Question Period Note: Deferral of the Firearms Marking Regulationn

Deferral of the coming into force of the Firearms Marking Regulations (the Regulations), from December 1, 2020 until December 1, 2023.

• The Firearms Marking Regulations have been deferred for three years, and are due to come into force on December 1, 2023.

• Over the next three years, the Government intends to work with key firearm industry and law enforcement partners in order to develop an effective marking regime that improves the ability of police to trace firearms while being manageable for firearm owners and businesses.

• Firearms markings are vital to combat firearm smuggling and the diversion of firearms to the illicit market, and to support law enforcement in tracing crime guns.

• While the regulations have been deferred multiple times, the existing Regulations are obsolete and are no longer workable with the ending of the long gun registry. Effective tracing requires firearms markings, record-keeping, and sufficient police capacity to trace a firearm to a person or point of sale, and all of these areas have witnessed considerable change since the regulations were first developed.

• The Government remains committed to bringing the Regulations into force.

Background:

Firearms markings have critical value for domestic and international law enforcement as they, in conjunction with firearms records and law enforcement tracing capacity, can be used to trace crime guns back to their lawful owners. Moreover, Canada has signed, but not ratified, two international agreements with the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of America States (OAS) regarding the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms. The treaties seek to counter the illegal production and movement of firearms by enabling crime guns to be traced in order to combat terrorism, organized crime and other criminal activities. The marking of specific information on firearms is a key element of the tracing process, and is one of several requirements set out in the UN and OAS treaties.

Firearms Marking Regulations

The Firearms Marking Regulations (the Regulations) were drafted in 2004 as a means to improve domestic firearms tracing and comply with the aforementioned international treaties, but the Regulations have yet to come into effect. They have previously been deferred nine times, and have been deferred for another three years, until December 1, 2023.

The Regulations stipulate the following marking requirements:

(a) the markings need to be permanently stamped or engraved on the frame or receiver of all firearms manufactured in, or imported into, Canada;
(b) domestically manufactured firearms must bear the name of the manufacturer, the serial number and “Canada” or “CA”, while imported firearms must be marked with “Canada” or “CA” and the last two digits of the year of import, e.g. “20” for 2020; and,
(c) the markings must be of specific dimensions to prevent obliteration of the data and allow for tracing.

The end of the long gun registry in 2012 removed approximately 7.1 million of the total 7.9 million firearms records in Canada at the time, severing the tracing chain (e.g. a marked firearm is tied back to a place of sale or owner through transaction or registration records). Former Bill C-71 contains a regulation that would require businesses to keep transaction records – including the markings of a firearm and details on the buyer – that would fill most of the gap created by the end of the registry, and it is expected that this provision will be able to come into force in the next two years as the RCMP makes IT system upgrades to facilitate this requirement.

Limited police tracing capacity currently results in long wait times to trace crime guns, and this capacity constraint is also expected to be addressed via additional funding in the next three years.

Finally, industry stakeholders have expressed that they would like to collaborate with government to develop a markings regime, as they need business certainty to plan for future investments and equipment. Canadian firearms businesses rely heavily on imports given the small domestic market, so markings will be a key element in controlling costs and ensuring continued viability of the industry. They have asked that there be no further deferrals beyond 2023.

The 2004 Regulations were predicated upon the long gun registry records and have not been changed to incorporate industry feedback over the intervening years, and as a result they provide little value to law enforcement in tracing crime guns or the industry in ensuring a viable future. The three year deferral period will allow sufficient time to consult key industry and law enforcement partners to develop a marking regime that achieves the intended outcome of enabling firearm tracing, without being too onerous on firearm manufacturers and businesses.

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