Ontario, Canada Chief Firearms Officer Comments on AR-15 Buying Surge and Gun Licensing

Dwight Peer, the Chief Firearms Officer for Ontario, comments below on the Canada-wide surge in buying AR-15 target rifles in May and June, gun-owner licensing, and related topics.

Peer spoke with TheGunBlog.ca on July 4 at his office in Orillia, about 130 km north of Toronto.

Ontario Chief Firearms Officer (CFO)

• Dwight Peer
• Superintendent, Ontario Provincial Police
• Age, 53
• Appointed by Ontario Liberal Party government in October 2017

Ontario Chief Firearms Office

• Based in Orillia, Ontario
• About 60 full-time staff
• Main responsibilities
• Work with RCMP to issue, refuse or revoke firearm Possession and Acquisition Licenses (PAL)
• Review and authorize ownership transfers of so-called “Restricted” and “Prohibited” firearms when they are bought, sold, given away or traded
• Review and authorize requests for firearm Authorization To Transport (ATT)
• Authorize shooting ranges

Ontario Snapshot

• PAL Holders: 620,000 (About 28% of Canadian total)
• Firearm/Ammunition businesses: 1,100
• Shooting Ranges & Clubs: 275

Q&A with Ontario CFO Dwight Peer

AR-15 Buying Surge

GB: How did the increase in AR-15 purchases affect your operations?
DP: It was the community reacting to expected changes in legislation.

What we try to do is properly scrutinize any transfer activity, and not hold up transfers unnecessarily. Our standard is to process transfers within 14 days. We have to provide the proper level of scrutiny.

GB: How did things go?
DP: We had minimal complaints. We appreciate the patience and cooperation of the community during that time.

GB: It felt like a buying surge. Can you say how many more AR-15s were purchased in Ontario in May and June compared with past levels?
DP: Let’s say it was higher than normal.

Licensing

GB: What do you consider when you assess people for a gun license?
DP: The responsibility and discipline that go with that license is of utmost concern. We are about public safety as it applies to the license. We look at it from the point of view of: Does the licensee have… CONTINUE READING HERE