British Columbia’s updated firearms legislation aimed at better targeting gang and gun violence will take effect Oct. 1.
B.C.’s Firearm Violence Prevention Act (FVPA) was passed in 2021, but the province has been developing regulations to bring it into force.
“We know that criminal groups adapt quickly. They exploit gaps in the law using young vehicles, rental cars, and even young people to transport firearms,” said Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger on Monday.
The act aims to close gaps in federal gun laws by regulating low-velocity firearms, like BB guns and airsoft guns, which are largely unregulated by federal law. The legislation would ban the sale of such firearms to youth and set rules for how they must be safely stowed.
The legislation also targets imitation firearms that are designed to look like real guns. Krieger said there have been multiple instances where police were called over someone carrying a lighter that resembles a handgun.
Bringing any type of firearm into places like schools, courts, places of worship, hospitals and child-care centres would be prohibited.
The act makes it an offence to operate a vehicle that is illegally transporting a firearm, and authorizes the impoundment of vehicles used to illegally transport firearms or flee from police.
The legislation also includes liability protections for health workers and certain other professionals who normally must keep information confidential, when they notify the police about a person’s potential for gun violence.
The FVPA would replace B.C.’s 30-year-old Firearm Act.
“British Columbia has lacked legislation that directly addresses firearms-related gang activity,” said Attorney General Niki Sharma. “Police rely primarily on the Criminal Code and the federal Firearms Act. Those laws are essential, but they come with high evidentiary thresholds and do not always allow for swift intervention at the street level.”
“The FVPA fills this gap by creating new provincial offences related to firearms and gang activity,” said Sharma.
Some provisions from the previous act are incorporated into the new law.
It would still prohibit having or shooting a firearm with live ammunition in a vehicle. The new law applies those rules to low-velocity firearms, like airguns, and clarifies that the restrictions also apply to boats.
Police will still be allowed to search people and vehicles without a warrant if they are suspected of having a firearm, and seize any illegal weapons they find. Police can also require people who possess firearms legally to present them for inspection.
Krieger said there are some exemptions in the new law for activities that don’t present a public safety risk.
“I’d like to be clear that this legislation is not about law-abiding firearms owners,” said Krieger. “It was developed through years of consultations and includes clear exemptions for lawful activities, like hunting, sport shooting and training, film production, and professional use by law enforcement and wildlife officials.”
