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Our laws have created a perverse scenario

The problem is that Canada’s gun-control laws severely limit who’s allowed to be armed with a firearm. Before you scoff, I’m not suggesting that Canada simply embrace American-style carry laws — I’m pretty far out on the pro-gun fringe by Canadian standards but that’s a step too far even for me. But in Canada, we’ve gone way out in the opposite direction. It’s almost impossible to have even licensed and regulated professionals armed while on duty, during specific hours and at specific locations. There are exemptions, but they don’t do anyone at prayer in a mosque, church or synagogue any good.

Security guards can be hired as bouncers or as watchful eyes on a concert. But they won’t be armed because the law won’t allow it. Summarizing our firearms law is always tricky — they’re very complicated and not suited to concise overviews. But in general terms, in Canada, it’s lawful for a licensed individual to own a gun, including a handgun, so long as they pass strict tests and continue to meet a high eligibility standard. But said citizen can only take that firearm off their property for a few purposes — visiting a gunsmith’s shop for repairs, taking it to a firing range for target practice, and the like. While in transport, the firearm has to be unloaded and locked up in a secure container or case. In other words, it’s not in an operable state.

Photo by Paul Chiasson/CP

There are a few exceptions for professionals. A loaded weapon (typically a pistol) can be worn in a holster, ready for use, by properly trained personnel working in certain remote locations, where protection from animal predators is a real concern. There are also narrow exemptions for professional trappers, for much the same reason: protection from wildlife that isn’t thrilled at the prospect of being trapped. But in an urban area, the exemptions are even narrower. Under rare circumstances — very rare — a citizen may be able to demonstrate that they are in imminent danger of being violently attacked, and carrying a pistol will provide them security that the police are not able to. (This sometimes means police officers themselves, those who work in particularly dangerous assignments, may be given permission to carry a loaded pistol while off-duty, something that is normally forbidden.) And there is also, interestingly, a special exemption for citizens (quoting directly here from the Firearms Act) whose job is the “handling, transportation or protection of cash, negotiable instruments or other goods of substantial value,” when “firearms are required for the purpose of protecting his or her life or the lives of other individuals in the course of that handling, transportation or protection activity.”