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ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE DIRECTIVE
NON-RENEWAL
OF FIREARMS LICENCES AND Please forward to all Detachment Commanders and/or generic detachment mailboxes. Authority D/Insp. Birrell FRC Revocation Examples Sep 2005.pdf The Canadian Firearms registry is contacting owners of registered firearms that have expired licences and have not yet renewed. They are revoking the current Firearm Registration Certificates for those firearms. The notices you see attached as one example are the documents that are sent to the owner with a copy to the local detachment or municipal police service. By receipt of the notice, the firearms are now UNREGISTERED. WHAT DO YOU DO: (A suggestion) 1] Create a NICHE report similar to the reports created for all RIDE checks so only one report is referenced for all of these notices. As each new document arrives, the registered owner can be added as a newly involved person. 2] Assign a member to this document and owner. This member should make contact with the owner to let them know the police have this notice as well. 3] During this contact, if the owner wants to surrender the firearms for destruction, then make an appointment for the member to go to the home and pick up the firearms. Have the owner sign a Quit Claim. These firearms can then be destroyed as per Police Orders and normal destruction policy. 4] If the owner intends to obtain a licence, which is the ideal situation envisioned by the Registry, then remind the owner that they have 30 days to begin that process. Note that the Registry is checking regularly to ascertain if the owner has applied for a current licence. If they see the application in the CFIS system, they will flag that file to await the issue of a current licence and then will arrange for proper registration. 5] If the owner intends to transfer the firearms to a lawfully entitled person, then the unlicenced owner also has 30 days to begin that process. If the transfer process is noted within the CFIS system, the Registry will complete and register the new owner to the firearms. 6] If the notified owner chooses to dispute the revocation of the FRC, the must file a request for a Reference Hearing within 30 days. If they do that, they are entitled to retain possession of the firearms until the conclusion of the Reference Hearing at which point the court will decide on the validity of the revocation and the disposition of the firearms. 7] If after 45-60 days from the service of the notice, the Registry does not see the application process has begun and there is no request for a Reference Hearing filed, there will be a further notice to the local police service notifying them of the possession of unregistered firearms. The onus is now placed on the local police to take some form of enforcement action. Please Note: AT THIS POINT CRIMINAL POSSESSION HAS BEGUN. Some enforcement action will now have to be taken locally to obtain the firearms. 1] Knowing the person possesses the unregistered firearms without a firearms licence, obtain a search warrant under sec 487 to seize the firearms. Remember your contact with the owner previously? That confirmed the location an existence of the firearms. This meets the R. v Hurrell requirements for the affidavit you file as part of the warrant application. 2] Once seized, the normal Returns to a Justice will have to be completed. It is the discretion of the investigating office whether a charge is laid but the firearms have to be dealt with according to the law. If the owner now chooses to Quit claim the firearms, then destroy them as the normal process. It is suggested that at this pointy in the process, it is too late to now allow the owner to ask for transfer as the owner has had the time to do that and ignored the previous options. They are illegally possessed, unregistered firearms. Please review the sections of Part III of the Criminal Code pertaining to firearms, and the possession requirements contained within the Firearms Act. If there are questions, please feel free to contact the West Region Firearms Unit. West Region Firearms
Unit CPIC/Jen |