Alberta government calls on RCMP to ignore federal firearms ban within province
Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says his government will direct RCMP in the province not to enforce the confiscation of newly prohibited firearms from what were once legal owners.
"We will not tolerate taking officers off the streets in order to confiscate the property of law-abiding firearms owners," Shandro said Monday.
Shandro says the province will use a dispute clause in the provincial police service agreement to keep officers from being re-purposed to enforcement of the federal assault weapons ban.
"All Canadians whether firearms owners or not should be concerned about the scapegoating of law abiding citizens and the targeting of their property," said Teri Bryant, chief firearms officer for Alberta.
The federal ban was announced in the spring 2020 and prohibited 1,500 models of firearms and some related devices. The ban affected many semi automatic rifles that were already "restricted" – meaning owners had further layers of background checks as well as strict limits on where the guns could be used.
However, it also captured many guns that were previously non-restricted – meaning anyone with a basic firearms license could legally possess and shoot them in a much wider variety of places.
"It's going to cost billions of dollars to change how things are," said James Bachynsky, a co-owner of the Calgary Shooting Centre.
He says no clear case has been made that public safety will be improved as a result of the ban.
"They're treating us as bad guys, they're attacking us at every opportunity and claiming that somehow it's affecting public safety," Bachynsky said.
A buyback program has been floated but so far, gun owners say they are being offered pennies on the dollar. Even so, the price tag is estimated to exceed a billion dollars.
Many expect the price tag to be even higher.
"Even if these costs can be contained to $2 billion dollars, that would cover the costs of some 12,000 person years of regulatory and enforcement personnel, or a fully-paid 20-year career for some 600 people," said Bryant, reinforcing the province's stance that money to combat gun crime is being spent in the wrong place.
The provincial government is also filing legal challenges, seeking intervenor status in a half-dozen cases currently before the courts. Those cases generally challenge the constitutionality of the federal weapons ban.
Shandro says federal government informed him last week it was planning to move ahead with the confiscation of approximately 30,000 firearms in Alberta this fall.
However, even gun control advocates say the province's ban is unlikely to significantly change the planned enforcement of the law.
"It's more UCP posturing at a time we are heading into an election a provincial election – bash the feds, whoever they are and take political advantage of a situation," said David Swann, a former MLA who has had a long involvement with the Canadian Coalition for Gun Control.
Earlier this year, the federal government effectively banned all handguns in Canada. Existing owners will be allowed to keep the restricted handguns they currently own, but will not be able to sell them to other license holders.
The feds also announced a ban in importing handguns to Canada.
Firearms regulations are federal jurisdiction so it is not clear what action is available to the province.
Alberta has 326,709 licensed firearms owners as of 2020, the last year for which information is publicly available. Of those, roughly 149,000 Albertans may legally possess restricted firearms such as handguns.
More than 2.2 million Canadians hold valid firearms licences.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW 'She was waiting for you': The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother in England
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Macklem tries to stay out of the fray as MPs do their best to use him to score points
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem navigates a political minefield every time he testifies before the House of Commons finance committee.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Spike in 'violent rhetoric' since Oct. 7 attack from 'extremist actors,' CSIS warns
The Israel-Hamas war has led to a spike in 'violent rhetoric' from 'extremist actors' that could prompt some in Canada to turn to violence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza's Rafah ahead of an expected assault
The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza's southern city of Rafah to start evacuating from the area, signalling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.