The Alberta Civil Liberties Association is questioning government nosiness on gun-licence application forms.
Stephen Jenuth, the association's president, understands federal regulators must be sure applicants are mentally stable.
But, says Jenuth, some people would question if there's a need to ask about broken marriages.
The current application asks: "During the past two years, have you experienced a divorce, a separation, a breakdown of a significant relationship, job loss or bankruptcy?"
Jenuth, speaking Sunday from Calgary, said he sees no problem with the application's question whether a person has suffered depression or attempted suicide within the last five years. "There are a lot of important questions like that on the form, which I think are very good."
But the government must work harder to justify questions about being fired or divorced, he said.
He acknowledged the questions could unearth mental-health problems. "But it's a little bit more indirect.
"It may be that some of the questions could be a little bit better written. Not, 'Have you had a marriage breakdown?' but perhaps 'Have you had a marriage breakdown in which there were allegations of violence?'
Jenuth made the comments after an Edmonton-area farmer reportedly objected to those questions.
"It's a privacy issue," Jenuth said. "We don't want to ask more questions than are needed."
Jenuth, who supports gun controls, said regulators may have sound reasons for the questions. "But in every case where the government collects information on citizens they should have a good reason for it."
Arlene Chapman, provincial co-ordinator for the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, said the questions are a key part of risk assessment.
"The last eight women murdered in the province have all been after they lost a relationship," Chapman said in Edmonton. "They were all shot and all of them, except one, were shot with legally owned rifles or shotguns."
She said the Canadian Firearms Centre, which handles gun licensing, can check with former spouses to find if they feel the licence applicants are dangerous.
"I feel bad that people feel those questions are invasive. But sometimes you have to look beyond your own feelings and look towards the good of public safety."
Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, said from Toronto the questions in the application form are derived from a longer form established in the early 1990s.
"These questions have been in place for at least seven years," Cukier said. "The questions are very closely tied to what the risk factors are for violence and suicide with guns, based on a lot of fairly detailed research."
The form has been shortened so much that some people fear it's been oversimplified, she said.
The fact objections to the questions are surfacing after so many years "just reinforces the fact that the people who oppose the legislation will resort to anything. It's just absurd."
