A Mountain View County resident says people shouldn't have to renew their licence to keep long guns every five years as long as they're “kept in the closet” and no ammunition is purchased for them.
Richard Ross made that comment during a recent Olds Rural Crime Watch meeting.
“They decommissioned the long gun registry and I assumed that if you had a closet full of guns and you didn't buy shells and you didn't haul them around that you didn't need to have a PAL (Possession and Acquisition Licence),” Ross said.
“I think we should lobby the federal government for a one-time licence for the long guns.”
Ross stressed he has no problem with the requirement to renew the PAL for restricted weapons. He just has an issue with doing that for regular long guns.
“I don't have a problem with you guys making me renew that every five years,” he said.
Ross said during the past few weeks he got the PAL.
“I think it's a good thing. The thing that bugs me about it is you've got to renew it every five years,” he said. “I can't believe how many people I've talked to who thought the same as I did – you didn't need it.”
Ross said he took the course, which was also an eye-opener for him.
“I didn't think that I could learn anything. I learned a hell of a lot, really. So I think it's a good thing if people take that,” he said.
Didsbury RCMP Cpl. Warren Wright pointed out motorists have to renew their driver's licence every five years. He said the situation with the PAL is similar.
“A large part of that depends on your photograph and how your appearance changes over time. Some people don't change over time; they look the same for 30 years,” Wright said.
“I think any licence with a photo is renewed every five years, specifically just for that visual photograph update.”
“It makes you look terrible,” a woman in the audience said.
Wright pointed out his own PAL came up for renewal on his birthday recently, “so I've got to deal with that.”
Didsbury RCMP Cpl. Clint Gulush made another point on the matter.
“Within that five-year period, if you became a criminal, we can suspend your licence,” said Gulush.
Wright said federal officials haven't done “a very good job” of explaining the PAL rules.
“That's exactly right,” Ross said.
“It was unclear. There's lots of people in the same boat,” Wright said.
“But for the most part in Alberta, they're pretty lax when it comes to guys like yourself in that situation. Like we're not normally going to throw the book at you and throw a lot of charges at you or something because of that mistake,” he added.
Wright pointed out the rules are different when it comes to restricted weapons.
“People let it lapse and then they don't realize that a handgun or any other restricted weapon -- that failure to keep that possession acquisition licence valid -- results in us having to come and seize your firearms, until either you sell the gun, destroy it, have us destroy it, or renew your PAL,” he said.
Wright jokingly suggested the rule helps the federal government in other ways.
“They've got to make some money too, Wright said to laughter. “To try to pay that bill – how many millions did they spend on that? Millions or billions?”
“Billions,” an audience member said.
“It certainly did reduce the amount of people who shouldn't own a firearm out there,” Olds Didsbury Sundre Rural Crime Watch Associations president Dave Sharek said.
He said similarly, rules to prevent certain people from owning dogs or livestock have had a positive result.
“I don't know. I think the criminals still get what they want,” Ross said.
