An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms)

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to, among other things, (a) increase, from 10 to 14 years, the maximum penalty of imprisonment for indictable weapons offences in sections 95, 96, 99, 100 and 103; (b) establish a regime that would permit any person to apply for an emergency prohibition order or an emergency limitations on access order and allow the judge to protect the security of the person or of anyone known to them; (c) deem certain firearms to be prohibited devices for the purpose of specified provisions; (d) create a new offence for altering a cartridge magazine to exceed its lawful capacity; (e) include, for interception of private communications purposes, sections 92 and 95 in the definition of “offence” in section 183; and (f) authorize employees of certain federal entities who are responsible for security to be considered as public officers for the purpose of section 117.07. The enactment also amends the Firearms Act to, among other things, (a) prevent individuals who are or were subject to a protection order from being eligible to hold a firearms licence; (b) transfer authority to the Commissioner of Firearms to approve, refuse, renew and revoke authorizations to carry referred to in paragraph 20(a) of the Act; (c) limit the transfer of handguns only to businesses and exempted individuals; (d) impose requirements in respect of the importation of ammunition; (e) prevent certain individuals from being authorized to transport handguns from a port of entry; (f) authorize a chief firearms officer to suspend a licence if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the licence holder is no longer eligible for it; (g) require the delivery of firearms to a peace officer, or their lawful disposal, if a refusal to issue, or revocation of, a licence has been referred to a provincial court under section 74 of the Act in respect of those firearms; (h) revoke an individual’s licence if they have engaged in an act of domestic violence or stalking or become subject to a protection order; (i) authorize the issuance, in certain circumstances, of a conditional licence for the purposes of sustenance or employment; (j) authorize, in certain circumstances, the Commissioner of Firearms, the Registrar of Firearms or a chief firearms officer to disclose certain information to a law enforcement agency for the purpose of an investigation or prosecution related to the trafficking of firearms; (k) provide that the annual report to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness regarding the administration of the Act must include information on disclosures made to law enforcement agencies and be submitted no later than May 31 of each year; and (l) create an offence for a business to advertise a firearm in a manner that depicts, counsels or promotes violence against a person. The enactment also amends the Nuclear Safety and Control Act to, among other things, (a) provide nuclear security officers and on-site nuclear response force members with the authority to carry out the duties of peace officers at high-security nuclear sites; and (b) permit licensees who operate high-security nuclear sites to acquire, possess, transfer and dispose of firearms, prohibited weapons and prohibited devices used in the course of maintaining security at high-security nuclear sites. The enactment also amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to (a) designate the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness as the Minister responsible for the establishment of policies respecting inadmissibility on grounds of transborder criminality for the commission of an offence on entering Canada; (b) specify that the commission, on entering Canada, of certain offences under an Act of Parliament that are set out in the regulations is a ground of inadmissibility for a foreign national; and (c) correct certain provisions in order to resolve a discrepancy and clarify the rule set out in those provisions. Finally, the enactment also amends An Act to amend certain Acts and Regulations in relation to firearms so that certain sections of that Act come into force on the day on which this enactment receives royal assent.