OTTAWA, ON – As noted in the media advisory released by the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR), the Liberal government’s recent firearm announcement continues a troubling trend of inconsistency and disingenuity that has characterized their approach since 2020. They’ve repeatedly claimed that their policies targeting licensed gun owners wouldn’t affect hunting or sport shooting—a statement that is not just misleading, but blatantly false. In reality, these law-abiding individuals, who are forced to diligently follow regulations, have been the primary focus of every firearm measure the Liberals have introduced, leaving them to bear the weight of these decisions alone, No additional restrictions or enforcement has targeted criminals who smuggle guns over the US-Canada border, nor for the gangs that ultimately wind up using them in the commission of violent crimes; the enforcement measures are only against lawful owners who are monitored on a daily and weekly basis.
Trudeau himself acknowledged on CTV that some bans would inevitably impact firearms used for hunting, suggesting owners could simply switch to alternatives not on the prohibited list, which is another dishonest claim among many in the Liberal playbook on this file. The firearms are largely banned on the basis of appearance rather than function, and in several cases for merely having similar names or internal parts as other targeted – but legal – firearms, but without meeting the same arbitrary and nonsensical criteria used to ban the originals. The firearm rights and hunting communities finds these patterns deeply concerning, and justifiably criticize the Liberal Party, the Federal NDP – who continue to protect the Liberal Party from being overthrown – and the Bloc Quebecois for endorsing policies that disproportionately burden legal and licensed owners while street crime involving illegal guns goes unaddressed.
It should also be noted that for several years running, women have been the fastest growing demographic in the shooting sports – a fact that contradicts implied or explicitly stated arguments by gun control groups and the Liberal government. The government’s argument that these bans benefit women is one they consistently recycle and reinforce with American data that does not reflect Canadian experiences, in justifying the government’s authoritarian actions.
Read more from the CCFR advisory here.
Keywords: CCFR, Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, Gun rights, Gun licensing Canada, Liberal war on lawful gun owners, Liberal dishonesty
