than ever that owning a firearm here is a privilege. Not a right.

This is a legitimate societal choice. We’re going to eliminate assault weapons and cap the number of handguns. A clear progress, while their popularity was growing.

On the other hand, these measures will not have a major impact on the reduction of crimes committed with firearms. Only a small percentage of legal guns are used for these crimes.

For that, it will be necessary to continue to strengthen border controls to fight against the smuggling of firearms; it is estimated that 85% of illegal weapons come from the United States. The fight against this traffic must be further supported and funded.

At the same time, Ottawa should tighten the rules surrounding the purchase of firearm parts by Canadian citizens who do not have a license, but who can then manage to manufacture a weapon.

It will also be important to find new ways to tackle the problem of the trivialization of firearms, a toxic and distressing phenomenon.

But just because this bill is incomplete doesn’t mean it’s a shot in the dark, as some have argued. The path is built by walking, they say.

And now Ottawa has just taken a step in the right direction.