The fact of the matter is that museums and the needs of their firearms
collections were virtually ignored in the process of developing the Firearms
Act and we are now struggling with the consequences. Nonetheless, we have taken
vigorous action to comply with the new legislation, along the following lines:

For our public displays, we have:

a. taken firearms out of displays, in some cases, where they are non-essential
to tell the story

b. replaced prohibited weapons with restricted or non-restricted weapons (e.g.,
a bundle of machine guns in a scene dealing with the Italian campaign was
replaced by a bundle of rifles)

c. where we had several copies of the same weapon, we permanently incapacitated
one of them (in a way the viewer would not notice) and placed it on display

d. where we only had a single copy, we temporarily deactivated the weapon by
removing at least two essential (and difficult/impossible to procure)
components

e. securely fastened each weapon in place and alarmed the case/display.

We already had very stringent controls over weapons not on display and these
are being continued. Access to weapons vaults is EXTREMELY limited. We also
store the few weapons owned by the Canadian Museum of Civilization in our
vaults.

Ammunition, other than a small amount of black powder/blanks used in
re-enactments, is stored in a commercial facility, several miles outside the
city.

We have withdrawn firearms on loan to other museums which have demonstrated an
inability to comply with the law. Other museums have voluntarily returned
weapons, generally prohibited weapons.

Weapons not directly related to the mandate of CWM, such as sporting weapons,
have been removed from the collection and destroyed.

Where such weapons are offered to us at the door, we accept them, but transfer
them as soon as possible to the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police force, where
they are destroyed.

The Office of the Chief Firearms Officer of Ontario has reviewed all our
arrangements and is very satisfied with what we have done, which they admit
exceeds the requirements of the law.

With respect to the USE of firearms in demonstrations and re-enactments, as
well as the routine handling of firearms, we have trained all our staff who
have to handle firearms (including secretaries/clerks who might have to handle
walk-in donations) to FAC standard and are also training most staff to Ontario
Handgun Association standards in the handling of handguns. All staff involved
in blackpowder demonstrations are required to complete our own training course
and pass a tough exam. We have adopted new and very strict procedures for
carrying out such demonstrations. In this, we have used the Parks Canada
procedures as a guide.

Harry Needham
Director, Programmes & Operations
Canadian War Museum