After years of delays and millions of dollars in misspent money, the Liberal government is getting ready to launch its first gun "buyback" since banning the vast majority of semi-automatic firearms back in 2022.
The Liberals are starting their compensated confiscation efforts with what's being described as a "pilot project" in Nova Scotia.
The pilot will be open to eligible gun owners in select areas of Cape Breton to ensure it runs smoothly before being launched across the country.
Firearms owners can access a web portal as of Oct. 1 to file a declaration of interest.
Participants may either deactivate their firearm using a licensed gunsmith or return it to police.
"You cannot be serious about being tough on crime if you're not willing to be tough on guns," Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told media Tuesday on Parliament Hill. "This program is part of that solution."
By that logic, you can't be serious about cracking down on drunk driving if you're not willing to be tough on alcohol. You can't be serious about being tough on obesity without being tough on forks and knives. And you can't be serious about getting tough on human traffickers if you're not wilin to be tough on smartphones and social media.
The vast majority of Canadian gun owners, including those who own these "assault-style" firearms, will never commit a criminal act with them. So what good does it do to "get tough" on them? It gives Liberals the ability to say they're "doing something", and when that something doesn't work it gives them an excuse to once again target lawful gun owners with even more draconian legislation.
Gun control group PolySeSouvient says the latest phase of the buyback will be a waste of money unless it includes prohibition of the semi-automatic SKS rifle, which is not among the banned firearms.
The SKS is commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food. It has also been used in police killings and other high-profile shootings. Officials are reviewing the firearm's classification.
"We understand the concerns over the SKS," Anandasangaree said. He added that ongoing consultations include Indigenous Peoples for whom "hunting is very much central to their way of life."
They haven't even accomplished their current compensated confiscation scheme, yet they're already looking at ways to ban even more firearms.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights said the Liberals are wasting "a tremendous amount of money at a time when Canada can least afford it."
The government of Alberta was also quick to condemn the new pilot. In a media statement, Alberta's Minister of Justice Mickey Amery and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis called it an attack on "law-abiding firearms owners" that "does not address the spike in illegal gun crime under the federal Liberal government."
“Simply put, Alberta’s government will not be enforcing this gun grab, and we will make clear to law enforcement that this is not an enforcement priority," they wrote. "We expect them to focus their time and resources on real provincial policing priorities — like violent criminals, not hunters and sport shooters."
It's good to know that our northern neighbor has some politicians with common sense. Unfortunately, officials in Nova Scotia appear to be fully backing the government's confiscation efforts, with Chief Robert Walsh of the Cape Breton regional police telling reporters the compensated confiscation scheme is "about public safety and security of our communities and putting the protections in place to prevent further victimization and tragedy from gun violence."
And when violent criminals continue to illicitly acquire guns and ammunition, what will Canada ban next? When a madman uses his truck to run down a crowd of pedestrians or festival goers in an act of nihilistic or politically motivated murder, will Liberals demand a return to the horse and buggy? There's no such thing as banning your way to safety, but the Liberals (and the voters who kept them in office in the most recent election) refuse to learn that lesson.
NRA's Institute for Legislative Action also notes that the Canadian government is downplaying the fact that gun owners who don't give up their now-banned firearms are placing themselves in legal jeopardy.
In a September 10 interview with Alberta podcaster Ryan Jespersen, Prime Minister Mark Carney went so far as to describe the scheme as “voluntary.” “This is not about confiscation,” Carney said. “This is about voluntary return of firearms for compensation…We’re not confiscating guns. People aren’t going around confiscating guns. …That is a mischaracterization. What it is, is an opportunity for Canadians to return guns for compensation.”
A day later, a Juno News reporter asked the latest federal Public Safety Minister, Gary Anandasangaree (who oversees the department responsible for implementing the gun ban and confiscation law) about the Prime Minister’s comments. Anandasangaree agreed with Carney and said, moreover, that “it’s always been voluntary.”
As NRA-ILA notes, "the Public Safety Canada website on the now-prohibited firearms states, unequivocally, that... the “Government will not provide any option for owners to grandfather these weapons as it intends to bring forward a mandatory buyback program.”
Have you ever heard of a voluntary scheme that's also mandatory? Yeah, me either. Canada's gun confiscation efforts are bad enough, but the fact that the Liberal government apparently thinks the Canadian public is too stupid to understand how the gun ban works is even worse.
Editor’s Note: Unlike the U.S., Canada has not right to keep and bear arms in its framework of government.
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