The federal Liberal government has announced it will extend for two years the gun amnesty it banned after the deadly shootings in Nova Scotia in 2020.
Public Safety Canada quietly posted on its website Wednesday the notice of the extension of the yet-to-be-developed gun buyback program, saying the amnesty period, which was set to expire at the end of the month, would remain in effect until Oct. 30, 2025.
The amnesty applies to those who own any of the more than 1,500 models of firearms Ottawa has announced it will ban, saying assault firearms like the AR-15 have no place in communities.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the ban in May 2020, days after a gunman in Nova Scotia carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern Canadian history.
At the time, the Liberals promised to compensate those who own such weapons through a buyback program that would cost more than $750 million in 2021, according to the parliamentary budget officer.
The amnesty decree was originally scheduled to expire in spring 2022, but the Liberals extended it until October 2023, saying a buyback program was still in the works.
Former Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino announced in April that his department was starting work on the first phase of this program and would first define a path to compensate retailers.
The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Industry Association (CSAAA), the group with which Ottawa says it is working to develop its commercial buyback program, welcomed Wednesday’s news.
A statement on its website said the organization encouraged authorities to extend the amnesty order.
In a press release, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s spokesman said the government is committed to implementing a firearm buyback program that will allow respectful firearm owners who follow the law to turn in their firearms and receive compensation .
While we work on its implementation, we have decided to extend the amnesty order until October 30, 2025, Jean-Sébastien Comeau said in an email on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Trudeau had promised to ban what the Liberals called military-style assault firearms and establish a buyback program before the 2019 federal election that gave him his second term.
The Liberals made a similar promise in the last election campaign in 2021.
The electoral law states that the next fixed date for a federal election is October 20, 2025, although elections can be scheduled before this date.
Lack of progress
The lack of progress in implementing the buyback program three and a half years after the first bans were announced is extremely disappointing, PolySeSouvient regretted in a press release.
This gun control advocacy group includes students and graduates of École Polytechnique in Montreal, where a gunman killed 14 women with a Ruger Mini-14 in 1989.
The organization said the amnesty extension reflects the government’s general mishandling of the assault weapons file, including Bill C-21.
That bill, which the Senate is still considering, has been criticized by many gun owners, the Assembly of First Nations and the federal Conservatives because it aims to ban rifles commonly used by hunters.
The bill’s progress in the House was delayed for months because of backlash over a proposed definition that would have expanded the ban to 482 additional gun models.
Ultimately, the government withdrew that definition and instead opted for a regulatory approach that would ensure firearms are properly classified before they enter the Canadian market.
Physicians for Better Gun Control, another gun control advocacy group, said in a statement Wednesday that it was disappointed by the lack of a clear buyout plan for extending the amnesty.