The federal government is extending an amnesty for owners of banned firearms while a legal battle plays out at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Over the last six years, Ottawa has outlawed about 2,500 types of firearms, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14, on the basis they belong only on the battlefield.
The government previously said prohibited firearms must be disposed of or deactivated by the end of an amnesty period on Oct. 30.
In March, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal challenging the initial federal firearm prohibitions, announced in May 2020.
The government now says the amnesty has been extended until 90 days after the Supreme Court delivers its decision, which is expected next year.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in an interview Tuesday the government felt it was appropriate to extend the amnesty order “out of respect for the court, out of respect for firearms owners.”
“We still maintain that our position is strong, and we have every confidence that we will be successful in overcoming” the court challenge, he added.
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The groups PolySeSouvient and the National Association of Women and the Law, which have pressed for stricter gun laws, expressed disappointment Tuesday over the amnesty extension.
PolySeSouvient said in a media statement it is particularly troubling that Anandasangaree chose to act pre-emptively — before any injunction request was filed by the gun lobby, and well before any ruling from the Supreme Court.
“This extension means that highly lethal, prohibited weapons will remain in private hands for many more months,” the group said.
Ottawa says the new amnesty expiry date does not affect a federal compensation program for owners of banned guns, which is expected to wrap up by October.
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More than 142,000 firearms have been declared, collected or destroyed under the program for individuals and businesses, Public Safety Canada said in a media statement Tuesday.
The collection and compensation processes are well underway in various areas across the country and will continue through early fall, the statement said.
“Final total numbers of firearms collected and compensation amounts will be available after the program is completed,” it added.
I am an advocate; “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. Killers get guns from the US and if they cannot buy a gun they will find another type of weapon to do their deed. If the anti-gun legislators want to reduce the number of gun deaths they should advocate for a ban on ammunition! It will likely be as effective as the present gun control but W-O-T-H.
The Government started the system to placate the population who screamed the loudest. We missed the train because we didn’t speak out when the issue first arose.
If the Liberal government was truly interested in stopping the killing of Canadians with deadly weapons, they would never have allowed the COVID injection to be authorized for use. The injection has harmed countless Canadians and killed thousands. Leave the gun owners alone and address the greatest source of maiming and killing.
Look to britain so see your and your children’s future. Do you really want to be unable to defend yourself or them?
When has a people allowing themselves to be disarmed led to the betterment of their lives?
Out of respect for gun owners says the CLOWN Gary Anandasangaree!! How about ‘out of respect for legal, law abiding citizens’ you go Efffff yourself you incompetent moron
There hasn’t been a gun designed for the “battle field” sold in Canada in over 80 years. Handgun registration became law in 1934, and automatic firearms registration was added in 1951. EVERY GUN ON THE LIST IS A HUNTING RIFLE NOT SUITABLE FOR BATTLE. YOUR GOVERNMENT IS STRAIGHT UP LIEING TO YOU BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF US.
I like how the public safety minister was caught on an undercover audio recording admitting the whole purpose of the buyback was to gain votes in urban Quebec and won’t address any real crime.
The public safety minister literally admitted that and global news didn’t think they should include that in the article?
Typical liberal propaganda spreading garbage.
You didn’t think that was important?
Why didn’t you guys note that according to the government’s own stats 99.9% of Canadian homocides caused by firearm are caused by a CRIMINAL with an ILLEGAL gun?
Why didn’t you guys detail in the article how all these firearms were inspected by RCMP, deemed perfectly legal for Canadian firearms owners and all legally purchased?
Why didn’t you guys mention that the public safety minister was caught on an undercover microphone admitting the entire “buyback” was to gain votes in urban Quebec?
Why didn’t you mention assault rifles were banned in the 1970’s in Canada and now they want assault “style” guns banned despite them functioning no different than any other legal firearm available?
Absolutely terrible, embarassing, reporting.
And ban all sports cars and cars that look Racey. They belong only on race tracks.
Guns dont kill people people kill people. Other countries are coming to take our land from us and these unintelligent vegans think we should give all our guns up but a single shot rifle. Give your head a shake. When our entire country doesn’t have enough military to defend a fisher price house and you want to take your citizens guns away? You live in a world where war is coming to us whether we like it or not and you think the best thing we can do is disarm our citizens? These people pushing these laws should be the first ones hung if they get away with disarming their own country to support the enemy. Wake the eff up and look at sweden did they take all their guns away? No they gave all their people arms, bullets and training. Intersting that they have not been attacked through the last century? You think that’s a coincidence? Wake up you are going to weaken this country to the point we wont have a single chance of keeping our land in the 2030s. Time to wake up and kiss the American flag and your freedom goodbye.
PolySeSouvient can go screw themselves, I don’t know of a single firearm owner that will be giving up thier guns, before or after the amnesty. Liberals can also screw themselves as well.
Only fools surrender their firearms to politicians
The most stupid line yet in an article
“They belong on the battlefield”
You would not last 2 seconds
Gary, the poster child for liberal incompetence
A waste of tax payers money. How many deaths are attributed to car accidents? How many deaths are attributed to stabbings and knives? How many violent crimes are attributed to law abiding gun owners?
See how stupid This gun buyback is ! Criminals are not going to turn in there illegal weapons…. Duh
Only certain races should be banned from owning them, like muslims or the chugs.
Your figures are wrong .. only 68,717 firearms were declared out of approx 142,000 they were expecting. The 142,000 is only a small percentage of the actual firearms in Canadian hands that the compensation program applies to
Even legal gun owners are more apt to refrain from using them during break ins and robberies. Meanwhile 3D printers are a free for all at your local Office Depot store.
Stupidest rule to hand down on gun owners. What’s the plan when war comes to Canada ? Are you dummies going to make an offer like Ukraine did by allowing anyone who wants a 12 guage can get one free at this point ?? Stupid dummies to diss arm your country
jv– you are not the brightest bulb in the pack are you???
you want Canada to be full out communist treating people babies?? if they where to ban knives from fist nations how would they cut up their food?? would they have to chew the meat off the bone like a wild coyote ?? even cave man made knives out of objects lol
first communism then the new world order
Everything about the gun bans leads me to believe the motivations have nothing to do with making streets safer. The man behind all of it was connected to Indias terror groups and is now in our government telling us how to live. Naturally, a criminal wants to make sure citizens do not own anything that could be used for self defence.
Not many of the banned weapons were military grade to begin with. They are sporting rifles or largely small calibre and just look scary because movies have told people to be afraid. In fact, Ukraine rejected the offer by our government to use the confiscated guns to fight in the war with Russia.
Canada should ban First Nations from owning knives as well. The James Smith Cree Nation massacre is more than enough evidence that we should not be allowed to have any weapons whatsoever
Why did you not have a comment from some of the pro gun lobby, since you quoted the anti gun lobby
Trudeau bans semi automatic rifles because of their appearance and the Liberals applaud thinking they are the equivalent of military grade select fire combat arms.
Then the bumbling fool invites all kinds of trash into the country,they arm up with illegally obtained weapons and start shooting up houses for extortion.
The ignorance of this is beyond description but fully and completely Liberal .
See JVs post below for more vapid Liberal interjection
Also im a legal gun owner and have hand guns but now I can’t sell them to other legal restricted license holder that is so ridiculous. Legal gun owners are not criminals stop treating us like we are
I have 2 unrestricted, 3 restricted and 0 prohibited guns. I’ve had a PAL since the 1980’s. My brother-in-law is a cop. I don’t want him to have to try to decide on the spot if a gun is “military grade” or just a “sporting rifle”. I’m fine with banning the lookalikes.
I get it that urban people are terrified of guns. There are probably hundreds of thousands of illegal guns all around us on the streets, so sure be scared. But the aspect that is ignored in public discourse and the media is that the only thing that has deterred the USA from bullying Canada over the last couple centuries is that we have an armed public. The Canadian Army is irrelevant, and if the US tried to “liberate” part of southern Alberta, the international would not do anything, just like they found excuses to do nothing in Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Gaza. Who is going to risk economic ruin, voters wrath, and possible causalities to get between the US and Canada in a brief spat? The UK didn’t even respond when the US started calling us the 51st state. Whatever reason the US gives, the world will comply to.
So a real deterrent to US intervention in Canada is that they know if even 20 US soldiers died in Canada, even if a thousand Canadians die, they’ll have to explain to an angry public why everyone if those Americans died fighting Canadians. It only took 2,000 US deaths to get them out of Afghanistan against a legitimate enemy and threat, so I imagine there is absolutely zero appetite for conflict against a neighbour who is armed
JV is the type of if person when asked what AR stands for in AR15 would answer assault rifle. Uneducated comment from an uneducated person. I feel bad for you JV.
We’re spending enormous time and taxpayer money targeting the wrong people. Law-abiding firearms owners are among the most scrutinized citizens in Canada, yet policy continues to focus on them rather than on criminals who ignore firearm laws entirely.
A firearm on its own is not a threat. The real issue is the individual intent on causing harm. Someone determined to commit violence will use whatever means are available. Extending amnesties and expanding bans may create the appearance of action, but they do little to address the root causes of crime or the people actually responsible for it.
Too many Canadians have been conditioned to see the firearm itself as the problem, rather than focusing on criminal behaviour and public safety measures that target offenders. Heaven forbid Canadians exercise common logic
Question for JV:
Have you ever legally and responsibly owned and used a .22 or a 12 gauge? Have you ever been a member of a sport shooting club, with proper licencing and unsurpassed focus on safety?
I have, and am a member in good standing of such club, and practice regularly (you should see my grouping!).
You assume all legal gun owners are some backwater hicks who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.
Maybe do some actual research into the sports shooting communities before you post another idiotic comment alleging we’re all some”right wing” bunch.
In case you missed the plethora of news, so far, it’s the incels and trans’d whackjobs that go on shooting school kids.
If there was a problem with gun owners and “Joe Schmo with a chip on his shoulder” you would know about it.
Except the millions of gun owners in Canada that are the most law abiding (at least the ones that make sense) and patriotic bunch of folks out there arent going to do anything.
Well this story got pushed way down fast.
JV there is unhinged like most of the gun grabbing crowd.
The goverment banned scary looking 22s, airsoft toys, and anything else that the pearl clutching types are terrfied of in the GTA, Nova Scotia, and the lower mainland.
Assault rifles were all banned decades ago. this is about pandering to the scared old ladies and citidiots that think the police are there to protect them.
As the saying goes, if the govermnet wants your guns, they are planning on doing something to you that you would need to defend yourself from.
These are weapons designed for war. Not some Joe Shmo with a chip on his shoulder that thinks he’s right about everything and believes in right wing conspiracy theories… AKA 99% of the people that want to own weapons like this. These are exactly the type of goofs that shouldn’t have access to these types of weapons