By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Just to legally own a firearm in Canada, citizens must first pass government-approved firearms training. They can then apply in writing for a federal gun license, which has its own hazards. The application process requires citizens to list every “conjugal relationship” they have had in the past two years. Of course, any previous sexual partner can stop the entire firearm application cold. And then there’s a massive and invasive background check.
Any American gun owner would scream just at this, but for gun-owning Canadians, things may soon get a whole lot worse.
The Canadian government has been struggling to implement a complex and convoluted national gun confiscation plan, which only one of its 10 provinces and three territories—Quebec—actually supports.
The confiscation plan was first announced in 2020 by Canada’s famously flamboyant former prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who quickly divorced his wife after leaving office last year and started dating American songstress Katy Perry.
Trudeau’s “plan,” for lack of a better word, is a crazy amalgamation of liberal ideals—there were once more than a dozen government websites both touting and trying to explain the ban.
As it stands now, the Canadian government calls their national confiscation plan a gun buyback, but of course they don’t guarantee any Canadian dollars for anyone who participates and actually turns in their arms.
“Please note that submitting a declaration does not guarantee you will receive compensation,” one of the government’s websites actually states.
It’s not too difficult to guess exactly what Canada’s liberal government wants to ban. Since 2020, they’ve compiled a list of 2,500 specific firearms they are seeking to make illegal. ARs of all types, of course, top the list.
Canadians have until March 31 to file their firearm declarations via a government website, but if they wait, they will lose amnesty for possessing banned firearm on Oct. 30th, the website states.
The Canadian government actually tested a pilot program last fall in a small area of Nova Scotia. They expected that residents would turn in around 200 banned firearms. Instead, only 16 people took part and surrendered only 25 guns.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, who has been overseeing the new gun-ban program, has a habit of not watching his mouth.
At a news conference last week, Anandasangaree warned the public that “the compensation program is voluntary, but compliance with the law is not.”
However, during a radio interview just four months ago, Anandasangaree told a friend that he “shouldn’t worry about being arrested for refusing to turn in a banned firearm because municipal police have few resources to devote to such matters.”
The minister quickly sent out a press release, which described his own comments as “misguided.”
Canadian gun owners are somewhat optimistic because their government’s gun ban plan is so complex and confusing.
One pro-gun Canadian website— TheGunBlog.ca—believes they may be in the clear, and that the gun ban may not even happen.
“After more than five years of work, all they have is a website,” the site published.
Compensation
The Canadian government needs 52 pages to list the firearms they have banned and the individual amounts they will supposedly pay if the guns are turned in.
Quite frankly, the list is a mess. Evidently, its authors have never heard of alphabetical order. The firearms are listed in order of what the government will supposedly pay for the guns when they’re turned in. If anyone actually wants to see what the government will pay for their own firearms, good luck. You likely won’t find it on their confusing list.
The compensation, which even the Canadian government says is not guaranteed, starts low at $150 Canadian dollars offered for a full-auto submachinegun known as a GM-16. It ends at $9,945 with a list of CheyTac and other precision rifles, which cost much more.
Hundreds of firearms have no government price listed. Instead, users are told to call the program’s contact center for information about what the government will pay. This unpriced list includes bolt-action rifles such as the Weatherby Mark V and even Smith & Wesson’s M&P 15-22.
Takeaways
One thing about the Canadian gun ban is crystal clear: No one who knows anything about firearms participated in creating the program.
While we in the States may giggle about what the Canadian gun owners are going though, it’s certainly not recommended.
Our Second Amendment needs continuous safeguarding and constant oversight, or we too could someday be told to turn in our firearms. Four years of the Biden regime made this crystal clear.
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