OTTAWA — Three-hundred and twenty-four unique firearm makes and models of so-called “assault-style firearms” are now prohibited weapons in Canada, effective immediately.
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But with an amnesty period that ends 10 days after the latest possible date for the next federal election, there’s little expectation the new measures will ever come into effect.
An order-in-council tabled Thursday encompassing 104 families of firearms, a move made one day before the 35th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc made the announcement Thursday afternoon, the latest in the Trudeau Liberals’ contentious and often troubled attempts to restrict access to firearms in Canada.
“Our goal is to ensure that no community, no family is devastated by mass shootings in Canada again,” LeBlanc said during the news conference.
“These 324 models of prohibited firearms will be added to the 1,500 models added in 2020, and have technical characteristics that are similar. They were made for battlefields, not for hunting.”
These new models, he said, were determined through what he described as a “robust” consultation with RCMP firearms experts.
An amnesty order is in place until Oct. 30, 2025 for licenced, legal firearms owners to deal with the new measures — 10 days after the mandated day for the next federal election.
Only firearms disposed of through the government’s Assault-style Firearms Compensation Program will be eligible for compensation — firearms deactivated or turned over to police during the amnesty period will not be eligible.
Talks are currently underway with the Ukrainian government to hand over seized firearms to their military for use against Russia, LeBlanc said.
Previous attempts by the Trudeau Liberals to apply blanket bans on firearms proved so unpopular, even Liberal MPs were speaking out against them.
In 2022, the Liberals quietly tabled two amendments to their gun control bill C-21 — sweeping changes that would have outlawed legal rifles used daily by hunters and sport shooters.
The Liberals were forced to withdraw those amendments after massive blowback from hunters, sports shooters and First Nations, a move described by the opposition Tories as a “humiliating climb-down” for the prime minister.
A list of newly-banned firearms has not been provided as of publication.
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