NFA Media Release
April 8, 2019
A Trudeau-appointed Senator’s attempt to ban handguns fails at Senate committee
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Today at the Senate National Security and Defence committee hearings on Bill C-71, Senator Marilou McPhedran, a Manitoba Senator appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, moved to amend bill C-71 to add a clause that would ban all handguns in Canada. The motion was defeated with five Senators voting against and only two in favour. Three Senators on the committee abstained.
“There is no doubt that this was a backdoor plan by the Trudeau government to attempt to ban handguns, and we are pleased that Senators saw through it and defeated the motion outright by a significant vote” said Sheldon Clare, president of Canada’s National Firearms Association – the largest and most effective pro-firearms organization in Canada. “This should be a clear sign to this government, and any future government, that a handgun ban is not warranted nor wanted.”
Trudeau-appointed Senators also recently attempted to rush the bill through the Senate but was blocked after the NFA raised concerns about their approach.
“They backed down on their original plan to rush this through, and then they try to backdoor a handgun ban.” Added Clare. “It’s incredible how these people operate in such a sneaky and conniving way.”
The NFA has led the fight against Bill C-71 that if passed would bring in a new firearms registry, unnecessarily prohibit several safe and widely used firearms, limit sales on firearms at gunshows and outdoor shows, unnecessarily increase background checks, transfer data from the defunct federal long-gun registry to the provinces to allow the creation of their own long-gun registries, and prohibit already-licensed owners from transporting firearms without additional paperwork each time they wish to do so, among other things.