The “gun grab” is theft. It is a massive attack on private property. The firearm licence, originally touted as a public safety measure, has become a noose around the necks of duck hunters and target shooters.
Our necks are in the noose
Non-compliance means confiscation of ALL your guns. Possibly even jail. On November 1, 2026, it is a criminal offence to possess any one of the newly prohibited firearms. The firearms licence of a person who owns/possesses a firearm prohibited by an OIC if it is not surrendered or deactivated or destroyed or has been named a variant can be revoked by notice given under the Firearms Act. Consequently, all firearms in the possession of that person must immediately be delivered to the local police, who will hold them for safekeeping.
The gun grab is theft
The Carney-Trudeau gun grab has rendered valueless private property worth more than $4.0 billion in the hands of law-abiding Canadians while simultaneously bankrupting hundreds of small businesses. Of course, Ottawa promises “fair” compensation. Translated, that means “partial” compensation.
Because of the ban, more than 4,500 small and medium-size businesses, which employ more than 40,000 people, are now stuck with large amounts of inventory that are suddenly illegal for them to sell or export. These businesses can’t absorb such losses; many will need to cut jobs or close their doors. The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association estimates the economic loss at between $900 million and $1.06 billion.
Liberal Gun Grab is a policy failure:
• There is no evidence to support a prohibition or confiscation of assault-style weapons;
• There is no evidence to support a freeze on the legal sales of handguns to licensed gun owners;
• The police are concerned with smuggled firearms from the United States and privately manufactured firearms (PMFs), not legal gun owners;
• These policies are causing real harm to communities of hunters and sports shooters, Indigenous people, and Canada’s economy and heritage.
No small damage from what is just security theatre.
The Firearm Program is a war on gun ownership
From the onset the Firearms Program was concerned with more than just the criminal misuse of firearms. Back in 2002, the Auditor General of Canada found that “the Program’s focus had changed from high-risk firearms owners to excessive regulation and enforcement of controls over all owners and their firearms.” Firearms ownership had transmogrified from being ordinary to problematic.
Early on the federal civil service demonstrated their distrust of civilian firearms owners. The Auditor General pointed out that the civil service acted as if “the use of firearms is in itself a ‘questionable activity’ that requires strong controls.” The original mission of firearms licencing was compounded by an insistence that “there should be a zero-tolerance attitude toward non-compliance with the Firearms Act.”
The Gun grab is a boondoggle
How could we be surprised by Justin Trudeau’s ban of “scary looking” guns in May of 2020? It was originally estimated to cost $200 million by then-Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair, but the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated it could cost $756 million just for compensation, plus administration costs. Daniel Fritter in Calibre Magazine argues that it is now budgeted to cost Canadian taxpayers over $803.4 million. But the real cost is unknown. Estimates vary from $3 billion to over $6 billion.
This boondoggle is even worse than the $2 billion long-gun registry that the Harper government cancelled in 2012.
Was the “buyback” successful?
Success depends upon how many firearms were required to be surrendered. The RCMP claims there are between 136,000 and 150,000 ‘Newly Prohibited Firearms’ [NPFs]. Most of these are registered NPFs.
A better estimate is that there are approximately 648,000 firearms to be surrendered, basing it on import/export statistics, including many non-restricted and unregistered firearms. Others estimate there are 2 million or more NPFs in Canada.
67,440 firearms declared by 31 March, so Ottawa reported a 50% success rate, based on the lower RCMP estimate of 136,000.
The more realistic assessment is that 10% of NPFs – or fewer – were declared, based on import/export data.
How long can Ottawa claim success?
Multiple Premiers refuse to participate.
Police services across the country refuse to confiscate guns from licensed Canadians.
Gun owner participation lags far behind government projections.
Public trust continues to plummet.
Now what?
Will Carney suddenly wake up and cancel the gun grab?
Will the Supreme Court of Canada ride to our rescue?
Don’t count on it. The Liberals hate us. And they appointed the judges.
