Bill C-580

3rd Session, 40th Parliament,

59 Elizabeth II, 2010

house of commons of canada

BILL C-580

An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Firearms Act and the Contraventions Act (long guns)

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

CRIMINAL CODE

1. Subsection 91(4) of the Criminal Code is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

2. Subsection 92(4) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

3. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 117.11:

4. Section 117.15 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

FIREARMS ACT

5. Section 5 of the Firearms Act is amended by adding the following after subsection 5(2):

6. (1) The portion of section 46 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

46. An authorization to import goods described in section 43 shall include the serial numbers of those goods and may be issued to a business only if the business that applies for such an authorization

(2) Paragraph 46(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(b) identifies those goods in the prescribed manner, including by providing their serial numbers;

7. Section 50 of the Act is replaced by the following:

50. A customs officer shall inform the Registrar without delay of the exportation or importation of goods described in section 43 by a business and shall provide the Registrar with the serial numbers of those goods.

8. Section 54 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

9. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 90:

10. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 94:

94.1 The Governor in Council shall request the Auditor General of Canada to inquire into and report on the operations of the Canadian Firearms Centre starting in the year in which this Act comes into force and in each of the four following years, and to submit each of those reports to Parliament.

11. (1) Subsection 112(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

112. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), every person commits an offence who, not having previously committed an offence under this subsection, possesses a firearm that is neither a prohibited firearm nor a restricted firearm without being the holder of a registration certificate for that firearm.

(2) Paragraph 112(2)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(b) a person who comes into possession of a firearm by operation of law and who, within 90 days or such longer period as may be granted by a chief firearms officer under subsection (2.1), lawfully disposes of it or obtains a registration certificate for it; or

(3) Section 112 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(2.1) A chief firearms officer may grant an extension of the 90-day period referred to in paragraph (2)(b) of no more than 90 days, if the chief firearms officer determines, on the basis of prescribed considerations, that granting the extension is warranted and that the person seeking the extension meets the following conditions:

(a) the person applies to the chief firearms officer for an extension of time within the 90-day period referred to in paragraph (2)(b); and

(b) the person is unable to dispose of the firearm or obtain a registration certificate for it within the 90-day period referred to in paragraph (2)(b) because of prescribed circumstances.

CONTRAVENTIONS ACT

12. Section 2 of the Contraventions Act is amended by replacing the definition “contravention” with the following:

“contravention” means an offence that is created by an enactment and is designated as a contravention by this Act or by regulation of the Governor in Council;

13. (1) Section 8 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1.1):

(2) Subsection 8(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) For greater certainty, the Governor in Council may revoke the designation of an offence as a contravention, other than a designation referred to in subsection (1.2).

COORDINATING AMENDMENTS

14. (1) In this section, “other Act” means An Act to amend the Criminal Code (firearms) and the Firearms Act, chapter 8 of the Statutes of Canada, 2003.

(2) If section 7 of this Act comes into force before section 35 of the other Act, then, on the day on which that section 35 comes into force, section 50 of the Firearms Act is replaced by the following:

50. A customs officer shall inform the Registrar without delay of the exportation or importation of goods described in section 43 by a business and shall provide the Registrar with the serial numbers of those goods.

(3) If section 7 of this Act comes into force on the same day as section 35 of the other Act, then that section 35 is deemed to have come into force before that section 7.