Playing with firearms

I'd figured the Cons would at least follow through on demolishing the long-gun registry before looking for their next gift to the gun crowd. But according to the CP, Stockwell Day is hinting that reviewing gun owner suitability through a license renewal process every five years is far too much of an imposition in the eyes of the Cons:

Contrary to some victims' demands in the wake of the Montreal college shootings last fall, the Conservative government is still considering a one-time application for lifetime gun licences.

Applicants would still have to fill out the proper forms, provide references and undergo a criminal record check to obtain a licence to possess or acquire a firearm.

After that, only a complaint from the public or a criminal conviction would trigger a review, according to internal RCMP documents obtained by The Canadian Press using access to information legislation.

"The Minister of Public Safety has indicated that the government is considering introducing a one-time, lifetime licence for firearms ownership and acquisition," say the heavily edited documents...

Currently, a licence has to be renewed every five years...

Although the RCMP documents have been heavily edited, they do note that licence renewal on a regular basis allows a review of an applicant's personal history for "new risk factors," citing specifically divorce, separation or the loss of employment.

All further discussion has been withheld.

Interestingly, even the National Firearms Association's complaint about the status quo is only that the cost of renewal amounts to a cash grab. Which in turn would seem to suggest a problem which can equally be solved by ensuring that the payment helps to fund an effective review system.

But even that position is apparently too moderate for Day. Instead, the Cons appear to be looking to remove any ongoing check as to whether the owners of deadly firearms have become dangers to the public in handling them. And that only seems likely to make an already-imperfect system all the less effective in trying to prevent gun crime before it happens (rather than merely responding with a lengthy sentence after the fact).