The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-02-15, Page 3New Onta it o regulation
Gun certificates required by law
BY DAVE SYKES
The purchase of
firearms in Canada has
been increasing at a rate
of over 260,000 per year.
Unfortuneately,
coincidental to thein-
crease in purchase of
firearms, the diliberate
misuse has also been
growing at an alarming
rate.
This year the office of
the Solicitor General of
Canada introduced
legislation to he'l'p curb
..the easy acquisition of
firearms. That legislation
introduced the Firearms
Acquisition Certificate (
F.A.C.) which is man-
datory for everyone who
either buys or borrows a
gun. The permit is valid
for a five year period and
costs $10.
Cpl. Bill Hassall,
Firearms Officer for the
Goderich detachment of
the OPP, said the
procedure of acquiring
the FAC is a good,
prohibitive measure that
gives the police some
control in issuing permits
and will hopefully keep
guns out of the. hands of
the wrong people.
He added that the effect
of the law will ,probably
be more pronounced in 20
years.
Everyone, either
purchasing a new weapon
or borrowing one ' must
obtain an FAC from an
OPP detachment. The
law only governs the
purchase of new firearms
so anyone already owning
firearms prior to January
1, 1979 need not apply for
an FAC.
The FAC form is simple
to fill out with only a few
straight forward
questions. The applicant
must provide social in-
surance and driver's
licence numbers and
there are questions
relating _to previous
treatment for mental
disorders of a violent
nature or conviction of a
criminal offence in-
volving violence.
The OPP review each
application and police
records and criminal files
are checked to ensure the
applicant'does not have a
history of violent crime
involving firearms. Any
application can be
refused with substantial
evidencebut that refusal
may be appealed to a
local magistrate and the
case will be reviewed
again.
Since .January 1 it is
unlawful to obtain a
firearm without the FAC
and it is also an indictable
offence to sell, lend or
give a firearm to a person
who does not possess a
certificate at the time of
the transaction. So it is
necessary to have the
certificate even to borrow
a gun from a friend for a
hunting trip.
There is an exception to
that clause, however, and
a certificate is not needed
if the borrowed gun is
used under the super-
vision of the owner. Cpl
Hassall explained that
lending a firearm to a
friend for a hunting trip is
illegal if the borrower
does not have a cer-
tificate. But if you were
hunting and the friend
borrowed the gun under
your watchful eye there.is
no problem.
In Ontario . persons
under the age' of 16 can
not purchase or own a
firearm. However,,,
minors' permits are'
available for those under
16 years of age 'to use
firearms, except for
restricted weapons.
Anyone under 16 who
has passed the hunter
safety training'program,
offered by the Ministry of
Natural Resources, and
with parental consent
may apply for a Minors
Possession Certificate.
Aside from • the
FirearMS Acquisition
Certificate there is also
Restricted Weapons
Certificate. These cer-
tificates .are required in
addition to the FAC for
use of a restricted
weapon such as single -
hand discharge weapons
or -automatic or semi-
automatic firearms.
Under the law dealers
are not able to sell a
firearm without the
purchaser first
presenting his FAC.
There are also other
restrictions on the
business, people con-
cerning the security of
firearrns and am-
munition. Six OPP of-
ficers are currently
touring the province
explaining the program
and its policy.
Now it is a criminal
offence to obtain a
firearm without an FAC;
make false statements to
obtain a certificate; sell,
give or lend a firearm
who does not have a
certificate and to use,
carry or handle a firearm
in a careless manner.
These offences fall under
the Criminal Code and
penalties ,range from
fines to imprisonment.
The introduction of the
law was to ;' prevent
criminals or mentally
unstable people from
obtaining firearms and to
promote the safe use of
guns.
In Canada, during a
four-year period from
1970-74 firearm deaths
increased by 27 per cent
to 1,412. In the same
period firearm murders
rose 46 per cent and
firearm suicides rose 29
per cent to 1,021 in 1974.
Cpl. Hassall pointed out
that shooting was the
most common method of
murder an over two-
thirds of the murders
involved shotguns or
rifles.
New gun control legislation in Canada requires that
all gun purchasers now apply for a Firearms
Acquisition Certificate. The certificate costs $10
Celebration of tradition...
• from page 2
here that B.P. organized
his Boy Messenger
Cadets and gave them
many jobs to do, which
the Scouts of today learn
as part of their training.
Trained in efficiency,
obedience smartness,
they performed
magnificent tasks.
After the war, B.P.
organized the South
African Constabulary
and the uniform' of that
organization wa-s the
basic uniform upon which
the Boy Scout uniform
was designed.
While still in the army,
B.P. had written a book
called "Aids to
Scouting". It was
designed to assist in the
training of army scouts.
Many „ youth
organizations in Britain
were using ideas from
this training manual as
adventures for their boys.
He discussed this
matter with leading
youth workers and as a
result of these
discussions, a boys' camp
was organized in July and
August of 1907. Although
it was not intended that
way at .;the time, :it did
actually mark the birth of
the Boy Scout Movement.
In 1909, King Edward
VII, who had taken a
great interest in the new
movement, made B.P. a
knight in recognition of
his work with boys. B.P.
then resigned from the
Army and put all his
attention to Scouting
which was growing by
leaps and bounds all over
the world.
Scouting spread like
wildfire throughout
Britain and the Empire.
The first country outside
of the Empire in the
Western Hemisphere to
adopt Scouting Was Chile.
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vanscaping
Stratford
In Canada, troops were
organized in 19'08, and in
the first few years, all
badges' and books 'came
directly from England.
The year 1912 was an
eventful one for B.P., for
Scouting and for Guiding;
it was the year in which
the Founder was married
to Olave St. Clair
Soames.
Baden-Powell said his
marriage,, instead of
taking him from the
Scouting Movement,
AMY
and is good for five years. Anyone buying, selling or
borrowing a gun must have a certificate. ( photo by
Dave Sykes )
would bring in another
assistant to it. It is
doubtful if even he knew
to what an extent this
prophecy- would be
fulfilled.
From the beginning,
Olave Baden-Powell took
a close interest in her
husband's work. As
County Commissioner for
Sussex, she began to
organize and recruit.
In 1930, by unanimous
vote of delegates from 28
countries gathered at the
first conference of the
newly -formed World
Association, Lady Baden-
Powell was invited to
become World Chief
Guide.
Ater the first World
War, B.P. devoted the
rest of his life to the
promotion of a world
brotherhood through the
Scout Movement. On
January 8, 1941, B.P., 32
years his wife's senior,
died.
Also firearrns are in-
volved in one-third of the
total suicides in Canada
and are used in over one-
half of the teenage
suicides.
Firearms are also the
major weapon used in
robberies and during the
four-year period they
increased by 53 per cent
to almost 9,000.
• All types of robberies
increased from 1970-74
but firearm robberies
increased at a faster rate
and are now used in 70
per cent of total weapon
roh.beries. Previously
the easy acquisition of
firearms made it a
popular weapon ' for
robberies and other
illegal activities. With,the
new law police are
e-on-fident that _ the -
procedure of obtaining, an
FAC will make it more
difficult for many people
to purchase firearms.
But it may be many
years before the law
makes a considerable
dent in the misuse of
firarms.
Firearms Acquisition
Certificates may be
applied for at the
Goderich Detachment of
Ontario Provincial Police
on Highway 21 south.
GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1979—PAGE 3
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