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It seemed safe enough at the time. Then again, so did driving unbelted. It wasn’t truly safe, because it allowed too much room for human error. Things changed in the 1990s, when the Chretien Liberal government introduced a swath of new regulation, including the long-gun registry. The registry failed because, among other reasons, it imposed onerous red tape on law-abiding farmers and hunters, while doing nothing to stem the flow of illegal handguns into Canada. It alienated rural Canadians from the Liberal party, and ultimately became a great revenue-generation tool for the Conservatives.

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But the accompanying rules weren’t all bad. It made sense for guns to be locked up, in a bolted-down safe or room, and for ammunition to also be locked away. Canadian safe-storage practice now, which survived the long-overdue abolition of the long-gun registry in 2012, require that every firearm be stored unloaded, locked in a bolted-down gun safe, with a trigger-lock that makes it impossible to fire. This is a good thing.

As a Canadian Army reservist in my teens, I learned range safety from a sergeant who threatened to beat us senseless if we ever pointed a loaded weapon anywhere but down-range, or moved ahead of the firing line (the line of shooters facing a row of targets).

The volunteer range officers at my amateur club today are far kinder, but no less strict. Every new member, despite already having a restricted firearms permit, which requires a safety course and RCMP background check, must receive another course courtesy of the club. After that, new additions are mentored and vetted for several months by experienced members to ensure they’re safe, know the rules and adhere to them without fail. Sport shooting in Canada is, as I said at the outset, a hobby managed by safety geeks. Learning the rules and following them is hardwired into the culture and part of the fun.

The upshot, to bring this back to the debate down south? Canadians have no constitutionally enshrined right to use or own guns. Yet the evolution of safe storage practice and range safety, and adherence nationwide, means those willing to put in the time and effort to be safe, can do so. It’s freedom with responsibility — and a wonderfully Canadian innovation. So, American members of Congress, come ye north: We will teach you about guns.

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