Bill C-21 is Possibly the Dumbest Piece of Gun Legislation Ever

Earlier this week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair unveiled details regarding the Liberals new gun legislation, Bill C-21, a disaster of a bill largely targeting law-abiding Canadian gun owners, essentially blaming them for the rise in gun crime we’ve seen throughout Canadian cities under this administration.

In his statement Minister Bill Blair made his views on Canadian gun ownership quite clear stating:

Gun ownership in Canada, in this country, is a privilege and not a right. It’s a privilege that’s predicated on the strict adherence to our laws, our regulations, and our restrictions… It’s a principle. It’s based on the fact that firearms in Canada are intended for use for hunting or for sport purposes. We do not arm ourselves in this country to protect ourselves from our fellow citizens. We rely on the rule of law, not the end of a gun, for our safety

And so we now see the addition of multiple new laws, regulations and restrictions relating to firearms use, simply making adherence to the law while retaining ownership ever more difficult.

There are numerous points to this bill, so let’s go through them one by one to make the situation entirely transparent; another promise this government ran on and can’t seem to uphold.

The Liberals have quite surprisingly included a few provisions that seek to target the source of the majority of gun crime; illegal guns. Trudeau announcing that:

Banning 1,500 models of assault-style weapons last year was a critical step, but we also need to continue to fight the illegal gun market. That’s why we will increase criminal penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking, and enhance the capacity of police and border officials to keep illegal firearms out of the country

The bill would increase the penalties for firearms trafficking, smuggling, and other offenses such as illegal possession, from 10 to 14 years of imprisonment, it would also allow the sharing of specific firearms licensing and registration information between federal and local law enforcement agencies for the purpose of tracking and tracing trafficking violations; as well as requiring the Commissioner of Firearms to provide the Minister with an annual report with information regarding these instances.

“Any legislation which combats illegal use or trafficking of firearms is welcome but in the case of increased trafficking penalties, the real problem is that the courts aren’t addressing the already stiff penalties” the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR) noted in their statement, but “The provision will likely yield no public safety benefit.”

C-21 would also make it an offence to alter the magazine capacity to exceed the current 5 or 10 round limit. This offence would carry a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. 

Although some of these provisions are targeting crime, or violations of regulation, most provisions included in this bill don’t actually target criminals or illegal firearms but rather Canadian firearm owners who follow the already strict rules in place for the legal ownership of firearms in Canada.

First, we have the “red flag law”, which would allow warrantless confiscation of one’s firearms based on nothing but citizen complaints, and judge petitioning, without notice. Not only would this law allow the confiscation from a firearm owner based on a fellow citizen’s suspicions that they may pose a threat to themselves or others, but it would also allow the confiscation from any firearm owner from whom the individual named in the complaint “could have access to a third-party’s weapon”.

Such laws aren’t new to Canadians, in a statement their CCFR addresses how this may be a new concern for many:

The red flag provisions in this bill can be potentially problematic. Red flag laws have existed in Canada since the 90s. Now, in this new bill, anyone can petition a judge to issue a firearm prohibition order without the gun owner having any say in the matter or even tell their side of the story. These prohibition orders include searches with and without a warrant. This change affects 2.2 million licensed gun owners in Canada.

Furthermore, we have the “yellow flag law” that would allow a Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) to revoke an individual’s firearms license for up to 30 days if there are reasons to suspect that the license holder may no longer be eligible for the license.

Next, there will be the required “Surrender of firearms pending legal challenge of license revocation”. This provision would require individuals to surrender their firearms when faced with a legal challenge of license revocation, rather than retaining the firearms during the appeals process, with the knowledge that they may be destroyed.

These provisions seem to leave the door open for abuse of such regulations by the general public, such as retaliatory actions against a firearm owner, not to mention the abolishment of the innocent until proven guilty principle to which our courts are meant to adhere.

The bill also introduces the already announced provision allowing municipalities to restrict handgun possession, storage, and transportation through city bylaws; effectively allowing any municipality to ban handguns. Although, Saskatchewan is one province where this provision will have no impact following Premier Scott Moe’s decision to restrict such a ban.

A few other provisions that are sure to have no impact on gun crime whatsoever are the new restrictions on ammunition requiring individuals to provide a license for import, as well as a ban on the import, export, sale, and transfer of “unregulated airgun[s]” that resemble firearms.

A review on whether to include a provision prohibiting “assault-style firearms” in the Criminal Code, rather than makes and models, is to be conducted, a provision which would effectively give the government the ability to consider any firearm prohibited at will, seeing as “assault-style firearms” has no real definition. There will be further attempts to “modernize” the language found in the Criminal Code during this review which has yet to be listed.

The Liberals are looking to move forward with their buyback program, although no announcement regarding compensating firearm owners for their confiscated or destroyed property has been announced.

Based on what has been stated so far, it appears as though the program will be voluntary. C-21 states that firearm owners will be allowed to keep the firearms listed in the May 1st, 2020 ban, so long as they abide by increased storage requirements. This provision would also update the “grandfathering” system to restrict the use of withheld firearms.

In his statement Justin Trudeau mentioned, “We will move forward with the buy-back program in the coming months and complete the prohibition to ensure these weapons cannot be legally used, transferred, transported, bequeathed, or sold”.

When it comes to so many issues, such as climate change and the current pandemic, we hear constant cries from the Liberals that the Conservative Party is ignoring data, science, facts or even reality, at times. Yet, when it comes to gun control the Liberals tend to appeal to fears and feelings rather than basing any of their decisions on the factual reality that gun crime in Canada is in no way caused by legal gun ownership; which is why so many Canadian municipalities have only seen a stark rise in gun crime since Justin Trudeau took office.

The CCFR has been one of the most vocal critics of the way our government has treated the issue of public safety, stating:

Under the Liberal Party of Justin Trudeau and Bill Blair, public safety has become a purely political issue. They rarely miss an opportunity to divide Canadians along cultural, political, or ideological lines. 

Reasonable Canadians need to ask themselves if they think that anything in this bill will stop the shootings in downtown Toronto or Vancouver or the violence or property crime we see in rural communities.

Bill C-21 is not just bad for law

This new legislation, although quite expansive and detailed, seems to again focus more on law-abiding Canadians and their firearms rather than addressing the true source of gun crime. 

On top of Bill C-21 being bad for legal gun owners, it also legislation made of half-formed policies that don’t address gun smuggling in a real way, messes up the jurisdictional lines between provincial and municipal governments on handguns, and Trudeau’s buy-back is pretty much dead-on-arrival now that it has been made voluntary, which is one thing legal gun owners can celebrate.

Regardless of the quality of Bill C-21, this is clearly yet another attack on one of Canadians most basic and essential freedoms by a party that seems to have little knowledge and understanding of, nor the dangers posed by undermining it.