Canada Doubles Down On Gun Grab
By Chris Everett
SCI Chapter/Advocacy Services Specialist – Canada
Licensed firearms owners in Canada are in the bull’s-eye again.
On Dec. 16, in an economic statement, the Canadian Liberal Government promised $597.9 million over three years for a proposed gun confiscation.
In Canada, through successive changes, we have a licensing regime for firearms. Individuals must take the Canadian Firearms Safety Course to start the process. They must pass both a written test and a hands-on demonstration test with 80% to be considered a pass of the course.
The next step is to apply to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for a firearms license, share the course results, fill out any criminal or mental health history, sign off on a criminal records background check and have references and their spouse sign off on the application.
Once the background check is complete and the RCMP feels the individual can have a license, the license will be printed and sent to the individual.
Every day after that, the individual will undergo the continuous eligibility process where their name is compared to the criminal charges database.
If they’re charged with a criminal code offense, their license and firearms will be taken by police until the outcome of their court proceedings is concluded.
Then, five years later, they must apply for a license renewal and repeat the background check, mental health check, etc.
This is for hunting rifles and shotguns. If an individual wanted to own a handgun (which can only be used legally at a licensed gun range), they had to take an additional course for “Restricted Firearms” and apply for a license upgrade to include the “Restricted” class.
In 2020, in response to the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history, the Liberal government ordered the confiscation of 1,500 popular rifles and shotguns, including the AR-15.
They included the term “variant,” so firearms that the RCMP deemed to be variants of those 1,500 firearms would subsequently be banned as well.
In 2022, the Liberals tried to add all of the banned rifles and shotguns into the Criminal Code of Canada. They also added a definition of “assault-style firearms.”
While they backed down on adding the list of firearms to the Criminal Code, they moved forward on the “assault-style firearms” definition: centrefire, semi-automatic, that is designed to receive a magazine that can hold more than five cartridges and that was designed after the bill became law.
The Liberals also moved forward and passed a ban on handguns, only allowing those who already owned them to keep on possessing them, but they are not allowed to be sold, transferred or exported.
On Dec. 5, 2024, again in response to the 35th anniversary of a different mass shooting in Canada, the Liberals added a further 324 firearms and their variants to the list of banned firearms, bringing the total number of firearms banned to 2,420 makes and models of firearms.
These are all firearms that the Liberals deem to be “assault-style firearms” or weapons of war, but those who know firearms know that what they are targeting are modern sporting firearms that are not used in war, focusing on cosmetics and appearance rather than based on function.
Now, with the recent Fall Economic Statement, the Liberals are adding to the $100 million already spent on this scheme. Canadians know that spending almost $700 million to take firearms from licensed firearms owners will have zero impact on the gun violence that is plaguing our streets, and the money would be better spent on tangible efforts to target criminals and the illegal flow of firearms into our country.
If you are looking to travel to Canada on a hunt and are worried about what firearm you are able to bring, Armalytics has a great online tool to help you find out if your firearm is on the banned list. Visit armalytics.ca or search Armalytics in a search engine.
For more information about traveling with firearms, email SCI’s Barbara Crown at [email protected].