OTTAWA — The Liberals’ legislation to tighten gun restrictions started out as a bill largely focused on banning handguns.
Then, it expanded into a sweeping ban on hundreds of long guns so broadly seen as a direct attack on hunters and sport shooters that the Liberals simply had to walk that aspect back.
Now, in the version of C-21 they hope to pass before summer, the Liberals are promoting an additional showpiece: measures to crack down on the untraceable weapons known as “ghost guns.”
1st National Day Against Gun Violence to be marked in Canada
The federal government is proclaiming a National Day Against Gun Violence, to be held annually on the first Friday of June.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and representatives of the Toronto Raptors basketball team are set to discuss the plans Thursday at an event in Toronto.
With Bill C-21 passing the House of Commons and going to the Senate, Canada could soon see what Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino calls “the most significant gun control legislation in Canada in a generation.”
The legislation, known as “An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments,” proposes a series of amendments to the Canadian Criminal Code, Firearms Act, and other federal legislation in order to fulfill the Liberal government’s commitments on gun control.
So-called ghost guns get a lot of press. I’ve pointed out more times than I care to count how the impact they have on crime is overstated significantly, but they’re still getting that press.
And, to be fair, if you believe you can keep guns out of some people’s hands via laws, homemade firearms represent a threat because they allow people to bypass the system put in place to keep guns away from certain parties.
The federal Liberal government’s gun control legislation Bill C-21 passed the House of Commons on Thursday.
While the majority of MPs voted to see the bill pass into the Senate, two Liberal MPs who represent northern ridings sided with the Conservatives in voting against the legislation.
The bill, which passed nearly a year after it was first introduced, had an acrimonious journey through the House, and was significantly expanded from what was initially tabled in May 2022.
As the Liberals’ controversial gun control bill saw itself forced out of committee early Friday morning, observers say the government’s attempt to hurry the nearly year-old bill to completion leaves behind too many concerning issues.
Firearms policy expert Tim Thurley expressed concern over the government’s application of time allocation rules that curtailed debate in favour of moving passage along.
“The federal government said they would ‘take the time to get it right,’ and took weeks to present a huge, brand-new amendment package that dramatically changes aspects of the bill,” he told the National Post.
Motions introduced Monday into the House of Commons on the government’s controversial firearms bill are engineered to limit debate and force it through the house, Conservative MPs allege.
Speaking to reporters outside of the House on Monday, Conservative Public Safety Critic Raquel Dancho said the motion was meant to move along the Trudeau Liberals’ stalled Bill C-21 and it wouldn’t have been introduced without help from the NDP.
The Liberal government is introducing a revised set of amendments to its pending gun legislation after dropping some initial changes that sparked outcry from firearm owners.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Tuesday the amendments to Bill C-21 include a new definition of prohibited firearms that encompasses certain “assault-style” rifles.
“These reforms are about keeping AR-15 assault-style firearms off of our streets while at the same time respecting gun owners,” he told a press conference.
When governments take private property, such takings are usually done to carry out some larger public project — like building roads and other infrastructure. Unlike property seizures of the past, the Trudeau Liberals’ gun confiscation (“buyback”) isn’t supporting some larger project for the benefit of the public. It’s a confiscation of private property for the sake of fulfilling a platform point.
Baz Kanda bought an AR-15 a few years ago, planning to participate in competitive shooting events. But since the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau banned a long list of firearms including the AR-15, Kanda has had to leave the country in order to train and compete in his sport.
From April 11 to 20, gun groups and owners were in Federal Court in Ottawa for an eight-day hearing after launching a court challenge against the government’s plan to bring in a gun ban through an order-in-council.
OTTAWA—The Liberals are dropping a plan to added hundreds of firearms to a list of banned weapons in Canada as part of their broader promise to tighten gun laws in Canada.
But they will try again to legislate a definition of what would constitute an illegal weapon in a move that is sure to reignite controversy around one of the most politically sensitive files on the government’s agenda.
The definition is expected to be part of a new package of amendments that could land within days as the legislative clock on the federal government’s latest effort to tighten gun laws — Bill C-21 — is running out.
Alberta Continues to Stand Against Justin Trudeau‘s Gun Control Push
Alberta is continuing its stand against PM Justin Trudeau’s gun control push by barring police and municipalities from participating and/or enforcing the gun controls without written permission from Alberta’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General Tyler Shandro.
Colorado-based Biofire Tech is taking orders for a smart gun enabled by facial-recognition technology, the latest development in personalised weapons that can only be fired by verified users.
But in a sign of the long, challenging road that smart guns have faced, a prototype twice failed to fire when demonstrated for Reuters this week.
When it comes to America’s vast gun culture, no weapon has become as ubiquitous – or controversial – as the AR-15, a gun that is both lauded as “America’s Rifle” and vilified as the weapon of choice for mass shooters.
The gun, early versions of which became available in the 1950s, is one of the most popular among American gun owners, with tens of millions currently in circulation. By some estimates, one in 20 Americans owns one. The popularity of the gun even prompted some conservative lawmakers to try to officially designate the AR-15 “the National Gun of the United States”.
It’s become virtually impossible to find reliable data or polling on gun violence these days. A new Kaiser Family Foundation report being shared by virtually every major media outlet this week offers us a good example of why. The headlines report that “1 in 5 adults” in the United States claim that a “family member” has been “killed” by a gun. And, let’s just say, that’s a highly dubious claim.
Manuel Yambo had never heard of a “ghost” gun until his 16-year-old daughter was killed by one.
He was at home, getting ready for work, when he got a call that every parent dreads. His daughter Angellyh had been hit by a stray bullet near her school. Before he could get to the hospital, another call came in: She was dead. He didn’t believe it until he saw her for himself.
It was just a few months ago that Angellyh was celebrating her sixteenth birthday, dancing with her father wearing a pink gown and a crown.
