Government Measures to Reduce Gun Violence (CPB)
Outlines the assault style firearms prohibition and proposed mandatory buyback, gun magazine restrictions, regulatory initiatives, and funding to reduce gang violence and firearms smuggling.
Response
- Gun violence is on the rise in both rural and urban areas.
- That's why our government is removing guns designed for mass casualties from our communities.
- We will make it mandatory for all owners to surrender or deactivate these guns.
- The evidence is clear; reducing the number of firearms reduces deaths. Our government will provide at least one billion dollars to implement a handgun ban.
- We put in place lifetime background checks to prevent abusers from obtaining a firearms licence. We restored limits on the transportation of firearms. And, we will introduce additional laws to fight gender-based violence and prevent suicides.
- We will soon bring into force mandatory licence verification when purchasing firearms, and business record-keeping to help trace crime guns.
- We will provide $250M over five years to municipalities and Indigenous communities to help young people resist lives of crime.
- This is in addition to $358.8M over five years allocated to the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence, to provinces and territories, and the CBSA and RCMP.
- We also need to stop guns at their source. Budget 2021 invested $312M over five years to provide the CBSA and RCMP the tools needed to combat smuggling and trafficking.
Background
While firearm-related violent crimes have been a small proportion of all police-reported violent crime in Canada, the rate of certain violent offences specific to firearms increased for the sixth consecutive year (a 15% increase compared to 2019). Firearm-related homicide has doubled from 2013 (134) to 2020 (277). In 2019, 51% of firearm-related homicides were related to gang activity, the majority committed with handguns (78%). Suicide by firearm also continues, with over 500 deaths identified in 2019.
Prohibition Of Assault-Style Firearms
On May 1, 2020, the Government of Canada prohibited over 1,500 models of assault-style firearms and their variants. A two-year Amnesty Order, in effect until April 30, 2022, protects owners of the newly prohibited firearms from criminal liability. The government also announced its intention to establish a buy-back program to offer fair compensation to affected owners and businesses.
Bill C-71 – Royal Assent June 21, 2019
Most provisions came into force on the date of royal assent. Two elements were brought into force via an Order in Council on July 7, 2021. On June 26, 2021, two regulatory amendments to bring into force licence verification and require businesses to keep records for sales of non-restricted firearms were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, for public comment.
Reducing Gang Violence And The Supply Of Illegal Firearms
Since Budget 2018, the government has allocated $358.8M for the Initiative to Take Action against Gun and Gang Violence (ITAAGGV) over five years. Provinces and territories received $214M under the Gun and Gang Violence Action fund, and $8M for the Youth Gang Prevention Fund. The CBSA ($92.9M) is investing in detector dog facility and programming, expanding x-ray technology at postal centres and air cargo facilities, and providing training related to concealed goods in vehicles. The RCMP ($32.1M) is enhancing its intelligence capacity to support law enforcement at the local, regional and provincial/territorial levels. Communities will receive an additional $250M for prevention/intervention activities.
In Budget 2021, an investment of $312M over five years was announced, starting in 2021–22, and $41.4M per year ongoing for PS, CBSA, and the RCMP to fight gun smuggling and trafficking. This funding will: support the establishment of a secretariat to oversee the buy-back program and launch a public awareness campaign; increase the capacity of the Canadian Firearms Program; increase RCMP capacity to trace crime guns and detect straw purchasing; and enhance CBSA intelligence and investigative capacity at the border.
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