The federal Liberals' new firearms bill has missed the mark in Bob Zimmer's opinion.
The Conservative MP for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies said Wednesday it came up short in terms of cutting off gang members' access to guns while creating unnecessary red tape for law-abiding firearms owners.
The bill, introduced Tuesday, will extend background checks to a purchaser's entire life from the current five years. Zimmer approved of that measure.
"If there was some gang activity in a person's younger life, to it at least being considered when somebody's trying to legally purchase a firearm, I'm not opposed to that," Zimmer said Wednesday.
"We should know what gang activity is there...so at least it would alert authorities to that activity."
But Zimmer said that's about as far as the bill goes in combatting gang-related gun violence. He said the Liberals should also have made a firmer commitment to such efforts as intercepting illegal firearms as they cross the Canada-U.S. border.
"I've been told so many times that gang members don't often go into a firearms store and buy a gun legally," Zimmer said. "They do it illegally and we need to do more to prevent that from happening in Canada."
The Liberals have devoted more than $327 million over five years, with $100 million a year thereafter, to address criminal gun and gang activities. But Zimmer expressed skepticism over how effectively that money is being rolled out.
"Even though that money's allocated, we'll see what it will deliver," he said.
Added to Zimmer's concerns is that gun retailers will be required to keep records of firearms inventory and sales for at least 20 years and require the purchaser of a hunting rifle or shotgun to present a firearms licence, while the seller would have to ensure its validity
He said it amounts to establishing a "back-door registry" in the form of a reference number for the sales and purchases of non-restricted firearms.
"It's more bureaucracy for law-abiding firearms owners and not really attacking gangs like we hoped they would," Zimmer said.
- with files from Canadian Press
