Strict rules for gun owners

RE: MAKE HANDGUN OWNERSHIP MORE DIFFICULT, AUG. 14

I take exception to the tone and comments in Thomas Walkom's column.

His comment targets legal and responsible gun owners. Canada has a well controlled system that issues handguns to our citizens. Contrary to many people’s belief, you just don’t walk into a store and come out with a handgun. Far from it.

To acquire a firearm, let’s just talk about handguns, you must first obtain a license to purchase and possess, commonly referred to as a PAL. (purchase and acquisition license). To obtain a PAL you must take and pass a firearms course which is put on by certified trainers. Once obtained you may now do your shopping.

To obtain a handgun you must show your PAL to the firearms seller so he can record the sale. The handgun is paid for, but before you can get it, the sale must be approved by the Chief Firearms Officer, which usually takes about five days. Once the transaction is approved, you may pick up your handgun.

To transport the handgun, it must be trigger locked and put into a locked case. The only place you are allowed to transport it to is from the gun shop to home, from home and back to a shooting club, or back to the store for repairs or exchanges.

At home the handgun must be trigger locked and put into another locked box, gun safe. Ammunition kept in the home must be securely locked in another box, at a location remote from where the handgun is stored.

Perhaps Mr. Walkom owned his .303 rifles in a time when a PAL was not required and did not research how a lawabiding citizen now has a path to follow for gun ownership.

I agree that both a firearm and a cuckoo clock can be an intricate and beautiful piece of machinery, but neither one is more dangerous than the other, unless one is operated in total disregard of all rules and common sense.

These are the kind of persons Toronto has been faced with, those with total disregard for anything and anybody.

Jim Opie

Ridgeway