A co-owner of the Bullets & Broadheads Shooting Center in Grande Prairie and Central Peace-Notley MLA Todd Loewen have been named to the Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee.
The 12 panel members will be consulting with Albertans on the federal government’s firearms legislation and provide recommendations on “how provincial policies can best target criminals while respecting law-abiding gun owners.”
Chair Michaela Glasgo, the MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat says she’s already heard from several people who are frustrated with what they’re calling Ottawa’s “overreach.”
“We need firearms policies that recognize and support the ability of Albertans to own and possess firearms in a lawful and responsible manner.”
In addition to Loewen and Linley Coward, the committee has representation from a range of gun owners including the president of the Alberta Hunter Education Instructors’ Association, a member of the 2016 Canadian Olympic shooting team, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, and a former Calgary Police Chief.
The province also announced Wednesday it will be establishing a provincial firearms examination unit to test guns that have been seized as evidence in criminal investigations. Calgary Police use their own testing facility and the Edmonton Police Service is establishing its own lab but most police services in Alberta rely on the RCMP’s National Forensic Laboratory Services in Ottawa.
The province says it takes about eight months for the national lab to process a routine firearms test and the establishment of an Alberta unit will speed up that process.
