Public Safety committee  There will certainly be some models that can be used for hunting, but not all firearms are created equal. Every person has specific needs. Quite often, a person's specific requirements can be met by one gun and not another. That is why there are thousands of models out there.

Public Safety committee  I think there are thousands of models. There is a firearms reference table that shows the classifications, and it includes thousands of firearms. Many models could be used for hunting even though their use is prohibited by law. It is difficult to say exactly, but there are certainly thousands.

Public Safety committee  The short answer is no. The slightly longer answer is this: What's important is not what kind of a gun someone has. It's whether they're allowed to have a gun at all. That's why, in Alberta, we have focused on improving our screening process, including having subject matter experts on spousal violence and having greater training on a wide range of factors to ensure that anyone who gets a firearms licence deserves to have one.

Public Safety committee  Okay. Thank you.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. First of all, fully automatic firearms are ones that continue to discharge when one pulls the trigger. The firearm continues to discharge as long as there's ammunition, so they are basically what most people would call a “machine gun”. Those have been illegal for private individuals to have since 1977-78 approximately.

Public Safety committee  What I defined was an assault weapon. As I suggested with the term “military-style”, is that a modern style of suit or a modern style of car? It is much in the eye of the beholder. It's pretty much a meaningless term. It is, as you've suggested before, somewhat ludicrous to create a term and then create a definition to try to match that term.

Public Safety committee  I would certainly agree that not only indigenous but also non-indigenous individuals who may confront dangerous, predatory animals in the wilderness may have a need for rapid follow-up shots. In fact, there are quite a number of other situations where rapid follow-up shots are required.

Public Safety committee  Yes. If they were restricted firearms, then first of all they would be registered. Currently, many but not all of the firearms that are under discussion here are registered. This would ensure that they would all be registered. That would mean that chief firearms officers would have some greater degree of control over who was allowed to possess them in particular jurisdictions.

Public Safety committee  We currently have an initiative, headed by one of my staff members, that will be doing additional outreach to indigenous communities, but many of the events that I attend are held in areas that are close to indigenous communities and are heavily attended by indigenous people. I do speak frequently with indigenous firearms owners at those events, although not as organized groups.

Public Safety committee  I believe so, yes.

Public Safety committee  In fact, in the case of many restricted firearms, the individual was specifically authorized to require that specific firearm for a sporting purpose.

Public Safety committee  There is certainly an element of that, although I think there are a great many logical inconsistencies in the way we have categorized, particularly the definition between, for example, restricted and prohibited firearms. Many of those are more a matter of historical accident and political compromises than any actual intent.

Public Safety committee  I would say overall it's much more restrictive.

Public Safety committee  I believe so, yes. In fact, for people who want an example, I have a model 1907 Winchester that was designed in 1907 and produced from 1907 on. It had a five-shot capacity, but later some magazines were made that did have higher capacities. This gun, which was explicitly designed for medium game shooting, like deer, well over a hundred years ago, could well be covered.

Public Safety committee  I do not believe that it was disinformation to state that. I believe it was simply a matter of fact. Many firearms I know—I, personally, have friends who have used them for deer hunting for many years—would be covered.