Plans to restrict exotic rifle? Ottawa won’t say

Four months after a national police oversight group called for restrictions on an exotic Israeli assault rifle, officials in Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ office would not say whether the government had made a decision.

In August, the Canadian Association of Police Boards, the national organization of civilian police oversight boards, called for tighter restrictions on a list of weapons which “are not typical hunting rifles or shotguns and should be traceable.”

One rifle cited was the Israeli-made Tavor Model 21, which at the moment has a non-restricted status, the same as more traditional rifles and shotguns used by farmers and hunters.

The Tavor has a “bullpup” design, which shortens the overall length of a rifle by placing the bolt and magazine, and the rear of the barrel, much further back than on a traditional rifle, at the firer’s shoulder. This significantly reduces the length of the weapon – the Tavors sold in Canada are much shorter than a traditional long arm like a Lee-Enfield, despite being a fully functioning rifle.

“The (Calgary) police had brought forward a list of the more serious weapons that could be used in a shooting incident that could compromise public safety, could compromise police officer safety, that should not be as freely available and should be restricted,” explains Brian Edy, a lawyer who sits on the Calgary Police Commission, where the resolution originated.

“Any firearm that can be easily concealed is a concern,” cautions Doug Carlson, a retired OPP staff sergeant who worked as a regional firearms officer in Ontario for six years. “That’s just common sense. As a police officer, when you’re going to an incident, if you know somebody can easily conceal a high-powered rifle, that certainly raises a concern.”

The British and French armies have used a bullpup rifle design since the 1980s, and the Israeli Defence Force is in the process of introducing one (a shorter version of the Tavor sold in Canada, capable of automatic fire).

A redacted copy of the gun registry released to Global News earlier this year under access-to-information laws – before it was largely deleted – showed at least 341 bullpup rifles privately owned in Canada. Most are Tavors, with some examples of Belgian- and Chinese-made weapons as well.

Only two bullpups were registered in 2007, but that number grew to 193 by 2010.

British Columbia has the highest number, followed by Ontario and Alberta.

All were classified as non-restricted weapons, meaning that they could be owned without a special licence, like conventional rifles and shotguns, and that, outside Quebec, registration records have since been destroyed along with the long gun registry. It also means that they aren’t restricted to shooting ranges, unlike many other military-style semiautomatic weapons.

(The Tavor) “… is constructed to be a military-type weapon. That’s who should be using it, or the police. It shouldn’t be available to the public without severe restrictions,” Carlson says.

A firearm can be reclassified from non-restricted to restricted. However, with the long gun registry no longer in existence outside Quebec, it’s an open question how the federal government would notify affected gun owners.

In such a situation, ” … the Canadian Firearms Program would actively communicate the change by posting a notice to its website, informing callers to its toll-free information line, in addition to issuing special bulletins to firearms businesses, police and provincial Chief Firearms Officers,” an RCMP spokesperson explained in an e-mail.

“Obviously a registry makes it easier to prohibit firearms,” said Wendy Cukier of the Coalition for Gun Control. “Not having one doesn’t prevent you from prohibiting them, it just makes it much more difficult to enforce if you no longer have any information.”

“If they were to designate a non-restricted firearm as restricted, you have no way of finding out who’s got them any more,” Carlson says. “You’re just hoping that people are going to be honest.”

The Tavor 21’s importer, Toronto-based North Sylva, and retail sellers of the rifle would not comment to Global News. A Tavor owner Global contacted would not comment for the record.

Interactive: Non-restricted bullpup rifles in Canada

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