Police should decide gun restrictions: Trudeau

OTTAWA — Police, not politicians, should decide what restrictions to place on specific kinds of guns, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, his Liberal government under renewed pressure to curb access to semi-automatic rifles.

Trudeau’s comments come after a group of people affected by last year’s deadly Quebec City mosque shooting – a number of wounded, as well as family members of the six people killed – urged him to outlaw militarystyle weapons outright.

He touted provisions of his government’s firearms bill, which once passed would restore the authority of RCMP experts to classify firearms without political influence, repealing cabinet’s authority to overrule Mountie determinations.

In a letter Monday to the prime minister, more than 75 people express disappointment the bill does not ban semi-automatic rifles like the one carried by mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette. Bissonnette began his January 2017 assault with a .223-calibre Small Arms VZ58 Sporter rifle, which is legal, along with two illegal 30-cartridge magazines – the allowable limit being five.

The rifle jammed on the first shot, and Bissonnette then used a handgun, but the letter asks how much worse the carnage could have been had Bissonnette’s rifle worked? Modifying the magazines to expand capacity proved to be a minor technical hurdle, the letter adds.

The Liberal bill would expand the scope of background checks on those who want to acquire a gun. Instead of just the five years immediately preceding a licence application, personal history questions would cover a person’s entire lifetime. In addition, gun retailers would be required to keep records of firearms inventory and sales, a measure intended to assist police in investigating gun trafficking and other crimes.

The bill would also require purchasers to present a firearms licence, while the seller would have to ensure its validity.