The Government of Saskatchewan is limiting the ability of municipalities to ban firearm ownership through bylaws.
The amendments to Bill 194 are a reaction to a federal government law which is intended to give municipalities the power to ban firearms in their boundaries, explained Yorkton 小蓝视频 Greg Ottenbreit. He said there鈥檚 a disconnect between the provincial government strategy surrounding firearm safety and that of the federal government.
鈥淲e already know in this country that we have very strict laws when it comes to weapons and firearms and transportation of firearms, and we felt this was an overreach on the part of the federal government. We鈥檒l do everything in our power to protect the property rights and the firearm rights of our residents.鈥�
While they were not aware of any municipalities looking at a ban, Ottenbreit said they wanted to be proactive, and continue to have a consistent set of rules across the province.
鈥淵ou want to make sure you have laws that make sense and are also easy to follow, and there are not a lot of difference between jurisdictions. Particularly with municipalities, when you鈥檙e transporting from one place to another within the province, to have different municipalities with different rules, or a large city where the firing range is across town, you would have to make your way around, depending on the road infrastructure.鈥�
The provincial government鈥檚 strategy will instead be focused on safety and education around safe firearm ownership, said Ottenbreit.
The provincial government is also appointing their own Chief Firearms Officer. Ottenbreit said that this will give them a better position to establish relationships with firearms owners in the province, and better represent the province鈥檚 interests federally surrounding firearms.
鈥淲ith this change it will allow for greater administrative control when it comes to licensing, transporting, carrying and transferring firearms, following the federal firearms act. We believe it鈥檚 an option available under the act and we know other provinces are taking that option as well.鈥�
