Summary

The bill amends The Saskatchewan Firearms Act to allow deputy and assistant firearms commissioners to exercise delegated powers, authorize medical professionals to report potentially dangerous firearms licence holders to authorities, permit inspection of shooting clubs and ranges, grant the Chief Firearms Officer authority to designate and revoke firearms safety instructors, expand illegal import/export prohibitions from businesses to all persons, and create a process for firearm owners affected by federal legislation to request fair market compensation from the Government of Canada, with Saskatchewan's commissioner facilitating storage, valuation, and eventual destruction or deactivation of those firearms.

This bill modifies how Saskatchewan administers firearms regulation in cooperation with federal law. It allows the minister to designate deputy and assistant commissioners who can carry out delegated firearms administration duties. It gives medical professionals the option to report a patient's name, address, and clinical condition to the commissioner, Chief Firearms Officer, or police if they believe the patient holds or is applying for a firearms licence and has a condition making firearm possession dangerous. The Chief Firearms Officer can now inspect shooting clubs and ranges in Saskatchewan and can designate or revoke designations of firearms safety instructors for any reason. The bill creates a process for owners whose firearms become subject to a specified federal law: if the owner does not receive full compensation from the Government of Canada within 12 months of the federal law coming into force, the firearm is deemed seized and the owner may request Saskatchewan's commissioner to determine fair market value, which the federal government must then pay. During this process the commissioner may store the firearm, and after payment the commissioner arranges for its destruction or deactivation.