Then Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 13, 2023. (screen shot, ParlVU)
The Liberal government has announced a ban of more than 300 additional makes and models of firearms, one day before the anniversary of the massacre at École Polytechnique de Montréal.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Dec. 5 that the new list of firearms is in addition to the 1,500 models banned in 2020, which he said are models that are “made for battlefields, not for hunting.” He said these additional 324 gun models were identified following consultation with experts from the RCMP.
“This means these firearms can no longer be legally used, sold, or imported in Canada, and can only be transferred or transported under extremely limited circumstances,” LeBlanc said.
The new measures are effective immediately, and existing owners of these newly banned models have until Oct. 30, 2025, to comply, using the buyback program.
Ottawa is also working to identify whether some of the banned guns can be donated to Ukraine to aid in their war against Russia, LeBlanc said.
The Dec. 6, 1989, École Polytechnique de Montréal massacre involved a gunman killing 14 women and injuring 13 others at the Montreal university.
Gun Control Legislation
The government announced a slew of gun-control measures as part of Bill C-21 in February 2021, which sought to enshrine into law a ban on what the government calls “assault-style” firearms, defined by the legislation as guns that are semi-automatic with centre-fire ammunition and designed to hold a magazine of six or more cartridges. The government had sought to use a definition that would have added more guns to the banned list, but abandoned the plan in early 2023 after backlash from opposition parties and First Nations members concerned that the expanded ban would limit hunting guns.
The legislation, adopted in December 2023, also imposes a national freeze on the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns in Canada. The measures also include “red and yellow flag” provisions, which allow individuals to ask a court to temporarily remove guns from an owner if they pose a risk to themselves or others, or for a chief firearms officer to do so for 30 days. The new law also increased penalties for firearms smuggling and trafficking.
The government says it is working with provinces, territories, and law enforcement on the buyback program.
Some provinces, including Alberta and Saskatchewan, have opposed the federal government’s ban, saying they will not allow provincial resources to be used for the federal government’s buyback program.
“The Trudeau government needs to understand: law-abiding gun owners are not the problem,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in 2020 after the initial list of banned guns was announced.
The first phase of the firearms buyback has already begun, involving businesses and the industry returning their firearms for compensation. While Ottawa recently brought in new regulations allowing Canada Post to store and transport firearms as part of the buyback, the Crown Corporation has repeatedly said it will not participate in the second phase of the program involving collecting individuals’ firearms due to employee safety concerns.