XPost: can.politics, sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: jamesb@live.com   
      
   On 04 Oct 2024, "max headroom"  posted some   
   news:vdou8q$8l0a$6@dont-email.me:   
      
   > Canada Banned Certain Guns, Can't Figure Out How to Collect Them   
   >   
   > CALGARY, Canada-On May 1, 2020, the Canadian government outlawed 1,500   
   > types of semiautomatic rifles and announced a firearms buyback program   
   > to take possession of the newly banned guns.   
   >   
   > The action was the federal government's response to a mass shooting in   
   > Nova Scotia in which 22 people were killed over April 18 and 19, 2020.   
   >   
   > The killer, dressed as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and   
   > driving a car rigged to look like a patrol car, used an AR-style rifle   
   > smuggled into Canada from the United States.   
   >   
   > Four years later, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party   
   > struggles to keep control in Parliament, both sides of the debate   
   > anticipate the possible end of the program even before the first gun   
   > has been surrendered.   
   >   
   > One gun control activist has criticized the buyback program as too   
   > weak.   
   >   
   > Nathalie Provost is the spokesperson for PolyRemembers, a group formed   
   > after the Dec. 6, 1989, mass shooting at the Polytechnique engineering   
   > school in Montreal that killed 14.   
   >   
   > Provost, a survivor of that crime, did not respond to The Epoch Times'   
   > request for comment.   
   >   
   > In a Sept. 11 statement, she called on the government to eliminate   
   > exemptions to the ban, accelerate completion of the buyback, and close   
   > loopholes in the law.   
   >   
   > "Even the mandatory buyback program ... will lose all of its meaning   
   > if current [gun] owners ... can simply take the money from the buyback   
   > to purchase [guns] that remain legal or new models introduced ... by   
   > manufacturers seeking to increase their sales and profits," Provost   
   > wrote.   
   >   
   > Under the program, certain automatic and semiautomatic rifles,   
   > so-called assault weapons, were banned.   
   >   
   > Rifles such as the AR-15, AK-47, and similar types can no longer be   
   > bought, sold, imported, or even transported in Canada. The plan calls   
   > for owners of the now-illegal guns to sell them to the federal   
   > government.   
   >   
   > The government established a two-year amnesty period during which   
   > owners must securely store their prohibited firearms until the   
   > logistics of the buyback program are worked out.   
   >   
   > In 2022, the amnesty period was extended to October 2025.   
   >   
   > James Bachynsky, president of the Calgary Shooting Center since 2011,   
   > said the Nova Scotia shooting was simply used as an excuse for the   
   > Liberal Party to institute a ban it wanted all along.   
   >   
   > Bachynsky said the ban would not have prevented the killings in Nova   
   > Scotia.   
   >   
   > He pointed out that the killer had violated several laws before he   
   > fired his first shot. From smuggling guns into the country to   
   > impersonating a police officer, the shooter could have been charged   
   > with a crime without ever putting his finger on a trigger, he said.   
   >   
   > "The government wanted to be seen to be doing something. They   
   > introduced this [Order in Council], banned all these guns, and then   
   > the investigation determined that all [the killer's] guns had been   
   > smuggled in over the U.S. [border]   
   >  anyway," Bachynsky told The Epoch Times.   
   >   
   > James Bachynsky, president of the Calgary Shooting Center, talks about   
   > how a ban on semiautomatic rifles in Canada has impacted his business,   
   > in Calgary, Alberta, on Aug. 29, 2024. Michael Clemente/The Epoch   
   > Times   
   >   
   > Brian Kent agrees. He owns Proline Shooters II in Calgary and has been   
   > in the firearms business for 42 years. He said restricting legal gun   
   > ownership is the easiest way for the government to give the impression   
   > that it is doing something.   
   >   
   > Kent said that he believes that the "government wants to do away with   
   > all firearms," and people who own guns legally are "low hanging fruit   
   > and ... easy to pick on."   
   >   
   > During a Sept. 19 meeting, Dominic LeBlanc, minister for public   
   > safety, democratic institutions, and intergovernmental affairs, denied   
   > these claims when questioned by Conservative Sen. Yonah Martin.   
   >   
   > "This program in no way targets sports persons, or indigenous persons   
   > or persons who hunt for sustenance or who practice a sport; this is   
   > designed to get military weapons off the streets," LeBlanc said.   
   >   
   > But Kent is not convinced.   
   >   
   > He said officials use terms such as "assault weapons," "military   
   > weapons," and "weapons of war" to alarm and confuse their   
   > constituents. The difference between the banned guns and legal guns is   
   > a matter of form rather than function, he said.   
   >   
   > "There's no difference between a [prohibited] AR-15 system and a   
   > [legal] Remington 742 semiautomatic rifle. There's no difference in   
   > the function," Kent told The Epoch Times. "The AR-15 looks dangerous   
   > and military and 'oh my goodness, we're going to all die.' There's no   
   > actual functioning difference between the two firearms."   
   >   
   > Bachynsky said that as a firearms dealer, he keeps track of changes in   
   > the gun laws. He said the buyback program is confusing. According to   
   > Bachynsky, the changes could catch some gun owners unaware.   
   >   
   > The list of prohibited rifles has grown from 1,500 to almost 2,000   
   > over the past four years. This means that rifles that were legal when   
   > the list was written in 2020 may no longer be allowed.   
   >   
   > "But if you own any kind of semiautomatic rifle now, or even a hunting   
   > rifle, you need to check [the restricted firearms list] regularly to   
   > see whether it's become prohibited," Bachynsky told The Epoch Times.   
   >   
   > The program is divided into two phases. In the first phase, gun stores   
   > will sell to the government any stock they haven't been able to export   
   > or sell before the amnesty period ends. In the second phase,   
   > individual owners will sell their prohibited guns to the government.   
   >   
   > In each case, the price will be determined by a government estimate,   
   > not the amount the store or owner paid.   
   >   
   > As of Sept. 25, the Public Safety Canada website had no details on how   
   > or when either phase would begin.   
   >   
   > "More information on the methods affected firearms businesses can use   
   > to turn in their inventory and how they can participate in the program   
   > will be provided at a later date," the Public Safety Canada website   
   > reads.   
   >   
   > In December 2023, the government enacted Bill C-21, which codified the   
   > plan's prohibition on the sale or transfer of handguns.   
   >   
   > Current handgun owners can transport their handguns to shoot on   
   > approved firing ranges. But they cannot sell or give them to anyone.   
   > When current handgun owners die, their guns must be handed over to the   
   > government.   
   >   
   > The Liberal Party has been able to advance its agenda through an   
   > agreement with the New Democratic Party (NDP). However, on Sept. 4,   
   > the NDP backed out of the agreement.   
   >   
   > Donald Plett, the Conservative Opposition leader in the Senate,   
   > criticized the program on social media as a "$67 million boondoggle."   
   > He is focusing on the spending side of the buyback plan in an effort   
      
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