TheGunBlog.ca — Canada’s governing Liberal Party invited companies to join its attacks against government-licensed firearm users through an “Invitation To Qualify” to execute firearm confiscations.
Details
The invitation relates to the rifle and shotgun confiscations the Liberals ordered on 01 May 2020.
- It is dated 07 December at the administration’s business website, CanadaBuys.ca. The PDF with the details had zero downloads before TheGunBlog.ca published this report.
- The deadline to respond is 05 January 2024.
- The Liberals raised the number of rifles and shotguns they intend to confiscate by almost 50%, from 144,000 to as many as 215,000.
Why It Matters
- The invitation shows the Liberals are still clueless about how to execute their confiscation fantasy after more than five years of working on it.
- The document appears to have been drafted in a rush by someone unfamiliar with Canada’s firearm industry and laws, including regulations for the May 2020 confiscation order.
- It shows the Liberals continuing to waste money on a costly, dangerous, and widely opposed project that is unlikely to ever start.
Collect and Destroy
The Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) says in Section 1.2 on Page 3 of 37:
Purpose of this ITQ: The purpose of Phase II – ITQ is to qualify Suppliers that have the technical ability to collect, transport, validate, verify, provision of secured storage facilities and/or destroy firearms as part of the Firearms Buyback Program for Public Safety Canada (PS) for Businesses and Individuals.
A July 2022 Request for Information showed the Liberals sought to make the firearms inoperable at confiscation time. That condition appears to be removed, opening the door to dishonest confiscation agents funneling seized guns to crime.
Liberals Raise Confiscation Goal By Almost 50%
Section 1.3 says:
The estimated volume of these firearms held by Businesses is within the range of 10,000 to 15,000, and the volume held by Individuals is within the range of 125,000 to 200,000. These estimates could vary as the number of affected non-restricted firearms is unknown.
- As recently as July, the Liberals had estimated the number of rifles and shotguns to be destroyed at 144,000, according to a document prepared for the incoming minister in charge of the crackdown.
- Industry estimated the number at 518,000, the Liberals said at the time.
Timeline Shows Liberals Are Clueless
The invitation shows the Liberals are still in the dark on how to start a plan they had aimed to complete by April 2022.
- Section 1.4 (b) says the Liberals will draft their formal Request for Proposals (RFP) based on responses to this invitation, if there are any.
- A table on Page 5 shows they want to finish drafting the RFPs in 2023. A table one page later puts the timing at Spring 2024.
- The invitation doesn’t mention how the Liberals will get our guns out of our gun safes and into the hands of confiscation agents, or how confiscation agents will violate provincial laws blocking confiscation.
| Description | Timeline |
| Phase II: Invitation to Qualify (Release) | Fall 2023 |
| Phase III: Draft RFP Businesses | Winter 2023 |
| Phase IV: Request for Proposal – Businesses | Winter 2023 |
| Phase V: Draft RFP Individuals | Spring 2024 |
| Phase VI: Request for Proposal – Individuals | Spring 2024 |
Risk of Blowback
The Liberals said they will hide the identity of businesses who apply to join the crackdown to shield them from blowback. A previous confiscation-related contract was aborted after public pressure against a company involved in the scheme.
“… Canada will be applying measures surrounding the protection of the vendors identity in order to ensure vendors do not face reprisals or retaliation,” the document said in Section 1.3 (h).
Costly Theatre
The entire confiscation program is mostly theatre at this point.
- The deadline to comply is after the next election.
- Many people expect the Conservative Party to win and to scrap the confiscation effort.
- Many gun owners intend to keep their gear regardless.
The theatre comes at a high cost: criminalizing hundreds of thousands of honest citizens, promising to seize our valuable belongings, undermining personal safety and national security, destroying trust in government and police, and fueling hostility towards politicians.
‘Invitation to Qualify’ to Execute Crackdown (PDF)
Related
- Gun Owners Appeal Federal Court’s Validation of Liberal Confiscations
- Liberals Extend Deadline Again for Their Failing Firearm-Confiscation Fantasy
- Liberals Estimated Gun-Confiscation Costs at $1.8 Billion in 2019 Briefing
- Liberal Gun Bans
Correction
- Corrects closing date.