How to get gun safety training in Nunavut

SARA MINOGUE

Nunavut’s 26 communities have a total of just 12 trainers and three master trainers, says Kevin Robertson of the Canada Firearms Centre’s Nunavut office.

“Right now I know that we have a good half dozen people in town that have expressed an interest in becoming a trainer or instructor, but I’ve not been able to put anything together,” Robertson said.

The Canadian Firearms Safety Course is not mandatory, but it is a good way for people to learn the material they will find on the test that you must write in order to get licenced.

If you live in a community where there are no trainers, and have owned a gun since 1979 you can opt for “alternative certification.”

Robertson describes this as “more of a general knowledge of safety issues.”

People who want to get licenced can call him and answer 25 questions in a short test over the phone — in Inuktitut if they can provide an interpreter.

Robertson estimates he’s done 15 to 20 tests like this since taking up his post in July.

“I’ve had guys, 60 years old, call me up and do the test in Inuktitut. You hear them, you got 96 per cent and they’re so proud. I think that’s great.”

For more information on how and where to get safety training, call the Nunavut office of the Canada Firearms Centre at 979-6870