As the Liberals’ continue to expand the scope of their 2020 order-in-council banning nearly 2,000 models of firearms, this year is an important one for Canadian gun owners.
The ban was introduced in May 2020 when some 1,500 models of firearms became prohibited overnight following an order-in-council the Liberals said was prompted by a mass shooting in Portapique, N.S.
Weeks ago, the Trudeau government announced an additional 324 firearms would be added to the ban, on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre.
The latest additions to the ban also included a newly updated list of parts and components. Included in the scope of the confiscation program are magazines, sights and grips, bolts and a wide array of barrels.
The confiscation scheme requires gun owners to forfeit any of the now prohibited guns and the parts to the government by October 2025 as part of a “buyback” program which hasn’t yet been finalized.
“If you possess a newly prohibited firearm it must be securely stored in accordance with the storage requirements for that classification of firearm prior to prohibition,” reads a statement from Public Safety Canada.
While the government is finally moving on its confiscation program for firearm businesses – many of whom have been saddled with immovable inventory since the order-in-council four and a half years ago – there is no timeline for individual gun owners to have to forfeit their property, even with the end of the amnesty period just 10 months away.
“An individual can only transport the newly prohibited firearm under the following circumstances,” the statement continues, “returning it to a police officer without compensation; deactivating by an approved business; if not the owner, returning it to the owner; if the owner, but the firearm is not at home, returning the firearm home; legally exporting the firearm; and, if a business, returning the firearm to the manufacturer.”
The statement went on to say that individuals should not “deliver a firearm to a police station without first making arrangements with a police officer” to ensure a safe delivery or pick up.
Additionally, individuals are prohibited from any and all options to grandfather these firearms to someone else.
If one finds themselves travelling outside of Canada with a newly prohibited firearm, they must declare it upon their return so it can be intercepted by border authorities.
“The individual will be given the option of exporting or abandoning the firearm to the Crown,” reads the statement.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to reverse the ban, however, should his party be elected to government before amnesty runs out.