The Centretown-based umbrella group for Canada’s museums is studying the potential impact of newly proposed federal firearms legislation on museums and their ability to collect firearms for display.
Steven Blaney, minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, announced the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act last month.
That act, if passed into law by Parliament, would aim to simplify the gun licensing process.
The Canadian Museums Association is currently studying how this legislation could affect museums across Canada. The CMA is not yet sure whether the impact would be positive or negative.
Mafoya Dossoumon, CMA communications manager, says museums are having issues with the currently enforced firearms legislation and are hoping to soon see a change. This newly proposed legislation could be the answer.
“The current firearms legislation is in need of updating to reflect legitimate preservation work by museums,” says Dossoumon. “Museums seek exemptions to enable them to accomplish their job of collecting firearms.”
The “exemptions” in this case would be an amendment to the legislation to allow museums to acquire public agency firearms, says Dossoumon.
The Canadian War Museum is aware of the CMA’s research on firearm legislation and how it affects museums, but a spokesperson declined to comment on the legislation or the museum’s firearms collection for “security reasons.”
Kevin MacLean, a contributor to the CMA’s MUSE Magazine and a collection technician at the Galt Museum in Lethbridge, Alta., has been struggling with the current Canadian firearms legislation since 2008.
MacLean says this issue may have been an oversight in the legislation, by not considering “the historical material record.”
After the museum received a donation of two semi-automatic handguns from the Lethbridge Regional Police, it discovered that museums were no longer permitted to collect public agency firearms.
The museum was unable to display the newly acquired firearms.
MacLean says if there’s a firearm that has been decommissioned by a police agency, the agency has the option of transferring the weapon to another police agency within Canada. Or, if the weapon is considered no longer useful whatsoever, the weapon must be destroyed.
Galt Museum brought the issue up at the CMA’s annual Canadian Museums Day in Ottawa recently.
“The fact that there are amendments on the table (the Common Sense Licensing Act) . . . is generally good as it means the door is open,” says MacLean.Dossoumon says the CMA does not yet have a position on the proposed Common Sense Legislation and is currently reviewing it.