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TheGunBlog.ca — The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association said the government is canceling most of its contract for the Liberal Party’s mass gun confiscations over frustration with CSAAA pointing out flaws with the crackdown.
The main group for the firearm industry will no longer collect or distribute data in an administrative role, but may still offer occasional consulting, CSAAA President Wes Winkel told TheGunBlog.ca on August 14. (Video Timestamp: 13:37)
Contract Reduced to Occasional Consulting
“They became frustrated with our inability to assist in providing solutions, but in our opinion there are no solutions, it’s just a deeply flawed idea,” Winkel said.
“We remain contracted with the government to provide feedback and consultation and industry standards and all the rest, but we’re no longer a part of the administrative part of it in terms of collecting data or distributing data on the government’s behalf,” he said. “They’ve basically canceled that portion of it.”
“Our understanding is that they’ve found a different way of doing things. They’ve found a firm that’s going to be handling their buyback and destruction program,” Winkel said.
Why It Matters
- The change is the latest setback for the Liberals since they ordered their attacks against government-licensed firearm users and businesses in May 2020. Almost every step in the effort has been abandoned or delayed, putting it on track to fail.
- CSAAA said in April 2023, more than two months after signing the $707,363 contract, that it did so to help firearm businesses recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory that the Liberals had suddenly made it a crime to sell.
- CSAAA and its member companies faced a backlash for participating in the crackdown, and several board members quit.
‘Amended Schedule of Deliverables’
Winkel told TheGunBlog.ca by phone today after we published this report that the government isn’t terminating the CSAAA contract officially, but changing it through an “amended schedule of deliverables.”
The new proposed terms were outlined in the spring and have yet to be signed.
Government Doesn’t Comment
The Ottawa-based Department of Public Safety, which is overseeing the confiscation effort, didn’t acknowledge or respond to e-mails from TheGunBlog.ca inviting comment.
- We contacted both the department’s media service and the press secretary in the minister’s office.
Firearm Market in ‘Most Difficult Period’
- The Liberal crackdown, combined with economic policies that spread poverty, have sapped many people’s desire to buy guns and gear, and sapped people’s ability to buy anything.
- The firearm market’s current drop is “the most difficult period” since Winkel entered the industry in 1995, he told TheGunBlog.ca.
- Gun imports plunged by 20% in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, and ammunition imports sank 16%. Almost every firearm and cartridge bought in Canada is imported.
Watch or Listen on Apple, Rumble and Spotify
You can watch or listen to our conversation with Winkel on these platforms:
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