Since May 18th, firearm businesses have been forced to rely on an unreliable system to simply sell legal firearms to licensed citizens.

The Business Web Services portal that is required to verify a buyer’s license before transferring or selling non-restricted firearms offers spotty service on a good day.

Yes, there is the option of the call center, but the call center only operated during “banker hours”, while firearm retailers do not.

This portal has been down almost consistently for the last three days. These outages are unacceptable. Businesses are losing sales, they are losing money.

It should not be this difficult for our members to conduct business.

CSAAA will be meeting with the Canadian Firearms Program to discuss the many issues our members face with this system and to discuss Bill C-71 in general, because this is not working.

Here are just a handful of the issues our members are facing:

• Constant outages, spotty service and having to make multiple attempts just to simply log in.
• An unusual amount of licenses are being sent to the CFOs for review (so a reference number cannot be generated right away, therefor sales are lost or delayed) just to be approved days later by the CFO
• Email requirement – many individuals do not know which email they have registered with the RCMP, therefore the call-in center is the only way to get a reference number for a non-restricted transfer
• Call-in center hours are unrealistic. Our businesses need this option available virtually 24/7. Gun shows have been cancelled, weekend and evening sales are lost, etc.

As stated, these are just a handful of the issues brought on by Bill C-71. We encourage our members to reach out as they experience outages or issues.

Please remember to try these troubleshooting steps if they are still having issues logging into the portal after it has been deemed fully operational.

Email [email protected] or call/text 705-875-2302 with questions or concerns.