Normally at this time of the year it would be all about the upcoming Christmas celebrations and New Year’s Eve; however, this year is different. Unfortunately, the Liberal government has decided to enact a draconian firearms prohibition and confiscation, based on nothing but fear mongering tactics of the anti gun crowd. DO NOT fall for their “we respect hunters and farmers and this will not affect them” nonsense. This will absolutely affect them, and the main target of their new plan: sport shooters. Their stated initiative is to prohibit, likely through an Order In Council (OIC) pretty much all semi auto rifles and shotguns. YES, you read that right. ALL. There might be a few very old models of semi auto rifles or shotguns that make it through this time, but there won’t be many. Firearms that will be gone include, but not limited to:

  • All AR15s and their variants, which truthfully can’t be used for hunting in Canada simply because previous governments made it illegal to do so, and are the most popular semi auto rifle in the country,
  • SKS’s which are a very popular hunting rifle across Canada,
  • Mini 14’s, another very popular hunting and plinking rifle,
  • AR10 based rifles such as the Stag 10, another very popular series of hunting and target shooting rifles,
  • Benelli and Beretta semi auto shotguns, as well as Turkish clones of the same, this includes both tube fed and box fed semi auto shotguns, and may include pump action box fed as well,
  • Possibly semi auto 22 rifles. (I’ve heard different things from different people about this)

Additionally, the Liberals will be making it possible for individual cities to enact even further restrictions, such as a complete ban on legal handgun ownership or central storage (theft shopping sites) of handguns. That’s just the start. We have already watched them start the next stage of firearms bans through the labeling of a lever action rifle equipped with a scope and bipod as a “Sniper Rifle” (yes, seriously). This is the new war they will declare, where any rifle with any “sniping” features will be banned – and those features can be just about anything:

  • Heavy barrel,
  • Threaded muzzle,
  • Pistol grip,
  • External magazine,
  • “High power” scope (anything over 3x seems to be the idea),,
  • “High power” cartridges such as 338 Lapua or 300 Win mag as they are common “sniper” rounds (their words),
  • Bipod,
  • Tripod (scarier than a bipod),
  • Enhanced triggers (custom and/or adjustable triggers),
  • Flash hider,
  • Muzzle brake,
  • Any other feature they deem “sniper” like.

None of this is acceptable and if successful will absolutely gut the shooting sports in Canada. Make no mistake, this is a deliberate attempt to destroy the firearms industry in this country due to our unwillingness to support the Liberal government. It has nothing to do with safety or crime reduction; it will in fact turn people into criminals just as previous firearms legislation did when we transferred over from the FAC to the PAL and had to register our non restricted firearms. This will decimate the firearms industry in this country. Sport shooters, the largest group of users of the targeted firearms, drive most of the firearms industry in this country. It is we who purchase tens of thousands of rounds- or more- every year for each of our guns; it is us who drive the innovation that leads to better hunting rifles and shotguns, it is us who buy all the whiz bang accessories and keep the stores afloat through those purchases. Without the sport shooters stores will die. PERIOD. That means a severe lack of access to the small amount of approved firearms left in the country.

DO NOT be swayed by their current offer to “buy back” your guns. You didn’t buy them from the government in the first place and the buy back will not be offering truly fair pricing.

I understand that there may be some who feel that there is “no need” for semi auto rifles, or handguns, or whatever it is that you aren’t personally invested in, but understand, once the current guns are gone, the next target will be whatever is left. We have seen this before around the world, and we’ve seen the results. NO guns left in civilian hands. NONE. Not a single one.

We have also now seen another attack on the “enhanced rifle”, through the NDP government’s decision to ban those kinds of rifles from hunting. Rifles that are outfitted with the newest generation of high power scopes with links to wind meters and range finders, that auto adjust the reticle and focus. Currently only a handful of such systems exist on the market, but there will be more as the technology becomes more affordable. The BC NDP have decided that this is unacceptable for hunting, due to a myriad of idiotic reasoning. Once enacted it will only be a short while before it’s deemed unacceptable for any use.

So, what to do? At this point the best thing you can do is engage your MP, Minister Blair and Prime Minister Trudeau. Engage them politely, but firmly, explaining how you do not support this new initiative, that it will be wasteful of tax dollars, that there are better ways they could spend the billions this is going to cost, that there is better use for our police services than hunting down legal gun owners. Points to consider in your letter;

  • Extreme waste of taxpayer dollars,
  • Waste of police resources,
  • Focus on gangs, where 99% of the gun problems lie,
  • Better border enforcement,
  • Causing further distrust of our government,
  • Lack of work on the opioid crisis which is responsible for a massive amount of deaths compared to firearms,
  • Destruction of collections and the investment people have put into them,
  • The use of OICs to outlaw property and confiscate it (not what OICs were intended to be used for),
  • Lack of proper use of parliament and debate,

Letters to the PM and MPs are free to send.

Mail may be sent postage-free to any Member of Parliament at the following address:

Name of Member of Parliament
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Date

Dear (Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Blair);

I am writing to you today to express my deep concern with actions your government is taking to unfairly target lawful gun owners. You have stated publicly that you would be using an OIC to ban legally acquired firearms from lawful owners, and would be implementing a buy back program. I find these measures to be an egregious overreach of executive authority, and a waste of valuable taxpayer resources. I urge your government to reconsider investing this money in programs and measures to combat crime, support at-risk youth initiatives and community programming. It is incumbent on you and your colleagues to make every legitimate effort to fight actual crime and to bring forth your ideas to the Commons where it may be studied and debated by all Members of Parliament. It is imperative you keep in mind that western Canada fully rejected the policies and platforms of your government and overall Liberal support was greatly diminished.

Yours Truly,

Your Full Name
City, Province

Lastly and equally as important, please become a member of one of our Firearms Rights Organizations, we have the National Firearms Association (NFA), Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR) and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA).

These are the organizations that are our frontline defence against these new laws and previous attempts to curb our rights and property and need your support so they can do all they can to help us.

Lastly, please sign the petition www.e2341.ca this is an important step and with enough signatures we may see some sense prevail.

Sincerely,
Robert Engh
President AFGC