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Bill C-68

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SUMMARY

This enactment establishes a licensing system for persons wishing to possess firearms. Persons who meet specified criteria may be licensed to possess firearms that are neither prohibited nor restricted (e.g. most hunting guns) or restricted firearms (e.g. handguns with a barrel length over 105 mm). A licence to possess prohibited firearms (e.g. automatic firearms, assault rifles, etc.) may be issued to an individual only if the individual possessed a firearm of that kind before it was declared prohibited. Businesses that supply firearms to the military or to the police, as well as movie armourers and museums, may also be licensed to possess prohibited firearms.

In addition to licensing persons, the enactment also establishes a system for the registration of all firearms.

Controls in the enactment include a check to confirm the absence of public safety concerns before the transfer of a firearm. The enactment also contains controls on the import and export of firearms and on the transport of restricted and prohibited firearms.

Weapons and other things that are not firearms, but pose safety concerns serious enough to warrant restrictions (e.g. silencers, certain knives), will also be subject to controls.

The enactment also revises Part III of the Criminal Code and creates a variety of offences relating to the unauthorized possession, transfer, import and export of firearms and to the use of firearms in the commission of offences. A scheme for prohibiting, as a result of criminal conduct, a person from future possession of firearms is also included.