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IQALUIT
As the RCMP makes a door-to-door pitch across the territory for safe gun storage and handling, one former officer is championing a broader awareness of firearm usage, safety and the role of guns in Northern life.

Former RCMP officer Glenn Williams knows his guns, having been raised on the land by his trapper father. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

"It's incredibly important and something we need to work on a lot more," said Glenn Williams, now a wildlife advisor for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. "Iqaluit is atypical, but if you go to a community, every house has guns in it because guns put food on the table. The only thing we don't shoot is fish."

For Williams, who grew up hunting and whose wife, an Inuk, is Justice assistant deputy minister Rebekah Williams, guns are tools for preserving the lifestyle of Nunavummiut.

"My dad was a trapper. I grew up in the bush, and guns are just part of our lives," he said. "I'm taking my grandkids out and they're shooting rabbits and ptarmigans and ducks. They're learning how to hunt."

He brought his expertise on guns and their proper use to the Iqaluit Shooting Association's first shooting competition Oct. 6. He walked away with the big bore class shooting title, but those who gravitated to him when he spoke with competition tips walked away benefiting from his experiences.

"Having him around helps," said correctional officer Neil Kigutaq, who is related to Rebekah and has gone hunting with Glenn. "He's got a lot of experience, and has spent a lot of time perfecting the knowledge he's got. He wants to embrace the culture we have and do it in a safe way."

At shooting competitions, "I'm able to pick up new information and new equipment, on maintenance of guns and maintenance of barrels," Williams said. "It's a good opportunity for people to learn about the tools they use, how their equipment works in comparison to other equipment. It's the start of something where we'll be able to improve and develop more understanding."

Part of that understanding is staying connected to the realities of life in the North.

"You're not going to go out on the land here unless you're going to take a firearm," he said. "I spend a lot of time on the land, and I've got firearms with me. I've also got my family with me. I want my family to be familiar with the firearms, so I want my kids and grandkids to be knowledgeable on how to be safe around guns."

For Williams, safe handling goes hand-in-hand with safe storage.

"Incidents with firearms that involve the police tend to involve people that aren't using their own firearms," he said. "They're picking the firearms up from somebody's house because they're accessible. That's part of the problem, but how did they get both the rifle and ammunition? When you're walking around here with a gun with no bolt in it, it's just a piece of steel. It's not functional. If it doesn't have ammunition, the only way you could hurt someone with a gun is if you hit them with it."

But not everyone has the money for safe storage, he said, and that's a problem RCMP will have to face.

"One thing we haven't kept up with is developing safe standards for storage and coming up with simple solutions as to how people can store guns," he said. "Not everybody can afford a gun locker. Those are the challenges we need to look at."

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