TheGunBlog.ca — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which controls private gun ownership, said it’s “working hard” through the COVID-19 crisis to process firearm licences, while facing delays.

Caroline Duval, a spokeswoman for the regulator in Ottawa, commented by e-mail today in response to questions from TheGunBlog.ca.

Q&A With the RCMP on Licensing, Work During COVID-19

On licensing and delays:
RCMP: The Canadian Firearms Program is working hard to ensure continued service to its clients during the COVID-19 crisis.

However, there could be delays to some services, including processing applications for new firearm licences.

The CFP will continue publishing updates on its website.

On privacy measures for staff working from home:
RCMP: All CFP employees working from home use RCMP allocated computers with restricted access and are protected by RCMP Firewalls.

Use of RCMP computers requires employee tokens and unique passwords.

All CFP employees have signed Acceptable User Practice Agreements and know their responsibility in protecting the privacy of information held by the program on behalf of our clients.

On the number of PAL holders at 31 Dec. 2019:
RCMP: As of Dec 31, 2019, there were 2,216,509 valid Possession and Acquisition Licence holders.

On any special instructions for people applying for a licence:
RCMP: All information is provided in the instruction portion of the Licence Application form, which is available on the CFP Website.

The application fee for a firearms licence will change as of March 31, 2020.

RCMP Canadian Firearms Program now says on homepage:

“Due to measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we are currently experiencing service delays. We apologize for any inconvenience.”https://t.co/PWSMSnR90Z pic.twitter.com/AFaVRQ2fQ5

— TheGunBlog (@TheGunBlog) March 17, 2020

Why It Matters

Canadian law requires a licence to buy, sell, own or travel with any firearm, at risk of jail. The permits expire after five years.

• Gun owners face prison if they fail to renew their licence within six months of expiry.
• Almost 40,000 of Canada’s 2.2 million permits expire each month on average, according to calculations by TheGunBlog.ca based on RCMP data.
• Roughly 3,000 people a month applied for their first licence in 2019 after taking a mandatory safety course.

Thank you to Canadian gun stores, regulators, instructors, clubs, ranges, etc. who make an effort to communicate and share info these days.

Why communicate?
– tells us you're OK
– tells us you care
– provides valuable info in all this uncertainty#ThankYou

— TheGunBlog (@TheGunBlog) March 23, 2020

Related

• Gun Sales Rise on COVID-19 Concern of Shortages, Social Unrest
• Gun Licence Fees to Rise 2.2% in March 2020, RCMP Says
• Gun Licences Rise to Record in June After 21 Quarterly Increases

Update 24 March: Reformats layout of RCMP Q&A section.