“They’re saying by the end of October of 2023, they want to have this wrapped up. I don’t see that. I just don’t see that happening.”
REGINA POLICE CHIEF EVAN BRAY
TheGunBlog.ca – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wish to confiscate many popular rifles and shotguns by October 2023 will fail, Regina Police Chief Evan Bray told John Gormley of CKOM radio last week.
No Plan
“They’re saying by the end of October of 2023, they want to have this wrapped up,” Bray told Gormley on October 19. “I don’t see that. I just don’t see that happening. They still really don’t have a plan in how this is going to roll out.”
Context
- Trudeau ordered his arbitrary crackdown against hundreds of thousands of government-licensed firearm owners in May 2020.
- He faces massive opposition from gun owners, provincial premiers, and police, in addition to logistical, financial and political obstacles.
- He extended the deadline to October 2023 after his initial plan failed.
500 More Models
Bray, the co-chair of a special firearm committee for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, also said Trudeau will expand his seizures to about 2,000 models of rifle and shotgun from the original estimate of 1,500 models.
“It’s quite a wicked web, and it’s a long way from being resolved, and I expect that we’re going to see that date pushed out substantially.”
Regina Police Chief Evan Bray
From CKOM
Transcript
Following is a partial transcript by TheGunBlog.ca of Bray’s comments. We added the links.
Gormley: Let’s start on the whole government ban, May 01, 2020, of these 1,500 models of firearms. Where does that sit now?
Bray: First of all, I just was informed in a call the other day it’s closer to 2,000 styles of firearms that are going to be included in this brand — this ban, rather. So that in and of itself gets very complicated because you end up looking at the characteristics of the firearms, and I think people would be shocked to know how many would be covered under that ban.
But I think it’s fair to say that we are still a long ways from this rolling out, even though I know there’s some finite dates out there.
They’re saying by the end of October of 2023, they want to have this wrapped up. I don’t see that. I just don’t see that happening. They still really don’t have a plan in how this is going to roll out.
And as you probably know, our province, through Minister Christine Tell, Corrections and Policing, have written a letter saying that they are not wanting provincially funded police resources to be used in the administrative part of this, which is the collection of these guns during this whole process.
So it’s quite complicated. I’ve had meetings as recent as yesterday on this issue with people from the federal government, and they still don’t know how exactly this is going to roll out.
If you own one of these guns that is going to be prohibited and that you have to turn it in, there’s a whole bunch of things, including agreeing on the price that it will be bought for by the federal government, and that in and of itself is a bit a nightmare.
Maybe I’m probably being too editorial on that, but they don’t have a consistent price-setting process, and that’s causing firearm owners a lot of concern.
Because if you spent $2,000 on a firearm and now the government wants to buy it back for $750, there’s a lot of people that are going to say, “Well, I don’t like that idea. I’m not going to do it.”
Well then if and when the amnesty period ends, are you a criminal automatically because you didn’t abide by that? And what’s the expectation of police?
So I feel like I could talk for four hours on just this topic.
It’s quite a wicked web, and it’s a long way from being resolved, and I expect that we’re going to see that date pushed out substantially.
Gormley: … What’s the challenge?
Bray: … Most of the challenges we have with firearms in our communities being used in crime and for illegal purposes are not by law-abiding gun owners. We have to recognize that.
So when you’re talking anything from a firearm registry to a buyback to a handgun freeze to whatever, you’re appealing and you’re relying on law-abiding people to follow the law. We know criminals aren’t going to follow the law. So that is the frustrating part of this.
…
I think the challenge for police right now is trying not to get tangled up in a deep administrative process that ties up already strapped resources. We’re already having a challenge meeting the demands of our communities. Doesn’t matter if it’s Saskatoon Police, Regina Police, or the RCMP. We’re busy.
And so having to go out and collect what is going to be thousands of firearms in our province is gong to be an administrative challenge, and we’re not really confident that we’re set up to do it.
But then the real problem and challenge comes in once the amnesty period is over. And so, who hasn’t turned in those guns? And what are the expectations on police to go out and knock on doors, and ultimately retrieve these guns? Which is not going to be a fun or easy task, and something that I think we’re going to have to just look at in terms of: here’s all of the things that we have to do, and where does it fit on the priority scale?
…
We’ve had, again, recent meetings with the government on this. They’re still in the consultation phase, even though there’s heavy pressure to start rolling this out as soon as possible, they’re still trying to figure out a way that they could do it.
At one time, they were thinking that people could voluntarily declare: “I have one of these guns. Yes, I will sell it to you, federal government. I’m putting it in a box and I’m shipping it to you, and you can send me the cheque.”
And so a process like that, although maybe in our heads it sounds crazy that that could work, certainly would at least take the police or any agency out of doing the administrative collection of these guns, which is not going to be a fun task.
And I can tell you as a police chief, it’s not something that I want to prioritize my members to do.