The Committee) 131 Queen Street, Sixth Floor House of Commons, Ottawa on K1A 0A6 E-Mail: [email protected]
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April 14, 2018 To the Chairman and Members Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (the Committee) 131 Queen Street, Sixth Floor House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 E-mail: [email protected] Dear Sirs and Madams: Re: Bill C-71 – An Act to amend certain Acts and Regulations in relation to firearms To date, Canadians often have been presented with all-or-nothing often-politicized arguments on the subject of gun ownership, frequently influenced by events over our border. We may be satisfied that we are “better” than our neighbours to the south. But compared to other G-7 and select other countries (see table below), we are not. We can do better. We must do better. Firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population per year (G-7 and select other countries) Country Deaths/100k Homicides Suicides Accidental Unknown Guns per 100 people United States 11.96 4.62 7.10 0.15 0.09 101.05 France 2.83 0.21 2.16 0.04 0.41 14.96 Canada 2.05 0.45 1.52 0.05 0.02 25.33 Norway 1.75 0.10 1.63 0.02 0.00 31.30 Sweden 1.47 0.19 1.20 0.06 0.01 31.60 Italy 1.31 0.35 0.87 0.09 0.02 11.90 Australia 1.04 0.18 0.80 0.02 0.01 13.70 Germany 1.01 0.07 0.84 0.01 0.08 30.30 United Kingdom 0.23 0.06 0.15 0.00 0.02 2.80 Japan 0.06 0.00 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.60 Canada's position 3rd worst 2nd worst 4th worst 3rd worst My comments on the following pages are measured against key points in the main MP speeches when Bill C-71 was at second reading. The first major response speech on Bill C-71 spoke to the long-gun registry (no longer exists) and the following: • The safety of Canadians must be the top priority of any government • The importance of going after criminals/crime and reducing the cross-border inflow of guns • Putting no undue burden on law-abiding citizens. The second response speech supported the bill, commented on the lack of opportunity for debate and other procedural issues, and emphasized the following: • The need to balance the interests of those who want more gun control due to tragedies that have occurred and those who hunt, enjoy target shooting, and/or want to protect themselves and their community • The importance of efficiency for gun-owners and gun-related businesses. I believe that that both gun-owners and people concerned by gun-related deaths are likely to agree on the majority of concerns and on practical solutions if they willingly work together. In this regard, I have the following comments: 1. I support the proposed legislation’s measures to address illegal handguns and assault weapons and unlawful use of legally held firearms, but the proposed legislation does not meaningfully address guns in the hands of a small percentage of people in periods of great personal stress, and I believe that it should. If this cannot be addressed in amendments to Bill C-71, I strongly recommend that the Committee propose further work on the subject in its Report on the Bill. 1 Page 1 With respect to the requirement for gun sellers not already doing so to keep records, electronic storage methods, including ones not connected to the internet, can be used at very low cost and I hope agreement among affected parties can be concluded soon. 2. I call upon the Committee to make the following recommendations in its Report on the study of Bill C-71, and, where noted, ask the government to respond later to the Committee, as follows: i. The Committee should recommend development of a proposal for periodic unintrusive background check/reference measures aimed at addressing the issue of a gun-owner struggling with mental health issues. What is evident from the U.S., and well-known in Canada, is that mental health can and has lead to gun-related deaths; in Canada, many gun-related deaths are suicides, which also calls for more resources being dedicated to mental health issues. And this is why those transferring gun ownership through sale (or gifting/willing) privately or at gun shows must check licenses. Data shows that a once-in-a-life time background check at the first time of licensing will not reveal issues, including mental health issues, that develop later. Attachment 1, an internet- sourced analysis of Canadian deaths resulting from shootings of multiple people in the past 50 years, shows that 12 or more of the 29 cases appear to be primarily mental-health-driven; the brief Appendices C and D to a 2010 Canadian Firearms Program Evaluation (http://www.rcmp- grc.gc.ca/pubs/fire-feu-eval/appc-eng.htm; http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/pubs/fire-feu- eval/appd-eng.htm) provide additional examples, for example, cases of domestic violence, that everyone on the Committee can agree is a considerable concern. The likely increase in stress due to adjustments that have to be made due to huge changes in the way people work (the “uberization” of jobs, the gig economy), as well as pressures from social media and fake news, mean that there may be increased mental health cases and reasonable solutions should be discussed ahead of time. Below are three approaches that try to sensitively address the issue. o Targeted checks: While mental health issues can occur at any time, two age groups that may permit targeted responses occur, first, in the late teens/early twenties, when bipolar disorder and schizophrenia symptoms may manifest themselves, and, second, as people’s mental faculties later decline. There may be other areas where targeted checks may be warranted. ▪ One option would be annual reference and background checks for those below 25. Increasing the age at which a gun may be bought to 21 was suggested by students in the recent Florida killings. Attachment 1 shows 14 or 15 of 29 – 50% of multiple gun-related homicides and woundings in Canada – were committed by young men 25 and younger. ▪ Another option is re-affirming that doctors, and extending their permission to breach privacy to other professionals and individuals in positions to see people displaying behaviours of concern, are permitted to and must report concerns to family or authorities, just as they do when a sight or mental impairment, such as Alzheimers, may cause driving accidents. Clearly, few cases of declining mental faculties will be of concern, but it is critical to make it clear that people have a right and a responsibility to raise in confidence to those in authority any issue involving a party that they may believe could exhibit poor judgement in terms of gun use (Attachment 1 includes at least two examples when this could have been done). Similarly, the army, police or security guard companies that reject individuals due to concerns regarding personality disorders, or people at shooting ranges who see people demonstrating behaviours of concern, should have a mandatory requirement to report this. 2 Page 2 ▪ A final option is more frequent checks for owners of multiple guns. Nine, or a third of the 29 cases in Attachment 1, involved multiple weapons. While police must always enter precarious situations assuming there will be guns, the proposed legislation should provide for a way for the authorities to require gun shops to check their records when an issue is only just emerging. Given computer records, this is not onerous. o Responsibilities of reference-givers: In the case of the Dawson College shooting, the murderer had acquired four guns using family members as references. Was it one family member? If more, did the others knew how many guns he had? It is important that people who provide references – being people who presumably know the individual well – have some responsibility to advise the authorities if they see that behaviour later becomes erratic and concerns them. ii. The Committee should conclude that the need to provide references should be extended to renewing licenses. The renewal of licenses can now be done online and efforts are being made to make the process as efficient and simple as possible, but there is no space for two references as apply when a person gets a license. A quick search on the internet finds few material complaints in terms of obtaining or renewing a license : https://www.quora.com/How-easy-is-it- to-get-a-handgun-in-Canada; http://www.howtogetagun.ca/. And the requirement to get a reference more frequently should not be onerous. No reasonable person objects to being required to provide passport references periodically (that is, just name, address, and basic contact information). Responsible law-abiding gunowners should have the same desire to have only competent (skilled and mentally sound) individuals able to own, and continue to possess, a gun by requiring two references to be provided. iii. The Committee should recommend the government consider recent highly-publicized American high-school students’ recommendations to ban assault-type weapons and bumpstocks, and raise the age of purchase if there is no intention to continue background checks until age 25. Some non-restricted guns in Canada may seem to those less familiar with guns to be quite close to military assault weapons (https://www.huntinggearguy.com/rifle- reviews/top-10-non-restricted-black-rifles-in-canada/). It is likely that many gun-owners would agree with this.