Right at the start of the hunting season, the firearms industry is doing well in Quebec. The show To your business paints a portrait of this controversial sector.
“I would tell you that there is a shortage of ammunition this year across Canada. It’s still going well, ”says Manon Chicoine, manager of the Assumption Pioneer Shooting Club in Lanaudière.
She also notes a craze for this sport, especially among women.
“It’s growing because the sport is more and more famous. Hunting has always existed. Long-range marksmanship, there are formations now. It really is something. It’s a passion, it’s a sport, ”she says.
Hunting weapon or handgun?
Rifles or pistols, there are several types of firearms. Éric Dubord, member of the Pioneer Shooting Club, explains the difference between them.
For hunting weapons, “you have two main families: rifles and you have rifles. So these are long guns, long guns. These are the weapons that are most often found on the market, ”he explains.
On the handgun side, there are also two categories: revolvers or pistols.
As for assault weapons, the shooting club member exists that this is a category that is not defined in Canadian law.
“It is not defined in the Canadian code, it does not exist in our definitions, neither in the Firearms Act, nor in the Criminal Code,” he maintains.
“It’s more of a political invention and the media have taken hold of it. The only reference I could give you, the closest, are automatic weapons, which are military weapons, real military weapons, and which have been banned in Canada since 1977, ”he adds.
But sport shooters do not have access to this type of weapon, specifies Mr. Dubord.
From the Yaris to the Ferrari
The cost of firearms varies greatly from model to model. Much like the car market, guns are less expensive if they are purchased used.
“Sometimes, for 400 or 500 dollars, we start in the used. In the new, there is no limit. You can have guns of $ 2,000, $ 3,000, $ 20,000, up to $ 100,000 for high-quality, hand-made rifles, ”says Éric Dubord.
Gun control
For shooting enthusiasts, discussions around gun control do not really address the problem.
“No because we always attack those we already know. So the owners of firearms, we are registered, our addresses are known, the weapons we own are known, ”says Éric Dubord.
For him, gun control involves funding the police.
“What it takes, and it’s super simple, is giving the police resources so that they can do their job, arrest and investigate these people. It’s street gangs, it’s the criminalized world. It’s not us, ”he proclaims.
Listen to the full report of the show To your business in the video above.
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