Feds shoot down petition to reclassify AR-15

The federal government has shot down a petition to remove the popular Armalite AR-15 rifle from restricted status.

Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies Conservative MP Bob Zimmer sponsored and presented the e-petition in the House of Commons in May, after it had garnered more than 25,000 signatures online.

In a response, however, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the government has no plans to use the Criminal Code to change the rifle's classification.

"The Government is committed to putting decision-making authority about weapons classification back into the hands of police, not politicians," Goodale wrote.

"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is responsible for the technical determination of the classification of firearms in accordance with the criteria stipulated by Parliament in the Criminal Code."

Although the rifle is legal to own, owners are limited to target and range practice, and can only shoot on an approved gun range. Owners need a permit to transport the gun from their home, whether its to the range or a gun show.

Zimmer and gun advocates, however, said the rifle is popular for sports and hunting, and is only classified as restricted due to its design.

In his response, Goodale said "the AR-15 is restricted because of its lineage to the military-issued M-16 assault rifle."

Zimmer could not be immediately reached Tuesday morning.

Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, told CBC News he was disturbed to see the government leave the decision to class weapons up to police.

"What is very concerning is that we'll let the police decide what our firearms laws are," Bernardo told the broadcaster. "The last time I looked, we elected parliamentarians to the House of Commons to decide what our laws are, not police officers.

"Police officers jobs are to enforce the law - not create it," he said.

The Coalition for Gun Control called Goodale's move the "appropriate decision," in an interview with CBC.