Brent Mitchell owns Battlefords Bait and Tackle, a local business that has been in the community for nearly 40 years. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

COMBAT GUN CRIME

Sask. ammunition retailer enhances tracking of sales

Dec 16, 2024 | 12:20 PM

Editors note: This story was edited on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 8:45 a.m. battlefordsNOW mistakingly referred to Battlefords Bait and Tackle as a firearms dealer. That information is incorrect. The store sells ammunition, along with fishing and hunting supplies. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

A Battlefords business that sells ammunition is taking extra steps when it comes to new legislation meant to ensure public safety.

Like all businesses that sell ammunition, Brent Mitchell of Battlefords Bait and Tackle is legislated to keep track of sales of gun powder and black powder. However, he and his IT team have figured out a way to make the process of retrieving information even faster by updating a recording system that was already in place under legislation by Natural Resources Canada.

“We can track it down here, and literally, we just search that and boom, there it is. There’s the person, their possession acquisition number, when and where it was purchased which is what government wants under new regulations.”

Mitchell’s upgrade to the system also assigns a code word unique to his sales management, making it easier to track if ever requested by the RCMP.

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Saskatchewan’s Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) Commissioner Robert Freberg said changes to legislation have made it more difficult for people to exploit the system, ultimately keeping weapons out of the wrong hands.

He said a collaboration with the RCMP’s National Weapons Enforcement Support Team is helping to educate firearms and ammunition retailers nationwide about common criminal patterns and how to recognize unusual behavior.

“We’ve certainly had calls from dealers that they have seen something or heard something that has been said to them during the course of the transaction that they found alarming [or] out of the ordinary,” Freberg shared.

Mitchell adds someone can’t be restricted from purchasing items if they have a possession acquisition license, but they can flag the individual(s) for potential or suspected issues. Officers can then examine the individual’s background, consult with others and assess if they are of good character or if they may be struggling with issues like drugs or alcohol that could pose a risk to themselves or the public.

Acknowledging that gun-related crime is a complex issue not solved by simply banning guns, Freberg stressed the need for the CFO and RCMP to collaborate with firearms and ammunition businesses and the community to raise awareness about gun safety. He said legal gun owners are not the problem.

“Banning guns is nothing more than banning cars for people who drive impaired. We need an education program focused on preventing impaired driving; banning vehicles will not stop impaired drivers,” he noted.

Earlier this month, the federal government announced new gun control measures, adding several hundred models and variants to its list of 2,000 weapons already banned.

Despite best efforts to address the pressing issue of gun crime through prevention, proactive measures, and educational approaches, a Saskatchewan RCMP report revealed there was a 271 per cent increase in firearm offences when comparing data from 2014 to 2023.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com