P.E.I.'s federal election candidates offered education on gun control

An Island group that advocates for responsible gun ownership wants candidates running in P.E.I. in the upcoming federal election to be well-educated about gun control. 

The Women Shooters of Prince Edward Island, a group that provides women-only safety firearm training, sent an invitation to the 13 candidates declared so far in P.E.I. asking them to attend a firearms safety course next month and to talk to the group.

Kate MacQuarrie, who chairs the group, said it's important to ensure elected officials are well versed on the issue.

'Evidence-based decision making'

"We felt that if you're going to comment on gun control and particularly if you're going to make decisions on gun law, you should have a good knowledge of what the current situation is," she said.

"It's a very emotional issue for the public, which I totally understand."

MacQuarrie said she's heard back from a few candidates so far who say they cannot take time away from their campaigning to attend the 10-hour course, but she said they are open to meeting with the group to discuss its concerns.

"It's important to me because I'm very much a proponent of evidence-based legislation and decisions that we do," she said. 

"When we're making, particularly legislative decisions based on emotion, it penalizes Canadians that it should not penalize."

More P.E.I. news