Wendy Praski put her skills to the test at Ladies Range Day at Northern Elite Firearms in December 2019. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

BILL C-21

Sask. gun owners worry federal government will soon take all firearms

Dec 6, 2022 | 1:05 PM

Despite assurances from the prime minister that hunting rifles will not be banned, Saskatchewan gun owners say they are fed up with the government’s proposed changes to Bill C-21.

The federal Liberals recently amended the bill, which was introduced to ban handgun sales in the country, to now include semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.

However, gun shop owners, the federal Conservatives, firearm rights advocates and even the provincial government point out many of those firearms are solely used for hunting.

“The Liberal government is trying to strip Canada of all firearms,” Heath Olmstead, a co-owner of Northern Elite Firearms in Prince Albert, said. “They keep saying ‘we’re not going to affect hunters, we’re not going to affect farmers,’ and yet almost every gun they put on this new thing they snuck into Bill C-21 there, they’re almost exclusively used by hunters and farmers.”

Olmstead pointed out one of the firearms on the proposed list is a Weatherby Mark 5, a bolt-action gun he said is only used for hunting.

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Opposition is not only felt by local gun shops but rural politicians. In a release sent at the end of November, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) called Bill C-21 purely ideological.

“We were told that this wouldn’t affect hunters, ranchers, or sport shooters, but rather that the federal government was taking the weapons off the street,” SARM President Ray Orb said. “This is a purely ideological idea as Canada already has very strict controls on military-style assault weapons. The most disturbing part is the recent amendments to the bill that ban almost all semi-automatic centrefire rifles and shotguns utilized by hunters, ranchers, and sport shooters in Saskatchewan.”

Orb said roughly 400 pages worth of firearms and other restrictions are identified in the most recent amendments.

He said it is unacceptable the federal government is planning on spending billions of dollars to criminalize and take away firearms from law-abiding, legally licensed Saskatchewan residents when the money could be used by R.M.’s to fight rising rural crime rates, violent crime, gangs, trafficking, and illegal firearms.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he is listening to concerns that some of the firearms his government is looking to ban are used primarily for hunting.

“That’s what we’re listening to feedback on now to make sure that we’re not capturing weapons that are primarily hunting weapons,” Trudeau said in a press conference.

Opposition Conservatives said the proposed definition would bar some firearms that are used for hunting.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said that is not the government’s intention and accused Tory MPs of “fearmongering.”

That possible shift in tone from the prime minister isn’t doing much to deter skeptics and critics of the bill who believe the government’s intent is to take all firearms away from legal gun owners.

“All of our customers come in and (say), ‘they’re just taking more and more away,’” Olmstead said. “A lot of people are concerned they are losing their heirlooms that have been passed down (from) generation to generation.”

Olmstead also noted many law enforcement officers visit his shop, all of whom believe the bill will do nothing to prevent crime.

“The criminal element will always have firearms and they’re going to get braver and they’re going to start committing more and more horrendous crimes because they know nobody will fight back because nobody will have anything to fight back with,” Olmstead said. He noted sales have skyrocketed at his shop with customers saying they have no intention of turning the guns over.

Meanwhile, from the provincial angle, Saskatchewan Minister of Corrections and Policing Christine Tell provided details on the new Saskatchewan Firearms Act.

If passed, the legislation would establish licensing requirements for businesses or individuals involved in firearms expropriation, require, and oversee fair compensation for any firearms being seized, and require forensic and ballistic testing of seized firearms.

The Act would also create a provincial firearms regulatory system to promote the safe and responsible use of firearms.

“Saskatchewan has been clear that we fully support initiatives that will legitimately reduce crime and violence and stop the smuggling and sale of illegal guns,” Tell said in a statement to paNOW. “The handgun freeze and the other actions the government is pushing through Bill C-21 will do neither of those things.”

Tell also spoke about the Act during a media scrum on Dec. 1.

“These legal firearm owners are not the ones committing the crimes. We’re trying to look at it in a much bigger picture,” she said. “The priority for the people of the province is to ensure that people who commit crimes with firearms, the investigation follows through, and people are charged and convicted where appropriate.”

With files from the Canadian Press

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock