JesseWZ said:
This should prove to be an interesting discussion topic. There are more than a few areas where significant changes would need to take place in both law and policy before this could become reality.
Who templates and certifies the private range for CF weapons? Does DND pay for that? What happens if there is an "incident?" Is the member on duty when they have their weapon system with them?
What about the ammunition used? Will it be stock #'d, tracked and accountable? If not, should we be using non CF ammunition for a CF weapon system?
In this scenario, we'd be completely re-writing how we do ammunition tracking...
What about storage? As it stands, the CF has pretty robust security policy for "personal weapons". Will they be allowed in members homes? Cars? Will transport to and from work be allowed? Pit or coffee stops?
Then questions come in about legal authority. While members of the CF may be Public Officers in some situations, what are the boundaries of that authorization? Who is going to be accountable to make firing a CF weapon at a private range part of "employment"...
I would wager taking a personal weapon system home to play with on a private range is going to fall outside of "duty". How far do we take this? Can an Inf Wpns Pl member lug their C6 to the range?
Personally, the quality of weapons handling I've seen in some persons on base security details would make me seriously reconsider allowing carte blanche troops to visit a private range with our weapons. Don't forget, absent LEOs and certain other "close with and destroy" type trades, most CF members handle their weapons a few times a year...
If the political will exists to re-write most of our security, ammunition and weapons policy, and the money exists for ammunition for target shooting, and range templating, and range renumeration, and... someone high and mighty enough is willing to take the risk and assume liability for all that this entails, then maybe this idea has traction.
5.56 is available for civilians... members could just buy their own ammo.
I think the idea for taking eg. a C7 would be to go to a military range and shoot it at a military range, with your own ammo. I understand the concern about unapproved ammo, and you'll have to forgive my ignorance with the paperwork involved, but wouldn't it just be a few checks in boxes?
Canadian Forces, and the Firearms Act:
From the firearms act:
3 (1) This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.
Marginal note:Canadian Forces
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), this Act does not apply in respect of the Canadian Forces.
Even futher, with respect to storage and handling in SOR/98-209, section 2 says that the regulations in the Firearms Act do not apply to members of the Canadian Forces.
Application:
2 (1) These Regulations do not apply to members of any of the following classes of persons who are acting in the course of their duties or for the purposes of their employment:
(a) peace officers;
(b) members of the Canadian Forces or of the armed forces of a state other than Canada who are attached or seconded to any of the Canadian Forces;
etc.
I'm not a lawyer, but I interpret this as; only subsection 1 applies to Canadian Forces members, meaning that regular criminal law applies to CF members, but not the firearms act itself. Of course, a judge can decide whatever he wants in court, but that's how the language reads to me. Meaning that a CF member can't just run down the street firing off rounds, yelling "ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!!!" or some such nonsense.
It's literally a catch all to actually allow Canadian Forces members to handle firearms while on duty.
This is why members are allowed to operate a myriad of prohibited firearms without having to have a license to do so, other than their CF ID card.
Further, the conditions on your RPAL actually already allow you to transport and operate restricted and prohibited firearms, as long as you have the conditions to do so... and you DON'T have to be a member of the CF, necessarily, to do so. Such is especially the case with grandfathered prohibited firearms. You can get this approval by requesting it from the CFO for your province, and it's not that much of a hassle, other than waiting a long time for the paperwork to get done, and for them to send you the papers that authorize you to do so.
I understand the dangers of certain military members with questionable common sense, which is a legitimate concern. However, if they've passed their training, that should be the measure by which they are approved to have the privilege of extra time on the range. Maybe if these types of members went to the range more than once a year, they wouldn't be bungling idiots with their weapons handling proficiency. No offense to bungling idiots out there.
I disagree with allowing CF members taking CF weapons to private ranges, that would be asking for trouble. But taking your own rifle or handgun to a CF range to shoot on your own time should not involve Civilian entities. CF Members should be allowed to do this simply by driving to the range and checking in at the hut, as long as a range is available. I know for a fact that our range is not in use, most of the time... it's just sitting there unused most of the time.
The big nail in the coffin is pretty much approval from higher authorities. Never going to happen, because they don't want to accept the responsibility, rightly so. I wouldn't. But I wish there was someone with big enough cahones to do it.