OTTAWA—The federal government is launching an “in-depth” study of the country’s civilian firearms industry as part of a program to combat gun crime and weapons smuggling and trafficking.

A request for proposal seeking research bids was posted this week by Public Works.

The study, “Characteristics of the Canadian Firearms Industry Supplying the Civilian Market,” is to be completed by March 31, 2014.

Public Safety Canada wants up-to-date details on who is manufacturing civilian weapons, who’s selling them, who’s buying, who is exporting and importing and who works in the industry.

The study falls under the Investments to Combat the Criminal Use of Firearms (ICCUF) program, a $10-million-a-year interdepartmental initiative that includes Public Safety, the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency and the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.

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The ICCUF was created in 2004 with a five-year mandate that was made permanent by the Conservatives in 2009.

The government’s request for proposal was posted the same day the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear a Quebec bid to preserve the last of the federal long-gun registry data.

The Conservative government passed legislation in 2012 to destroy millions of gun registrations, a move that was opposed by police forces, who said the information helped combat gun crime, including firearms smuggling and trafficking.

The destruction of data on more than five million firearms from all provinces and territories except Quebec was completed last autumn.

Tony Bernardo, spokesman for the Canadians Shooting Sports Association who also sits on the Conservative government’s firearms advisory committee, said the gun industry research study “looks like another make-work exercise.”

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