On May 1, 2020, almost 2 years ago, the federal government banned hundreds of thousands of hunting firearms, claiming they were assault-style weapons by Order-in-Council (SOR/2020-96). For owners of newly prohibited firearms with a valid registration certificate on April 30, 2020, the government established an amnesty period and promised a buyback program.
The amnesty established for legal owners of these newly prohibited firearms will expire on April 30, 2022.
Be aware | To avoid jail, owners and businesses must surrender their newly prohibited firearms by 30 April 2022.
However, the government has yet to announce a buyback program for the prohibited firearms or a method and destination of how and where to dispose of these prohibited firearms. Professor Gary Mauser of Simon Fraser University recently estimated the cost to the government for accepting the surrender of these firearms is several billions. Moreover, both the police and Canadian military have declined to participate in the surrender process. After their refusals, the government sent out a letter to gun businesses to request their participation. The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA, February Newsletter, 26 February 2022) has officially rejected this request as well, saying: “The truth is, we will not participate in the questionnaire at this time as we cannot compromise the legal challenge that is still going through court. We know that any businesses that participate in this questionnaire will surely be boycotted. Firearm businesses cannot afford that financial loss.”
An Injunction Application may be introduced in April 2022 to deal with the expiry of the amnesty if the government has not extended it by then.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), on May 1, 2020, the Government of Canada prohibited:
- nine (9) types of firearms, by make and model, and their variants; and
- firearms with a bore of 20 mm or greater, and those firearms capable of discharging a projectile with a muzzle energy greater than 10,000 Joules; and
- the upper receivers of M16, AR-10, AR-15 and M4 pattern firearms.
For more detailed information, please click here.
To raise your questions and concerns with the B.C. Wildlife Federation’s Firearms Committee, please email: communications@bcwf.bc.ca