TheGunBlog.ca — Almost all the gun owners targeted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s May 2020 mass criminalizations rejected his confiscation order and kept their firearms, according to new government data.
Details
- Total Guns Confiscated or Destroyed: 175 out of 150,000+ rifles and shotguns
- Surrendered to Police for Destruction: 153
- Destroyed Through So-Called “Deactivation”: 22 out of an estimated 110,000 firearms previously labelled as “Restricted.”
- Date: Data valid as of 08 March 2022
- Source: Department of Public Safety, Response to TheGunBlog.ca, 21 March 2022
Why It Matters
- Gun Owners Win. Honest gun owners and businesses won at least an interim victory by rejecting or ignoring Trudeau’s political attacks.
- Trudeau Loses. The mass opt-out led Trudeau’s original plan to fail. He delayed his confiscation deadline last week as he struggles to execute his seizures.
- More Than 99.8% Rejection. Even if each firearm were surrendered by a single owner, that would mean more than 99.8% of owners opted out of the confiscations. (175 people out of an estimated 100,000 – 200,000 people targeted = Less than 0.2% participation.)
More Context
- The newest data confirm a December report by iPolitics showing the near-total refusal by gun owners to surrender our gear.
- Some owners are waiting for Trudeau’s promised compensation for confiscation victims. Others intend to keep their gear.
- TheGunBlog.ca asked the Ottawa-based Department of Public Safety, which is managing the crackdown, for more info last week after Trudeau extended the deadline to complete his crackdown.
Government Response
Following is a response to TheGunBlog.ca by Nic Defalco, a spokesperson for Public Safety. He replied to our questions by e-mail on March 21.
- Besides the new data on how few people surrendered their firearms, much of the response is similar to government comments on March 16.
As of March 8, 2022, the Canadian Firearms Program can confirm that 153 firearms affected by the Order in Council (OIC) have been surrendered to a public agency for destruction since May 1, 2020. In addition, 22 OIC-affected firearms (formerly classified as restricted) have been deactivated.
On March 16, the Government of Canada announced amendments to the Amnesty Order. These amendments include the extension of the Amnesty Order to October 30, 2023 to allow the Government time to implement the mandatory disposal program and to protect firearms owners as they come into compliance with the law.
These amendments are informed by public reactions and communications from stakeholders (for example, firearms associations and owners) following the May 1, 2020 regulatory changes. In addition to the change from a voluntary to mandatory buyback program, firearms owners, businesses and other groups brought forward specific concerns with the Amnesty Order, such as the ability for an owner to change the storage location of their firearm when moving residences, and transporting their firearms for sighting and repair to support sustenance hunters and Indigenous peoples exercising an Aboriginal treaty right to hunt. These have been addressed in the amended Amnesty Order.
The Government is moving forward with its broader firearms agenda, including launching a buyback program in early 2023 for firearms prohibited under the ongoing Amnesty Order.
Affected owners of firearms prohibited on May 1, 2020 must continue to keep the firearms securely stored in accordance with the legal storage requirements for the classification of the firearm prior to its prohibition. During the amnesty period, these firearms cannot be legally used, sold or imported (with some exceptions such as exercising an Aboriginal treaty right to hunt), and can only be transported or transferred within Canada in limited circumstances such as returning the firearm to the residence of the legal owner, surrendering to police without compensation, deactivating the firearm, or exporting the firearm provided the owner has a valid export permit.
The program will offer fair compensation while removing the prohibited firearms from our communities. Further information on the design of the buyback program, including compensation, will be communicated in due course.
Source: Department of Public Safety, Response to TheGunBlog.ca, 21 March 2022