I have been on the Firearms Committee for several years and was asked to take over as the Chair last May. My first action were to immediately begin to look into the latest changes that the CFO's had made to the Authorization to Transport system.

This effort was temporarily postponed by the announcement of the extension of the amnesty for persons who have had a POL/PAL and are found in possession of an unregistered firearm. After drafting a letter for Wilf to express our support and thank the Federal Minister of Public Safety, Stockwell Day, the work continued. I phoned and wrote to the BC-CFO asking for explanations of just how and why these policy changes were made. This continued over the summer Well, I must admit that the Committee's letters and the one that was written for Wilf's signature did not result in any changes with-in the BC-CFO's office, however we may have alerted Minister Day to our concerns that these policies are being changed without input from those concerned and in ways that are not strictly within the bound of the current legislation.

We have written letters in support of Government efforts for resisting calls for more firearms bans and to ask for reduction on the regulatory burden placed upon law-abiding firearms owners since that time.

When Parliament was prorogued in September, all the pending legislation died. This meant that as soon as it was re-introduced it had to be completely reviewed and positions taken. The effects of the omnibus crime bill, C-2 (2007) on legitimate sportsmen and women will depend entirely on the other laws and regulatory regime that we have to live with. If the Government can succeed in removing the present onerous conditions that conditions that are a fact of life for firearms owners it may be negligible. However if every paper infraction will result in the mandatory minimum sentences, given the complexity and the zeal that some take in enforcing those laws, we may be in for a very rough ride.

The proposed solution to address this situation, C-24 (2007), the elimination of the long gun registration bill, fails. It is merely a re-labeling of the previously introduced bill, C-21 (2006), and not only does it not eliminate the Registry for long guns, merely transferring it to another area within the Department, the Provincial Chief Firearms Officer but actually will make matters worse by requiring all transfers to be approved by the PCFO under an increased regulatory scrutiny requirement. This is the process that Restricted and Prohibited Firearms are presently subjected to. It will add considerably to the time and inconvenience involved for the law-abiding without having any effect what-so-ever on criminal violence. As we all know but the bureaucrats somehow fail to realize is, "Criminals" by definition do not obey the law and will not therefore participate in or be subject to this process.

One area that was more successful, as much as could have been expected given the present circumstances in Ottawa was the efforts on C-10A (2003). They resulted in the postponement until December 2009 of the additional firearms marking provisions that are contained with-in. Inspired by UN efforts to control violence in the third world, the requirements would have reduced the number of firearms importers, driven the cost of all newly imported firearms significantly and required the formation of a new database to hold the information. As this is only a postponement it will require continued monitoring and comment to insure that they are not implemented in 2009 when it expires.

We may again be into an election campaign by the time you are able to read this and I would urge you to carefully consider all of the consequences of that vote. We will continue to work to insure that whoever is in Government is fully aware of just how law-abiding sportsmen and women are impacted by Criminal or Firearms laws, regulations and policies. If you would take the time to phone, e-mail or write your MP and explain exactly how they affect you, it can help raise awareness of the problems that ordinary tax-paying citizens face.