Rocky View County (RVC) council gave first and second readings to a revised Firearms Bylaw at its May 22 meeting. According to Lorraine Wesley-Riley with Enforcement Services, the County’s existing Firearms Bylaw had not been updated since 2003 – and there has been public pressure for more restrictions in certain areas of RVC. “RVC is growing and is welcoming more subdivision and community and business development to the area,” Wesley-Riley said. “The county is also home to a diverse range of wildlife species. While there are many benefits to living near wild animals, it is important to know how to co-exist with these animals to minimize conflict and ensure the safety of residents, pets, livestock and wildlife alike.” The updated bylaw provides greater clarity through added and revised definitions that better reflect the bylaw’s intentions, Wesley-Riley said. She added the bylaw also specifies locations identified as no-shooting zones, including in hamlets,. as well as West Bragg Creek, Springbank, Elbow Valley, Bearspaw, Cochrane Lake, East Balzac, South Conrich, and Inverlake Road; provides clear and concise information on penalties associated with offences; and clarifies that a person can be held vicariously liable for the actions of an employee, providing there is evidence the offence took place during their employment. However, councillors were quick to raise concerns with the proposed bylaw. Coun. Al Schule questioned the boundary definitions of no-shooting zones, and Coun. Crystal Kissel expressed concern over the safety of bylaw officers responding to shooting-related calls. Council voted unanimously on a motion to table the item until later in the meeting, allowing time for administration to provide appropriate amendments. “There’s a lot of hard work that’s put into this document, but, as of today, I can’t support this document because there’s a lot of words that need to be fixed, maps that need to fixed, so that we can get everybody on-side,” said Deputy Reeve Jerry Gautreau. Additional maps were added to cover all impacted areas, and Wesley-Riley assured Kissel bylaw officers are aware of the danger with every call they respond to. They have appropriate training, but Wesley-Riley added RVC could look into modifying or increasing the frequency of training for bylaw officers. No amendments were made to that effect. After administration returned with the revised document, first and second readings were passed unanimously. Council then directed administration to forward the bylaw to the Minister of Environment and Parks for ministerial approval before the document returns to council for consideration for final reading.
