Key takeaway for Firearms owners —
Back in May 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government introduced an order-in-council banning over 1,500 models of Canadian firearms newly labeled as “assault-style.” At the time, the government projected it would cost $200 million to compensate lawful firearms owners for forcibly taking their legally purchased and owned property from them through a forced buyback initiative.
More than five years later, according to a departmental plan released by Public Safety Canada, the original $200 million cost estimate is now $459.8 million and climbing, yet only 12,195 firearms (less than 10 per cent of the targeted number) have been collected. The program has fallen so far behind schedule that private gun owners still cannot participate because only businesses that possess firearms are currently eligible. A notice on the program’s official website states: “The program is not yet available for individuals.”
The Government of Ontario has said they will not divert stretched policing resources to cooperate with this initiative because of the fundamental flaws of the design of the program and the clear ineffectiveness of the policy in fighting gun crime. As noted by Ontario’s solicitor general, more than 90 per cent of guns used in crimes are illegally imported into Ontario from the United States and this program diverts vast financial and policing resources towards something that does not make the public safer. The lawful ownership of well-regulated firearms by law-abiding Canadians who are also heavily regulated and screened in the process of the privilege to purchase and own a firearm is not the reason for gun violence.
Further, the National Police Federation — which represents 20,000 RCMP members — has said the buyback policy is a “misdirected effort when it comes to public safety.” The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association, which represents firearms retailers, said it will have “zero involvement” in helping confiscate these firearms. And Canada Post, which is tasked by the current policy with receiving and warehousing firearms all across the country, wants nothing to do with the program because of fear of conflicts between their staff and gun owners and the ability of their facilities to safely store potentially hundreds of weapons in their facilities all across Canada.
The policy is in shambles, it lacks any operational common sense, there is no evidence of it contributing in any way to better public safety, stakeholders are opposed to the approach and the financial costs are spiralling out of control. This policy is begging to be abandoned by Prime Minister Carney’s government.