The buying and selling of firearms in Canada is strictly regulated. While it should ensure those rules are followed, the City of Victoria does not need to further regulate gun sales.

Mayor Dean Fortin has asked for a staff report on the possibility of restricting gun sales in the downtown core after learning that a pawnshop had been licensed to buy and sell guns. Councillors broadened the scope of the report from the downtown to include the entire city.

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The idea is chilling that racks and cases of guns would be on display, easily available to criminals and others who would misuse the firearms. It’s easy to picture a miscreant with an evil plan running into a pawnshop and handing over a fistful of cash for a Saturday-night special and a box of ammo.

But buying a gun in Canada is more complicated than that. First of all, a person is required to complete the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. Then the prospective gun owner applies for a possession and acquisition licence, which is issued only after a minimum 28-day waiting period, during which time background checks and investigations are carried out.

That’s to buy a long gun — a shotgun or rifle. Regulations are even more rigorous for handling a handgun, says Jeremy Griese, general manager of Island Collateral and Sales, the business that was the focus of Victoria council’s discussion, and which has obtained federal licensing to buy and sell firearms.

Griese said he would not even show a gun to a person who did not have the proper licensing and other documentation. His business has not yet acquired any guns, but if it does, they would not be on display in a storefront window, but would be kept in locked cases with trigger locks in place. After business hours, they would be locked in a vault.

Implementing regulations specific to Victoria would have limited effect anyway, given that the situation could then be different a few blocks away in an adjacent municipality. In fact, businesses in Esquimalt and Saanich already handle firearms. Better stick to the federal law than create a confusing patchwork of regulations within one metropolitan area.

Gun regulation can be a sexy political issue where tough-on-crime legislators are seen to be doing something while accomplishing little. While one gun death is too many, only about 2.4 per cent of violent crimes in Canada involve the use of firearms.

Most legitimate gun owners are super-conscious of safe handling and storage of firearms. Shooting ranges and gun clubs follow strict safety protocols when guns are being fired.

That doesn’t mean there are no guns in the hands of the wrong people. But criminals bent on acquiring firearms are highly unlikely to subject themselves to the scrutiny involved in buying a gun from a pawnshop or any other legitimate business. They are more likely to head to a bar to find a “hot” gun. Perhaps city councillors concerned about gun sales should direct their attention to bars — but of course, that would be ludicrous. Some people are inclined to break the law — no one can anticipate every location where laws will be broken.

Guns are potentially dangerous. They should be strictly regulated and those owning and handling firearms should be qualified and licensed to do so. Federal law takes care of that. If there are inadequacies in the law, they should be taken up with Parliament.

Victoria is entirely within its rights to ensure businesses abide by federal regulations, but regulating firearm sales falls outside the city’s jurisdiction. Council should devote its attention to more pressing city issues.

This looks like a solution in search of a problem.