A Conservative MP from northern British Columbia recently tabled a petition that requests the government reclassify the AR-15 to make the gun more easily available in Canada.

That’s the same weapon just used in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history and in a number of other attacks in recent years.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday (June 12), a lone gunman entered a Florida nightclub, killed 49 people, and injured another 53. He was armed  with a handgun and a version of the AR-15 called the Sig Sauer MCX.

An AR-15 was also used in a December 2015 attack in California that killed 14 people, an October 2015 attack in Oregon that killed 10 people, and a July 2012 attack on a movie theatre in Colorado that killed 12 people, to name just a few high-profile incidents. In the December 2012 Sandy Hook attack in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults, the gunman used a Bushmaster M4, which is modeled on the AR-15.

The AR-15 can be used to kill people in large numbers because it is a semi-automatic weapon that can be easily modified for automatic fire, and because in the United States, a standard magazine carries 20 or 30 bullets and can be modified to hold up to 45. Its military version, the M-16, is favoured by the U.S. military.

The AR-15 used by the Florida shooter was purchased legally.

In Canada, AR-15 rifles are legal but restricted. According to information supplied by National Firearms Association (NFA), the AR-15’s restricted status in Canada means that possessing this weapon requires a special licence. Even with such a licence, the firearm can only be used at approved gun clubs and target ranges. Furthermore, the weapon’s magazine capacity is limited to five rounds.

But some people want to change that.

On May 13, Bob Zimmer, MP for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, tabled  a petition in the House of Commons that requests Canada’s minister of public safety to reclassify the AR-15 to give it nonrestricted status.

A section of the petition states: “The current firearm legislation classifies the semi-auto Armalite Rifle - 15 and variants as restricted when there is no inherent difference between it and that of hundreds or thousands of other firearms in Canada which have been, in due process, classified as non-restricted.”

The petition garnered 25,249 signatures, more than 5,000 of which were from British Columbians. The only provinces that lent the petition more support than B.C. were Alberta and Ontario.

Zimmer did not respond to a request for an interview.

The petition was created by Marc Bennett, who is listed as a resident of Corner Brook, Newfoundland. In the past, Bennett has argued the AR-15 should be made available for hunting because the weapon’s small calibre makes it versatile and appropriate for both large and small animals.

"It's a very ergonomically correct firearm,” he told CBC News in May. “It's light, it's made of modern materials. Just because it's not made of wood doesn't mean it's not a hunting rifle.”

As its sponsor, Zimmer doesn’t necessarily have to support the petition’s goal. Green party Leader Elizabeth May, for example, has tabled petitions that she later said she did not support.

But a message that Zimmer posted on Twitter the same day he tabled the document in the House of Commons suggests, at the very least, he wasn’t trying to conceal his involvement with the petition.

https://twitter.com/bobzimmermp/status/731155553708281856

Zimmer also made a short statement when he tabled the petition in the house.

“Madam Speaker, I am honoured today to present this particular petition,” he said. “It is record setting. It is the highest recorded e-petition that we have had in Canada so far, at 25,249 individuals who signed the petition. I would also like to honour the person who started this petition, Mr. Marc Bennett, who is a firearms advocate.”

The Ministry of Public Safety declined to grant an interview but said it would respond to Zimmer’s petition “in due course”.

Assault weapons are mentioned in the party platform the Liberals prepared ahead of last year’s federal election. “We will take pragmatic action to make it harder for criminals to get, and use, handguns and assault weapons,” it reads.