NNSL (DEC 06/96) - New federal firearms laws are unconstitutional because they deal with property and civil rights that fall under provincial jurisdiction, says the Alberta government.

Alberta -- backed by the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan -- put forward that argument at the start of a legal challenge of the laws in the Alberta Court of Appeal Monday.

Alberta is taking the lead in opposing the new federal regulations it says violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Other groups fighting the laws include the Shooting Federation of Canada and the Alberta Fish and Game Association. Those groups say Ottawa's existing gun laws are already among the most stringent in the world and homicides, domestic violence and yet accidental deaths still occur.

On the side favoring gun control, the federal Justice Department is joined by the Alberta Council for Women's Shelters, the cities of Montreal and Toronto, Canada's police chiefs and the Coalition for Gun Control.

They say a national firearms registry would let police know who has a gun and help determine if he or she should be allowed to keep it.

The challenge may not be heard for five or six months.

Monday's hearing was the opening act of what many expect will be an long, complicated and somewhat costly exercise in constitutional law.

The territorial government, along with a number of provincial governments, has refused to administer regulations announced last week that accompany the gun laws.

Those regulations are being reviewed by Parliament and are expected to come into force over the next year.