Parliamentary Committee Notes: Bill Changes to Effect Mandatory Disposal (Buyback)
Proposed Response:
- Our Government is committed to implementing a mandatory disposal program so that the assault-style firearms we banned in 2020 are safely and permanently removed from our communities.
- These firearms pose a risk to public safety that outweighs their continued availability within Canada.
- They can no longer be legally used, sold, or imported.
- The ban applies to all current and future variants that meet the criteria.
- Our Government has put in place an amnesty order to protect affected individuals while they come into compliance with the law. It is in effect until October 30, 2023.
- The mandatory disposal program will offer fair compensation to affected owners and businesses. Program design is nearing completion, and details about the program's launch will be available in due course.
- Current options available to affected owners to dispose of their firearm include surrender to police, deactivate by an approved business or export with a valid export permit.
- Many other types of firearms remain available for hunting or sport shooting.
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 was 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 firearms were 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 were 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 mandatory disposal program (buyback), the Government proposed an option under former Bill C-21 in February 2021 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 the former Bill 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 from the new legislation introduced in May 2022 Consequently, affected individuals and businesses 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 mandatory disposal program (buyback) is implemented, anyone who possesses a firearm impacted by the May 1, 2020 prohibition 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 order, such disposal or export.
Contacts:
Prepared by: [Redacted], Acting Manager, Firearms Policy Division, [Redacted]
Approved by: Talal Dakalbab, Assistant Deputy Minister, Crime Prevention, 613-852-1167
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