Bill Blair’s May 1st gun ban by Order in Council is an evil gift that keeps on giving long after it’s faded from the headlines. The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA) learned just how evil when a senior official at Public Safety Canada answered a series of questions about the new gun ban.
In the case of Non-Restricted firearms that were reclassified to Prohibited secretly by the RCMP after May 1st, owners of those firearms are not protected by the amnesty.
The Amnesty only applies to firearms listed in SOR/2020-96.
CSAAA notes:
This means none of the firearms that were updated to prohibited after May 1st in the FRT and any that will be updated in the future are covered by the Amnesty and both sellers and purchasers are not protected from criminal liability. It’s really hard to wrap our heads around how illogical this is.
No Gunsmith Exemption
Newly-Prohibited firearms used by sustenance hunters cannot be taken to a gunsmith for repair.
The only lawful purpose these firearms may be used for is hunting, so if a firearm jams, breaks or otherwise becomes in need of repair, the user is forced to take that firearm home – even if that means driving home with a loaded firearm – in violation of the Criminal Code.
Nor can any of these newly-Prohibited firearms be taken to a gunsmith for the purposes of re-barrelling so the firearm no longer violates the 10,000 joules of energy limit.
In other words, this is not about enabling firearm owners and firearm businesses to be safe or to keep their prized possessions, it’s about ensuring as many guns as possible are caught up in the Liberal government’s Firearm Confiscation Scheme to be destroyed.
Definition of “Variant” Gets Even More Bizarre
The CSSA has pushed to get a legal definition of “variant” embedded in the Criminal Code for years, yet despite the need for clarity for firearm businesses and firearm owners alike, the Liberal government steadfastly refuses to do so.
Now we know why.
In response to the question, “What are the guidelines for determining ‘variant’?”, CSAAA received the following answer.
A “variant” is a firearm whose design was derived from an original firearm (head of family). Determination of a variant is not based on a formula. The following factors/guidelines (where known) are used in a variant assessment:
- Design similarities;
- Manufacturer’s description and patents;
- Advertising;
- Depiction by the firearms press and the firearms industry;
- Historical significance;
- Appearance and Uniqueness;
- Parts Interchangeability;
- Purpose of the firearm;
- Formal relationship;
- Family origin/lineage;
- Named variants; and
- Case law
Seriously? How a manufacturer advertises a firearm or how the press depicts a firearm in writeups is used to determine if a gun is a “variant” of an already-Prohibited firearm?
Imagine this scenario.
Franks Used Guns (a fictitious company) advertises a single-shot .22 rifle using the line “Feels just like firing an AK-47”. It appears this might be enough for the firearm to be classified as a “variant” of an AK-47.
We’ve seen similar nonsense used to reclassify a host of firearms as Prohibited in the wake of SOR/2020-96’s introduction on May 1, 2020, including bolt action rifles, pump action shotguns and even .22 rifles.
Unfortunately, this Liberal government is far more interested in playing games than helping gun owners and firearm business understand the mess they and the RCMP have created.
Both CSSA and CSAAA will continue to push the government for answers to these and many other questions in the hopes a rational answer will escape the Liberal government’s Ivory Tower.
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For more information contact:
Tony Bernardo
Executive Director, CSSA
905-571-2150
info@cssa-cila.org
Alison de Groot
Managing Director, CSAAA
1-705-875-2302
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