(Update Dec. 8: Expands Blair quotes, adds context.)
TheGunBlog.ca — The Canadian government will order federally licensed firearm owners to surrender 250,000 of their hunting and sporting rifles “as quickly as possible,” Bill Blair, the minister for gun bans, told reporters yesterday.
It’s the first time the government said it will use an “order in council” by cabinet to initiate the mass confiscations against honest families and businesses.
‘As Quickly As Possible’
“We remain committed to moving forward,” Blair told reporters in Ottawa in a video shared by CTV News. “I don’t have a precise date, but we will do that at the earliest opportunity.”
The media scrum pressed him repeatedly to specify when he’ll publish the order in council with confiscation details.
“That’s work I’m currently undertaking, and as quickly as possible,” said Blair, whose official title is Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Failure, Opposition
He’s is in charge of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plans for the biggest gun bans in Canadian history.
The plans will fail because they lack any justification, any purpose, or any easy way to enforce. But they’re still hurting the firearm industry as shooters hold back from buying.
The measures also face growing opposition from firearm users backed by provincial premiers and others.
https://twitter.com/TheGunBlog/status/1203765636326973440
Made-Up Terms
Trudeau, Blair and their accomplices use the made-up terms of “military-style assault rifles” and “military-style assault weapons” to describe the hunting and sporting gear they want to confiscate from families and stores.
Bill Blair Quote
The prime minister was absolutely correct and forthright when he said it is our intention to bring forward the mechanism to prohibit military-style assault weapons.
And when that mechanism is brought forward by order in council, it’ll be very clear the weapons that will be included on that list, that will become prohibited, and there will be a clear articulation of the principles that were applied in determining what weapons should be on that list.
Source: CTV News video of Bill Blair speaking with reporters
250,000 Rifles
CBC News quoted Blair on Sept. 20 as saying licensed individuals own about 250,000 of the rifles he wants to confiscate.
1 Million Handguns
In addition to bans on owning those, Trudeau is working to allow municipalities to expel safe and responsible handgun owners through new prohibitions and restrictions on their roughly 1 million pistols and revolvers.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights mentioned the rifle bans by order in council yesterday.
In a media scrum today, on the 30th anniversary of the Polytechnique shooting in Montreal, Minister of Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair admitted the Liberal government will use an OIC to ban semi-auto hunting and sporting rifles.https://t.co/sY7K2glmwt pic.twitter.com/WEVXJeY1u5
— CCFR/CCDAF (@CCFR_CCDAF) December 6, 2019
Legitimacy, Ethics
Criminalizing honest men and women unless they surrender their gear raises critical questions of government accountability, legitimacy and ethics.
Doing so by executive decree is even more concerning.
Surrender or Jail
Trudeau said during the September-October election campaign that rifle owners will have two years to comply with his surrender order and be offered payment.
He didn’t say if owners would be allowed to use their firearms after he issues the ban order. Failing to obey a prohibition or confiscation order leads to jail.
Blair said the government is still working out how to administer the payment system.
It’s unclear how the government could change the legal status of AR-15 ownership using an order in council. Regulations designate the modern sporting rifle as “Restricted.”
https://twitter.com/TheGunBlog/status/1203071463164645376
Related
- Our page on Liberal Gun Bans
- CBC News (Dec. 6): Blair says prohibited gun list coming ‘as quickly as possible’