Quebec moves to eliminate certain obligations for gun owners subject to registry

QUEBEC — The Quebec government has tabled a bill that would remove certain obligations for gun owners required to register their weapons.

Public Safety Minister Genevieve Guilbault followed up on a promise from last January to ease some of the rules in the gun registry legislation, which was adopted in 2016 under the previous Liberal government.

The province reports that just 493,500 out of an estimated 1.6 million long guns — mostly shotguns and rifles — estimated to be owned by Quebecers have been registered.

The deadline for registering firearms without penalty was Jan. 29, but gun owners who want the registry abolished altogether have boycotted.

The changes in the bill tabled Tuesday mean owners would no longer have to provide their weapon’s registration number upon request by a peace officer or submit the barrel length when registering a weapon.

Gun owners would also no longer have to notify the registry if they have their firearm away from its usual storage location. The bill would also provide wildlife protection officers with powers to apply the law like other peace officers.

Guilbault said she hopes to make the registration process more efficient and user-friendly.

The government has previously said the cost of the registry — $20 million to implement and $5 million to administer annually — remains unchanged.

The Canadian Press