The Supreme Court of Canada agreed on Thursday to hear a challenge of a Liberal government ban on firearms models and variants it considers fit for the battlefield, not hunting and sport shooting.
The government banned the use, sale and importation of 1,500 firearms models and variants in May 2020. The move was generally applauded by gun control advocates as a first step toward removing firearms used in mass shootings from circulation.
In October 2023, a Federal Court judge dismissed a request to strike down the ban as unlawful and beyond the scope of the powers delegated to the federal cabinet.
A not-for-profit advocacy organization, firearm owners, businesses, hunters, and recreational and sport shooters appealed the ruling.
In April 2025, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected that challenge, saying the Federal Court delivered “thorough and persuasive” reasons.
The list of guns outlawed by the Liberal government has grown to more than 2,500 varieties of what it calls assault-style firearms.
Government officials say some 19,000 unique makes and models of non-restricted firearms remain available for hunting or sport shooting in Canada.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights said in a statement it was “thrilled” with the court’s decision to hear the appeal.
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“This is a pivotal moment not only for the hundreds of thousands of licensed firearms owners affected by the ban, but for the rule of law and the proper limits of executive power in our democracy,” the statement said.
The group said its challenge is focused on questions about the government’s authority to make decisions through orders issued by the federal cabinet.
The coalition says such orders are “executive instruments meant for implementation and administration, not for enacting broad, permanent changes that affect thousands of law-abiding citizens and ban billions in private property.”
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prohibited firearms and devices must be disposed of — or deactivated — by the end of an amnesty period on Oct. 30.
The government is implementing a buyback program that offers gun owners money for turning in or permanently deactivating firearms.
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A key element of the case before the Federal Court of Appeal was whether the government adhered to a provision of the law forbidding it from using regulations to outlaw a firearm if it deems the gun “reasonable for use in Canada for hunting or sporting purposes.”
Writing on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel, Court of Appeal Chief Justice Yves de Montigny said he was not persuaded that the government erred in considering public safety in assessing whether the prohibited firearms were reasonable for use in Canada for such purposes.
“It may well be that, from the sole perspective of a sensible hunter or sportsman, it makes no sense to ban firearms that are well suited or even specifically designed for hunting or sport purposes,” he wrote.
The federal cabinet is the most senior policy-making body in government and, because of its role at the apex of the executive branch, is best situated to develop government policy and to assess the public interest, de Montigny added.
“Surely, the inherent danger that some firearms pose to public safety because of their lethality and their ability to injure or kill a large number of people in a short period of time, the fact that they have been used in mass shootings in Canada and abroad, the fact that they are disproportionate for civilian use, and the increasing demand for measures to address gun violence are all valid considerations in determining whether their use is reasonable for hunting and sporting purposes,” he wrote.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija
The idiotic government had again failed to address the issue with illegal, ghost, and smuggled-in firearms. Virtually all crimes involving firearms are these illegal wrapons, NOT firearms legally held by law-abiding citizens. They are being punished for crimes by criminals, all to please uneducated anti-gun advocates. This illegal gun grab has to STOP.
It is concerning the amount of misinformation contained in this article, is no one fact checking this!?
Canadian gun crimes are not commited by registered gun owners, but rather by criminals who ignore gun laws.
It’s almost like criminals already don’t use legally obtained firearms and get most of their guns from across the boarder, maybe make that a priority. Criminalizing us legal gun owners when there are already plenty of safety requirements in place makes no sense. I’m left leaning and understand the political hackery for what it is.
De Montigny contradicts himself even in that short final paragraph. The ‘lethality’ of guns in the wrong hands goes without stating, and is not a valid reason to ban this specific list of guns. If they tried to ban ALL guns it might make sense, and yet he would still be wrong..
An armed man is a citizen.
An unarmed man is a subject.
I will NEVER give up my firearms !!
Given the number of ODs, home invasions, extortion, murders, stabbings, car thefts, homeless, illegal immigrants, lack of Drs and medical care, food and gas prices and the general decline of Canada as a viable democracy, public safety would be more well served if we banned the liberal party.
I think lethal assault weapons should be banned. You never know who may have one, and you can’t expect everyone to keep use and store appropriately.
Don’t forget to mention I personally know someone on life parole for second degree murder who was given a PAL under liberal rule
A mass shooting does not justify criminalization of anyone owning a firearm. A state suddenly disarming its population and criminalizing those who do not comply is not a public safety effort. It is a soft power coup. Or rather the enabling of one. So the population are unable to defend themselves in the case of the inevitable invasion by the US military. Hunt. Or recreationally shoot and spend time with their friends practicing and improving a practical skill and genuinely therapeutic hobby.
This doesnt include the long winded arguments that firearms and all the surrounding skills and hobbies contribute to society economically and culturally.
Leave people alone. If you were concerned for our safety you wouldnt be prohibiting my .22 GSG plinking rifle. Youd be keeping violent criminals in jail rather than releasing them to prevent their lives from “being impacted.”
People are so misinformed on this issue, often when I speak to people on this issue they actually believe it is “fully automatic AK-47’s and UZI’s” being banned. In reality Fully automatic guns have been banned in Canada since the 70’s, Semi-auto centerfire rifles we have in Canada are also limited to 5 round magazines. Why is it that gun crime has doubled since Trudeau’s gun ban? This ban is not about public safety.
Ruling the country by Cabinet Orders. The SCoC should find Trudeau in contempt of Parliament.
Gun control is like trying to prevent drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.
We have enough gun control, what we need is idiot control.
Says a lot about the rulings of the lower courts that the Supreme Court have agreed to hear the case
They clearly found kme sort of fault in the previous rulings