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Legislative Frameworks
Examples of Different Legal / Administrative Approaches
Record Keeping and Impact on Firearms Tracing
Firearms information is collected in both Canada and the United States and may be shared by law enforcement agencies when investigating firearms crimes and pursuant to international arrangements, subject to respective privacy laws. The United States relies upon the records maintained by licensees, and that information may also be shared pursuant to international arrangements, subject to respective privacy laws. Data that does not pertain to the actual individual possessing the firearm, such as information about bullets, cartridge cases, and firearms terminology, is shared based on compatible technology and pursuant to international arrangements. Both countries limit their information-sharing based upon their own laws and policies.
Firearms Records in Canada
In Canada, the Registrar of Firearms maintains and operates the Canadian Firearms Registry, which houses national data related to licensed firearms owners and to registered firearms. Registered firearms are those that are newly manufactured or imported, and are classified as either non-restricted (i.e. rifles and shotguns) or restricted (i.e. handguns).
The Canadian Firearms Registry monitors the transfer of ownership and disposition of firearms. Under the Criminal Code, it is illegal to transfer a firearm without complying with the requirements of the Firearms Act, such as obtaining the authorization of the Chief Firearms Officer for the transfer of a restricted firearm. Lost or stolen firearms must be reported and are also tracked through the Canadian Firearms Registry. The tracking of legal firearms enables the Registrar of Firearms to support law enforcement in the prevention and investigation of firearms crime or misuse in Canada and internationally.
Firearms Records in the United States
Under federal law, firearms records for specified transactions are generally maintained by the licensed community. When such licensees go out of business, the firearms records must be transferred to the ATF. Regulations implementing the Gun Control Act require manufacturers, importers, and dealers in firearms to retain their transaction records for 20 years. 27 C.F.R. § 478.129. Manufacturers and importers maintain permanent records of firearms that are manufactured or imported. Regulations implementing the Arms Export Control Act require importers and exporters of defense articles, ammunition for such firearms, and parts and components for such firearms, to retain their records for a period of 6 years, in the case of importers, and 5 years, in the case of exporters and temporary importers. 27 C.F.R. § 447.34; 22 C.F.R. § 122.5. Regulations implementing the Export Administration Act, which apply to exporters of parts for sporting shotguns and shotgun shells, require that records be retained for a period of five years. 15 C.F.R. § 762.6.
Ballistics Records
Both Canada and the United States collect images of bullets and cartridge cases recovered from crime scenes and from test fires of firearms associated with criminal activity. This information is stored using similar technology known as, the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS).
The IBIS technology assists forensic ballistics analysts in the preliminary analysis of images by detecting and extracting minute details that are compared against an inventory of ballistic reference data. A firearms examiner then manually verifies a potential match using a comparison microscope. Manual workload is dramatically reduced through IBIS technology, which allows for strategic use of time to support investigations.
The Canadian Integrated Ballistics Identification Network (CIBIN) is a national network that collects firearm information from IBIS terminals located in six urban centres across Canada. The United States has over 230 independent IBIS terminals in most states that are networked and are collectively known as the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN).
Firearms Terminology
The Forensic Laboratory of the RCMP has developed a comprehensive Firearms Reference Table (FRT) that establishes a standard method of describing firearms. The FRT is a database that reflects a complete catalogue of firearms and provides a visual reference by associating digital images to corresponding firearms records. Firearms details include make, model, and specifications such as calibre and barrel length. A Glossary also includes firearm definitions and terms; acronyms/manufacturer codes; current Canadian orders/legal authorities, and company histories and firearm markings. Thousands of new and updated firearms records and images are available in every new version of the FRT. The program continues evolving as new firearms are developed or marketed and when new or updated information becomes available for existing records.
This unique and extensive FRT is considered a national standard in Canada. The FRT is used extensively by law enforcement officials in verifying firearms for accurate import - export controls, in facilitating detection of stolen firearms (tracing), ensuring accurate international communications involving transnational crime, and determining the legal classification of a firearm. ATF and other Department of Justice components have had access to the FRT since 2001.
Impact on Firearms Tracing
Law enforcement officials trace firearms seized at crime scenes to determine their origin. Bullets and bullet casings can be traced through CIBIN or NIBIN, while the source of a firearm's ownership can be traced through registration and police records systems in Canada, and records maintained by licensees in the United States.
Idaho and the British Columbia area In January 2003, ATF developed information relating to an employee of a FFL in the U.S., who had been dealing firearms without a license for a number of years. This individual had sold approximately 200 firearms, including machineguns, to a Canadian citizen who operated a long-haul truck across the international border. The Canadian trucker had disposed of some of these firearms to gang members of the British Columbia area. The RCMP subsequently recovered these firearms at crime scenes. The Canadian smuggler was convicted of four separate felonies and was sentenced to 18 months incarceration. Additionally, this investigation resulted in ATF seizing assets totalling $98,200. |
Firearms registry systems in Canada and the records maintained by licensees in the United States are used to assist law enforcement agencies in determining whether a firearm was legally or illegally acquired. These systems, along with police information systems, such as the Canadian Police Information System (CPIC) and the United States' National Tracing Center, enable law enforcement agencies to trace firearms to solve firearms crimes and to prevent the movement of firearms used in crimes.
Deactivation/Rendering Firearms Inoperable
Firearms owners may choose to render their firearms inoperable for the purpose of disposal or to keep as a non-functioning firearms mementos. Most countries adopt similar standards to ensure that firearms that have been rendered inoperable cannot be reactivated. Of particular concern, reactivated firearms could surface in the commission of a crime or in illicit cross-border trade of firearms, such as smuggling and trafficking.
Although Canada and the United States apply different standards or processes in rendering firearms inoperable, both countries adhere to international United Nations standards. A Supplement to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (see 55/255. Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 8 June 2001) outlines the following general principles for "deactivating" firearms to prevent their illicit reactivation:
(a) All essential parts of a deactivated firearm are to be rendered permanently inoperable and incapable of removal, replacement or modification in a manner that would permit the firearm to be reactivated in any way;
(b) Arrangements are to be made for deactivation measures to be verified, where appropriate, by a competent authority to ensure that the modifications made to a firearm render it permanently inoperable;
(c) Verification by a competent authority is to include a certificate or record attesting to the deactivation of the firearm or a clearly visible mark to that effect stamped on the firearm.
The term "deactivated", although not a legally defined term in Canada or recognized in the United States is commonly used in Canada.
Rendering a Firearm Inoperable in Canada
In Canada and in accordance with the Firearms Act, the Registrar of Firearms is responsible for establishing and maintaining records of all firearms registration certificates. Therefore, the Registrar must be notified of any firearms that have been deactivated or destroyed.
For a firearm to be considered deactivated the firearm must no longer be considered a firearm (see firearm definition below). Key components of the firearm must be rendered permanently non-functional.
A firearm in Canada is defined as "a barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing serious bodily injury or death to a person, and includes any frame or receiver of such a barrelled weapon and anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm" (Criminal Code, section 2 definition of "firearm").
The Canadian Firearms Registry Guidelines for Deactivation set out specific deactivation guidelines for all firearm types to assist firearms owners and to ensure appropriate compliance with the Registrar of Firearms 2.
Rendering a Firearm Inoperable in the United States
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §§ 921-924) defines the term "firearm" to include any weapon which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3). The definition explicitly excludes "antique firearms." The term "antique firearm" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(16) to include any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898, or any replica of any such firearm, if such replica is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition or uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.
Notably, the Federal definition neither excludes "inoperable" firearms nor defines a "deactivated" firearm. Accordingly, under United States law, a weapon is a firearm if it actually functions, if at any time it was designed to function as a firearm (even if it is no longer operable) or if it is a frame or receiver of a firearm. Thus, a weapon that would be excluded from regulation as a firearm under the laws of many countries is generally still regulated as a firearm in the United States. There is no exception under United States law for firearms that, for example, cannot fire, or whose barrels have been welded closed, or where the pistol grips, trigger, barrel, and stock have been removed.
Of course, a firearm that is completely destroyed is not considered a firearm under United States law. Because the Federal definition includes the frame or receiver of a firearm, the destruction of a firearm requires that the frame or receiver be destroyed. Due to the variety of firearms, there is no single approved destruction method. As a general matter, however, a frame or receiver of a firearm must be diagonally torch cut (not cut with a bandsaw or cut-off wheel) with a tip that is capable of displacing ¼ inch of material in specific locations that destroys the frame or receiver. Examples of such proper destruction methods for four different receivers may be found at www.atf.gov in ATF rulings 2003-1, 2003-2, 2003-3, 2003-4. ATF's Firearms Technology Branch can be consulted for assistance in approving alternate destruction methods.
2http://www.cfc-cafc.gc.ca/online-en_ligne/form-assistance/PDFs/1023_e.pdf
