Canada's Safety Minister is trying to crack the case of Alberta's top gun cop and the sticky trigger rules.

Vic Toews is stumped after the Alberta Chief Firearms Officer surprised gun owners by saying that every single firearm at the upcoming Calgary Gun Show needs to have a trigger lock.

"I am surprised the Chief Firearms Officer would make that kind of a ruling so close to the gun show and not give the participants the ability to comply, I would certainly like to see that if there are other ways of complying with this that the CFO should look at that," Toews told QMI. "I've been to several of theses shows, these are very responsible people selling their firearms in the open."

Gun rights advocates say that previously plastic tabs were used without any problem and that trigger locks are new, but the CFO says the office is going by the book.

"The Alberta CFO reminded the organizers and business owners of the safe storage and display requirements under the Firearms act and the Safe Storage Regulations," wrote the CFO to QMI through a spokeswoman. "The regulations state that the device has to have some form of locking mechanism, be it key or combination."

The Canadian Shooting Sports Association has launched a petition to disband the provincial offices of CFO and concentrate firearms matters in one federal bureau.