Juno News - Can provinces set their own gun laws？

00:00:00.000 you're tuned in to the andrew lawton show

00:00:08.800 the firearms regimes are federal the regulations the laws are federal but provinces can appoint

00:00:16.000 their own cfo and this was something i actually brought up with terry bryant when i ran into terry

00:00:22.080 at the ucp agm in calgary how much authority do provinces really have this was our conversation

00:00:28.400 in calgary on the weekend is the landscape for firearms issues in alberta so different compared

00:00:34.640 to several other provinces in canada right now well i think uh there's two answers to that i think

00:00:40.640 one is it's not as different as you might think because if you go outside a few of the major

00:00:45.360 metropolitan areas you'll find that the vast majority of the geographical area of canada

00:00:50.800 thinks that not that much differently than alberta but we do have some uh particular specific

00:00:56.000 circumstances in alberta uh for example we've long had a major role played by agriculture and ranching

00:01:03.360 which instilled a sort of sense of uh individual responsibility and looking after oneself and

00:01:12.720 i think firearms have been a part of that because they were so uh actively used by ranchers and farmers

00:01:20.640 obviously provinces have the ability as in your case to appoint their own cfo but so many of the

00:01:25.360 the laws and regulations are federal so how much autonomy do provinces really have and where are

00:01:30.720 those issues where they can kind of be a bit more independent on firearms issues and respect gun

00:01:35.120 owners a bit more well i think there's a couple of aspects to that again one it makes a big difference

00:01:42.400 the attitude of the people you have in the office and i can't tell you how many people you know i attend

00:01:48.160 gun shows virtually every weekend or other firearms events and i can't tell you how many people come up

00:01:53.520 to praise my staff for the great work that they're doing because they just have an approach of how

00:01:59.360 can we help you to solve whatever issue you have instead of how can we make your life difficult and so

00:02:07.040 that's i think one important aspect the other important aspect is it is true that this is an area

00:02:13.840 where there is primarily federal jurisdiction but that just makes it all the more important for us to seek

00:02:18.560 out every nook and cranny where there is some opportunity to exercise provincial discretion

00:02:24.800 and as part of that process that also means that we are learning exactly how to how the whole program

00:02:33.120 works so that if we do get a change of government in ottawa we'll be able to assist in transitioning to

00:02:41.280 a more firearms owner friendly regime which will i think pay huge dividends in terms of public safety

00:02:48.080 for even for non-firearms owners because there is just so much of what the federal government does

00:02:53.520 that is not focused on public safety it is focused on bureaucratic procedures making life difficult for

00:03:00.560 ordinary firearms owners instead of going after criminals and if we were able to refocus a bit on

00:03:09.520 on the problem areas and give the law-abiding people a little bit more leeway then i think we would get a

00:03:17.440 lot more support for the program all across canada and as everyone in law enforcement will tell you it was

00:03:23.840 mentioned i think by both the ministers today we public safety requires public support for

00:03:34.000 all of the aspects of administration and enforcement of the law and so if we're able to build better

00:03:42.000 relationships with the public that will pay great dividends in terms of public safety thanks for

00:03:48.720 listening to the andrew lawton show support the program by donating to true north at www.tnc.news

Juno News - November 14, 2023