The federal government has signed a contract with the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association to help kickstart a planned buyback of banned firearms as it continues to rework some controversial gun control amendments.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino made the announcement in Ottawa Wednesday morning, calling it a “significant milestone” towards the launch of the Firearms Buyback Program.
Mendicino said the buyback program is part of the government’s “comprehensive plan to keep Canadians safe from gun crime.”
“We’re currently working with many partners to develop this program, which will be implemented in close coordination with law enforcement and other partners,” he said.
The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA), which represents the hunting and sport shooting industry in Canada, will work in collaboration with Public Safety Canada and retailers.
The first phase of the program set to begin later this year will focus on businesses with banned firearms in their possession, according to a government statement.
The CSAAA will help identify the number and types of banned firearms that are held by businesses and try to “streamline” the buyback process, the statement said.
Working with Public Safety Canada, the CSAAA has already identified roughly 11,000 assault-style firearms, including parts and components within the existing inventory of store owners across the country that are eligible to be bought back under the program, Mendicino said.
These were banned through an order-in-council in May 2020 and do not include firearms owned by individuals, he added.
The second phase, which will come later but with no clear timeline yet, will focus on individual gun owners and will not involve the CSAAA.
Even though the CSAAA has agreed to work with the federal government, the group still “vehemently” opposes the ban and remains skeptical about the implementation of the buyback program.
In an interview with Global News Wednesday, CSAAA President Wesley Winkel said the announcement seems “quite premature.”
“This is the one thing that’s a little bit puzzling about the timing of the announcement is that there really is no budgetary allocation yet for this buyback and there’s also no real path forward as to the process,” he said.
According to Winkel, provincial regulations in Saskatchewan and Alberta that prohibit the collection and destruction of firearms on behalf of the federal government will be “large stumbling blocks.”
Mendicino said Ottawa is working very closely with provinces and territories to rollout the program.
“We’re dedicated to moving forward with this program as quickly as we can, but we also have to make sure that we get the buyback program right,” Mendicino said on Wednesday
The Liberal government banned some 1,500 models and variants of firearms, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14, through an order-in-council in May 2020.
The proposed buyback program would require owners to either sell these firearms to the government or have them rendered inoperable at federal expense.
In February, the federal government withdrew an amendment to the federal bill that would have spelled out in law the various models covered by a ban on assault-style guns.
Automatic firearms are already prohibited in Canada.
The Liberals had touted the definition as an evergreen measure that would cement in legislation a May 2020 regulatory ban of some 1,500 firearm models and variants, as well as several others flagged since then.
The government pulled the measures from consideration after weeks of criticism from Conservative MPs and some firearm advocates who said the definition would ban many commonly used hunting rifles and shotguns.
— with files from David Baxter and The Canadian Press
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