On September 3, 2021 the Liberals released an updated version of the election platform. On page 64 they list their gun control plans, which are always supported by the NDP and the Green Party. The issues have not changed over the years with the Liberals planning ever more ways to attack law abiding firearms owners.
People choose which political party to vote for in any given election for a wide variety of reasons and we would not presume to tell you who to vote for. What we would ask you to do this time around when you choose who to vote for is to consider the possibility that this might be the election where you lose your rights to keep and use your legally owned firearms.
A re-elected Liberal government will:
- Toughen our laws on banned assault weapons by making it mandatory for owners to either sell the firearm back to the government for destruction and fair compensation or have it rendered fully and permanently inoperable at government
- Crack down on high-capacity magazines and require that long gun magazines capable of holding more than 5 rounds be permanently altered so that they can never hold more than five
- Ban the sale or transfer of magazines that could hold more than a legal number of bullets, regardless of how they were intended to be used by the
- Set aside a minimum of $1 billion to support provinces or territories who implement a ban on handguns across their jurisdiction, to keep our cities and communities
We would also continue to combat gender-based violence and fight gun smuggling with measures we have introduced such as:
- Lifetime background checks to prevent those with a history of abuse against their spouse or partner from obtaining a firearms
- “Red flag” laws that would allow immediate removal of firearms if that person is a threat to themselves or others, particularly to their spouse or
- Increased maximum penalties for firearms trafficking and smuggling from 10 to 14 years
- Enhancing the capacity of the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency to combat the illegal importation of
When they say they will offer fair compensation for a firearm that was purchased legally and is now banned and the owner forced to surrender they leave the term “fair compensation” undefined. I would consider “fair” to be at least what I paid for it but I doubt they will offer even 10¢ on the dollar.
It is impossible to permanently alter a magazine so it can never hold more than 5 rounds. A sufficiently talented machinist will always be able to get them working again or just make a new one. In addition to that 3D printers improve every month and will be able to print one easily. This could easily end up with very low capacity or no legal magazines at all, perhaps being left with single shot or double guns only.
Giving $1 billion of your tax dollars to provinces or territories if they ban handguns in their jurisdiction will end the sporting use of firearms. It will not have any effect on drug traffickers and gang bangers who will just keep on smuggling in all the guns they want. We already cannot prevent them from smuggling in tons of drugs so there is no reason to think we can prevent firearms smuggling. Giving millions to a city to ban handguns might prove very attractive to cities with big policing budgets.
There are already lifetime background checks for domestic violence so this is nothing new.
Red flag laws allow somebody to tell an official you are a danger and you don’t get to tell your side of the story. In effect you are guilty until you can prove you are innocent.
All of these things the Liberals promise to do will mean the end of clubs like ours. It will mean the end the sporting use of firearms. It will mean the loss of your expensive firearms with little compensation which will be paid by your tax dollar.
Some people might be tempted to think banning the so called “assault weapons” is OK because they don’t have any. Given the Liberals stated policy it should be obvious this is just the beginning. The next step will be your handguns and after that your semi-auto sporting rifles and shotguns. They have stated no one except the Police and Military needs a gun and that should tell you where they are going in the future.
Submitted by the Nanaimo Fish & Game Executive.
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