Alberta CFO Sent This Letter to ATRS Ordering Business Shutdown

Reading Time: 2 minutes

(Update Dec. 1: Adds RCMP comment.)

TheGunBlog.ca — Alberta’s Chief Firearms Office, a unit of Canada’s federal police, ordered Alberta Tactical Rifle Supply to stop making, selling or advertising its rifles, jeopardizing the company’s existence and leading to a lawsuit.

Ken Dobie, a firearms officer with the Edmonton-based regulator, signed the three-page letter dated Oct. 30, according to a PDF copy sent to TheGunBlog.ca today by ATRS.

We’ve published the letter below.

Context

  • The shutdown order from the Alberta CFO is part of the May 1 political attacks by Canada’s governing Liberal Party and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
  • The Liberals, supported by the RCMP, accused many of the country’s 4,500 federally licensed firearm businesses and 2.2 million licensed gun users of being threats to public safety.
  • They ordered the mass confiscation of suddenly prohibited rifles and shotguns by 30 April 2022, threatening jail to anyone who opts out.
  • Alberta’s government objects to the attacks. It’s preparing to replace the RCMP-appointed Alberta Chief Firearms Officer with a provincial appointee. Saskatchewan already has.
  • Companies and individuals are also fighting the crackdown. At least seven major cases are in Federal Court, and more than 120 are in provincial courts across the country.

Dobie Among Defendants

  • Calgary-based ATRS and its owner, Richard Timmins, named Dobie as one of five defendants in their Nov. 20 lawsuit in Federal Court. They’re seeking $70 million in damages.
  • Dobie declined to comment to TheGunBlog.ca today when reached by phone. He directed us to his employer, the Ottawa-based RCMP.

RCMP Comment

TheGunBlog.ca invited the RCMP to comment on the lawsuit and on why people and businesses it regards as threats to public safety aren’t being stopped immediately.

Update Dec. 1: “As this matter is currently before the courts, it would be inappropriate for the RCMP to comment at this time,” Caroline Duval, a spokeswoman for the federal agency, responded to TheGunBlog.ca on Dec. 1.

https://twitter.com/TheGunBlog/status/1333571794306027525

Alberta CFO Oct. 30 Letter to ATRS

TheGunBlog.ca blacked out Dobie’s e-mail and phone number.

Related