'The deadlines are real': Feds launch firearms 'buyback' with March deadline for compensation

OTTAWA — Starting Monday, gun owners will have until the end of March to declare their intention to participate in the federal program compensating individuals for turning over one of their government-banned guns, should they want the chance at money. 

After that date, gun owners who possess one of the more than 2,500 makes and models of guns which the government has deemed too dangerous for public use will not be able to receive compensation.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, who formally announced the launch of the program on Saturday, suggested not every gun owner who registers to participate would be guaranteed compensation.

“I urge you to declare as early as you can because submitting a declaration does not guarantee compensation,” he announced. “Declarations will be processed on a first come, first serve basis.”

Public Safety Canada, the department responsible for administering the program, confirmed that around $250 million had been set aside for payments, in a not-for-attribution technical briefing from officials. It would determine compensation based on date of when the declaration was submitted, with the money expected to cover up to 136,000 guns.

Once submitted, participating firearms owners would be provided with information on collection efforts sometime in the spring, the department says.

Regardless of whether they choose to participate in the government program, gun owners with listed firearms face a deadline of having to turn them over to local police or have them deactivated, a process that renders them not useable, by the time an amnesty period shielding them from liability expires at the end of October, the federal government confirmed on Saturday.

Failing to participate would expose firearms owners to consequences including the possible revocation of their license, the minister said.

“The deadlines are real,” Anandasangaree said. “Please heed them.”

Speaking from Montreal, the minister referenced the Ecole Polytechnique shooting that took place on Dec.6, 1989, where a gunman shot and killed 14 women and injured others, using a Ruger Mini-14, one of the firearms the Liberals declared banned in 2020.

The minister also thanked Nathalie Provost, the Carney government’s Secretary of State for nature, who joined him at Saturday’s announcement, for her years of advocacy. Provost survived the 1989 shooting and spent years working as a gun-control advocate before entering federal politics in last year’s election.

The Quebec government has so far also been the only province to commit to assist the federal government in efforts to collect the banned firearms, having recently signed a $12-million agreement to help with coordination work.

Ontario has rejected taking part, same with Yukon and Manitoba. Anandasangaree said some “technical legal challenges,” also exist within Saskatchewan and Alberta, two jurisdictions whose provincial governments have taken legislative steps against implementing the federal program.

He confirmed on Saturday that those two provinces were not currently part of the program. Officials who briefed reporters confirmed that interested firearms owners in those jurisdictions would still be able register, given that the program was being rolled out nationally.

Anandasangaree said officials were working through issues with those provinces.

The minister on Saturday said that the federal government would work with the RCMP and local police forces to assist with collection efforts, as well as be ready to deploy mobile collection units. So far, only police in Winnipeg, Cape Breton and Halifax have confirmed plans to help, with many police across the Greater Toronto Area saying they have not yet made a decision.

Results from a six-week pilot program ran in parts of Cape Breton before Saturday’s official launch resulted in 16 people turning in 25 guns last year. The minister has defended the pilot as successful, despite how when it was initially launched officials said it could collect up to 200 guns.

The federal government also instituted a longer declaration period for the rollout of the national program as compared to the several weeks firearms owners had during the Cape Breton pilot in hopes of encouraging more uptake.

When it comes to collection efforts, Anandasangaree said “we have the capacity, we have the ability to ensure we have nationwide coverage,” save for Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The federal government says all possession and acquisition license holders would soon be notified about taking part in the program.

The long-awaited initiative was first promised by former prime minister Justin Trudeau during the 2019 federal election campaign, with an initial cabinet order banning the first batch of firearms, including the AR-15, announced in 2020.

Hundreds of more makes and models of guns have been added to that list since then, with some gun control advocates growing impatient with the Liberals to fulfill their promise of launching the long-promised compensation program.

Meanwhile, many firearms groups and their lobbyists have been calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to abandon the initiative, warning that it unfairly targets lawful firearms owners and lacks the ability to make any meaningful improvement to public safety or deal with shootings committed with illegally guns.

Anandasangaree at one point during Saturday’s press conference spoke directly to hunters, a group whom firearms groups as well as the Opposition Conservatives and other conservative premiers say have been wrongly included in the policy.

The minister listed how over 19,000 non-restricted makes and models of firearms remain available for hunting and sports shooting, in an attempt to defend the federal prohibition list and “buyback” policy from criticism that it amounts to a ban on hunting rifles.

The government also announced Saturday that the business portion of the compensation program which ran part of last year, would be reopening in the coming months.

Whether to include versions of the SKS, a popular hunting rifle, on the government’s list of “assault-style” firearms remains under review. While some gun-control advocates urge the Liberals to add it to the list, the minister has said additional consultation was needed with Indigenous communities, given how it is used for hunting.

– With files from The Canadian Press

-National Post

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