I just emailed this to her. Maybe it will help, maybe not. I encourage everyone on here to do the same.
Senator,
After reading through Bill C-223 I immediately knew I had to write you to express my grave concerns regarding this Bill.
However, first please let me tell you a bit about myself and my personal and professional interests in this matter.
Professionally speaking I have served eleven years with the Canadian Forces, I have served as a Correctional Officer and I am currently in my 7th year as a police officer / supervisor. I have a diverse number of qualifications such as small arms instructor and I am a federally recognized firearms verifier. I have seized many firearms over the course of my career so far. I have seen firearms used in crimes and I have seen firearms used responsibly by their owners.
Personally, I am a firearms enthusiast. I enjoy target shooting and spend a great deal of time at the range with my family. I have two young boys and because of the time they have spent with me at the range they have a healthy understanding and appreciation for firearms.
In my opinion both privately and professionally Bill C-223 addresses a problem that does not exist.
As I said, I have seen many firearms used in offences. None, of these offences would have been prevented by the regulations proposed under Bill C-223. The simple fact is if someone is prepared to commit a crime using a firearm then they have already displayed a disregard for law. As such creating more laws is not going to deter them.
Secondly, as a police officer I have never been aided in my duties by the gun registry, Authorization to Transport or other such "paper" restrictions.
In my opinion Canada does not have a gun problem. Canada has a gang problem, a violence problem and a border problem. The best way to stop gun violence is to take the illegal guns off of the streets, not out of the hands of responsible gun owners. Everyday the police officers that serve our communities are finding their hands further tied in what they can do to deal with these issues. The recent "carding" policy within Ontario only further restricted our abilities to take these illegal firearms out of the hands of those that are truly dangerous. Everyday that the police become more restricted the criminal becomes more enabled. I've seen it first hand on the streets, I have listened to inmates talk about it. They know what they can get away with. They know the boundaries imposed on the police and they use it to their full advantage.
My former partner had spent time in California policing and used to talk about the policies they had there. Upon release from court / custody any person convicted of a violent felony was subject to search of their person and immediate surroundings by a police officer when outside of their residence. It may seem invasive, but these are people who have been tried and convicted of violence. Just imagine how many firearms would be off the streets tonight if Canadian police officers could use this same search authority. This is where you will find solutions. Not in restricting responsible gun owners.
If we talked about firearms themselves. The classification rules, restrictions and limitations on specific firearms are very much nonsense. A firearms delivers a high bullet at high speed that is designed to caused damage killing or incapacitating a person / animal ect. The laws surrounding calibers, accessories, stocks, and magazine capacities do not in anyway change the underlying principle of how firearms work. For example; one firearm that is always mentioned is the "assault rifle" or AR15. These rifles are very familiar to me. They shoot a .223 or 5.56mm round which is actually quite small. These firearms were designed to injure soldiers instead of kill them. It was believed that it inflicted more damage to an enemy if soldiers were being wounded instead of killed because it would quickly drain the enemy of resources for evacuation and medical care. Conversely, a 12g shotgun (typical for duck or goose hunting) or a .30-30 lever action rifle (commonly used for deer hunting) are more accurate, shoot a much larger and more damaging round and are far capable of killing or injuring a person then an assault rifle. Yet, we in Canada are heavily regulating assault rifles. At the end of the day a rifle, is a rifle is a rifle and if someone wants to misuse one no amount of regulation, tracking, registry or otherwise will prevent that.
What can prevent these tragedies is to empower the police to take guns out of the hands of criminals and to tighten our borders to the stem of illegal firearms that pour in from the US everyday.
I invite and encourage you to join me sometime both at my shooting club and in my cruiser so that I can show you first hand where the problems are and how they can best be addressed to better the safety of all Canadians.
Respectfully,
Kevin Andress
