Federal handgun ban drawing mixed reactions in Sask.

Organizations in Saskatchewan have mixed reactions when it comes to a temporary imported handgun ban put in place by the federal government.

The measure, which comes into effect on Aug. 19, will prevent “nearly all” individuals and businesses from importing handguns into Canada.

The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation is against the move.

“Once this generation is gone, nobody else in Canada will be able to own a handgun,” Gilbert White, the recreational firearm chair with the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, said.

White said sport shooters will be the most affected. He said the ban will likely lead to a decrease in sport shooter membership for the federation, which will make fundraising more of a challenge.

“These sport shooters join our federations, they join our clubs. They make up a good portion of our membership and they come to our fundraisers and spend their money,” White said.

“We’re going to see a decrease in our revenues because of the decrease in the membership and the participation at our fundraisers.”

He said that money goes towards purchasing habitat lands, wildlife lands and completing fisheries projects.

White added potential Olympic shooters will also be impacted because feeder organizations will see a decrease.

“They’ve lost their feeders into the program. There will be nobody else,” he said.

“As a kid, you won’t be able to own a handgun so you’ll never get good enough to get to the Olympics.”

Saskatchewan’s chief firearms officer, Robert Freberg, said he is not in favour of the handgun ban.

“We certainly don’t support any type of a handgun freeze which we feel only negatively targets law-abiding firearms owners,” Freberg said.

“It really doesn’t address the problem of illegal firearms that are being brought into the country, mostly from the United States.”

Freberg added businesses across the province will feel the pinch from the firearm controls.

“[Businesses] have been caught blindsided. They had no idea, no ability to plan for any of this. They’re going to be losing revenue and for some, it’ll put them out of business,” Freberg said.

“Many of them work with law enforcement partners to report any kind of activity they think is illegal, so they’re good representatives and good supporters of responsible firearms ownership.”

Over the past 10 months, Freberg said the province has seen growing success in gun control, which he said would be a good alternative for the federal government.

“We’ve revoked or refused almost twice as many licenses from firearms owners who are subject to mental health or public safety concerns or red flags that are raised around their ownership of firearms,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Regina Police Service said the handgun ban could lead to a safer community.

“Anytime that we’re reducing the number of guns in the community is probably a good thing in terms of public safety,” Deputy Chief Lorilee Davies said.

“We do have a number of firearms that, throughout the year, get stolen from legal gun owners. If you reduce the overall number of guns then that probably does create a safer environment.”

Davies said typically Regina does not see a high number of guns entering the community from the United States.

“[The ban] may not have the same impact as it would in larger cities.”

She said it’s too early to say if the ban could have a direct correlation on crime statistics.