TheGunBlog.ca — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will update Bill C-21, a draft anti-gun law he proposed this week, to expand the confiscations he began in May 2020 targeting government-licensed rifle and shotgun owners.
Details
Marco Mendicino, Trudeau’s minister overseeing the legislative and regulatory attacks, outlined the plan at a media briefing on Monday May 30 in comments that many people missed.
The two Liberal Party politicians were presenting Bill C-21 and other measures to suppress licensed firearm users and businesses. Those include Trudeau’s May 2020 Order in Council (OIC) to confiscate hundreds of thousands of AR-15 and other rifles and shotguns.
The Liberals refer to their promise to offer payment to confiscation victims as “buy back.”
“We recognize the need to ensure a comprehensive ban on assault firearms in the legislation, which is why our government is committed to adding this to our bill through an amendment.”
Marco Mendicino, 30 May 2022
Mendicino: Full Quote on Bill C-21 Amendment
The key sentence is at the end.
Bill C-21 builds on the action we’ve already taken.
As you heard the prime minister say, two years ago, we banned AR-15s and other assault-style weapons under the leadership of my friend and colleague, Bill Blair.
This important decision prohibited over 1,500 models of assault-style weapons. Since then, over 300 more have been added.
We also committed to a mandatory buyback program to get these weapons off of our streets once and for all.
And today, I can confirm the imminent launch of the initial phase of this program as we begin consultations with industry on compensation. And we intend to publish further details about the compensation system this summer.
The first AR-15s and other assault-style firearms will start to be bought back by the end of this year. It’s going to be hard, but we are going to get it done.
However, new specifications of assault-style firearms have entered the market that are not fully captured by the terms of the ban.
We recognize the need to ensure a comprehensive ban on assault firearms in the legislation, which is why our government is committed to adding this to our bill through an amendment.
Source: Minister Marco Mendicino, Media Briefing, 30 May 2022
Analysis
- TheGunBlog.ca doesn’t have further details on the planned Bill C-21 amendment.
- We couldn’t find any clues in the documents shared with the media, in Trudeau’s news release, or on the government’s Bill C-21 webpage.
- It is unclear why the amendment isn’t part of Bill C-21 as introduced this week.
- We believe/guess the amendment will target government licensed-owners of mostly semi-automatic “Non-Restricted” rifles and shotguns, such as:
- Benelli R1
- Beretta CX-4 Storm
- FN-FNAR
- Freedom Ordnance FX-9
- Keltec (Many Models)
- Tavor, X95, Tavor 7
- Kodiak Defence / Wolverine WK180-C
- Poly Technologies Type 81
- Norinco Type 97
- Wolverine WS-MCR
- SKS? In theory, the amendment could also target the owners of SKS rifles, the most-popular centrefire, semi-auto rifle in Canada. It has a legal label of “Non-Restricted.”