Parliamentary Committee Notes: Buyback of Now Prohibited Assault-Style Firearms
Proposed Response:
- The Government committed to implementing a mandatory buyback program so that the assault-style firearms that became prohibited on May 1, 2020 are safely removed from our communities.
- These firearms can no longer be legally used, sold, or imported.
- The prohibition applies to all current and future variants that meet the criteria — now, over 1,500 firearm models.
- The Government has put in place an amnesty order to protect affected individuals while they come into compliance with the law through participation in a future buyback program or through other means such as deactivation. The amnesty order is currently in effect until October 30, 2023.
- The buyback program aims to offer fair compensation to affected owners and businesses.
- Currently, owners have the option to dispose of their firearm by surrendering to police, deactivating through an approved business or exporting the firearm with a valid export permit, all without government compensation.
If pressed on projected costs:
- Public Safety Canada has been allotted $8.8 million to create a buyback program secretariat, and has spent approximately $6 million to date.
- Work is ongoing to develop, design and engage on the program. This includes public consultations on the Government’s pricelist, which will be launched on 21 July and a request for information that was posted by Public Services and Procurement Canada seeking feedback from industry on potential capacities to support the delivery of the buyback program.
Background
On May 1, 2020, the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited, Restricted or Non-Restricted were amended to prescribe as prohibited approximately 1,500 models of firearms and their variants, along with upper receivers for some newly prohibited firearms. Of those, nine principal models of assault-style firearms are prohibited as they have semi-automatic action with sustained rapid-fire capability (tactical military design with large magazine capacity), are of modern design, and are present in large volumes in the Canadian market. Also included are two categories of firearm that exceed safe civilian use: firearms with 20 mm bore or greater or with a muzzle energy of greater than 10,000 Joules.
The prohibition limits access to the most dangerous firearms and removes them from the Canadian market. An amnesty was put in place (expires on October 30, 2023) to give existing owners time to come into compliance with the law. The amnesty also provides a temporary exception for Indigenous persons exercising s.35 Constitutional rights to hunt, and to allow for continued use of newly prohibited firearms (if previously non-restricted) until a suitable replacement can be found.
In conjunction with the buyback program, the government proposed an option under the previous version of Bill C-21 to allow owners of the affected assault-style firearms to maintain possession of their firearm subject to restricted conditions under a non-permissive storage provision. Following introduction of C-21, it was determined that this approach would not sufficiently address the public safety risks posed by these firearms and allowing individuals to keep them was not in keeping with the intended policy approach. As a result, the non-permissive storage provision has been removed in the new legislation. Consequently, affected individuals must select one of the following available options: deactivate by an approved business, export with a valid export permit or surrender to law enforcement without compensation prior to the expiration of the amnesty order.
Until the buyback program is implemented, anyone who possesses an assault-style firearm must ensure it is securely stored in accordance with the storage requirements for that classification of firearm before it was prohibited. These firearms cannot be legally used, sold or imported, and can only be transported or transferred within Canada under certain conditions as provided under the amnesty, such as deactivating the firearm or returning the firearm to the residence of the lawful owner.
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