Supreme Court Upholds Gun Law

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld Canada’s 1995 law requiring that gun owners be licensed and register firearms. The law, requiring licenses by year’s end and registration of weapons by Jan. 1, 2003, has been criticized by the pro-gun lobby and some provincial governments as excessive and inefficient. The law was prompted by a gun-control campaign after a man shot and killed 14 people in Montreal in 1989. Canada has required licenses and registration for handguns since 1934; the new law adds rifles and shotguns. Alberta led a legal challenge, arguing that the federal law usurped the powers of provinces. It lost in the Alberta courts and appealed to the Supreme Court.