Skeena-Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen says he voted against the Conservative government's bill to scrap the long-gun registry last week because it also threw out a requirement for sellers to verify buyers have valid firearms licences.
Cullen, who voted in favour of Bill C-391, a previous version of the bill that voted down in September 2010, said the change "crossed a threshold and created fundamentally different legislation that I could not support."
Cullen said he noticed the change when Bill C-19 was introduced for first reading in October and subsequently attempted to have the bill amended back to the old version, Bill C-391, which not only upheld the provision set out in the Firearms Act but strengthened it by requiring the seller to obtain a reference number from the Canada Firearms Centre.
But to no avail.
"They didn't change a comma, not a period in the whole legislation except for stripping out the one protection for gun owners and the public," Cullen said.
The Coalition for Gun Control (CGC) has raised the same concern.
"Basically, what C-19 says is that the seller has to have 'no reason to believe' that the person they're selling it to is not licenced," a CGC spokesperson said on background. "It doesn't say, you need to see a licence, you need to check for a licence."
Moreover, even if a seller wants to verify a licence, checking with the Canada Firearms Centre will also be out of the question.
Owners will still have to hold a firearms licence, "however, they're making it a lot more possible for someone with let's say a counterfeit licence or let's say no licence at all because nobody will get to either see the licence or call in to make sure this licence is real and is valid," the spokesperson said.
However, Prince George-Peace River MP Bob Zimmer said the concern is unfounded and selling a gun to someone without a licence remains against the law.
"They're saying that essentially you're relying on people's honesty in order for this to happen and yes we are," Zimmer said. "Citizens have to obey the law and we're saying that's adequate.
"What they're saying is it's inadequate to have two people police themselves but once it's breached, they're still breaking the law."
Asked if that's enough, Zimmer said that if someone is pulled over with a gun in the vehicle and does not have adequate licencing, they're in breach of the law.
"That's the mechanism that will catch it," he said. "For them, it's not enough and for us, it's enough. And it's debatable I suppose but that's our position."
The bill must still win Senate approval but unless there is "massive public pressure," Cullen doubts the chamber will put up a fight.
