In early October, Canada’s Liberal government kicked off it’s long-delayed compensated confiscation efforts with a test run in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
The goal of the “buyback” effort is to take thousands of lawfully purchased semi-automatic firearms from their rightful owners. While the Liberal government has called the scheme “voluntary,” anyone caught possessing one of the banned firearms after the government’s amnesty period expires risks criminal charges.
Because of Canada’s restrictive gun laws, the government had a list of about 200 “assault weapons” in the Cape Breton area, as well as the names of their owners. One official expressed confidence before the pilot program began that “the 200 will be collected through the pilot,” but if not, “then we will have to discuss with the people who were contacted to understand better what is their intention to comply with the law before the end of the amnesty order.”
Well, it looks like they’ve got a lot of discussions to schedule, because according to one local official the government didn’t come close to getting 200 firearms.
When it comes to the program for individuals, the federal government has yet to release the results of the pilot program it ran in Cape Breton, which, when it was announced back in September, was stated to be for a “maximum of 200” banned firearms, to test the online portal, collection, and destruction process.
This week, the chair of Cape Breton’s police board told reporters that he had heard there were between “10 to 22 collected.”
A request for a response from Cape Breton police, which teamed up with Public Safety Canada to pilot the program, has not yet been returned. Cape Breton Police Chief Robert Walsh declined to tell local reporters this week the results of the program, saying it was the federal government’s pilot.
So, a compliance rate of 10% at best. As Rod Giltaca, CEO and Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, told the National Post, “If the government isn’t extremely humiliated over this whole affair, they definitely should be.”
Humiliated or not, though, the Liberals insist that they’ll be rolling out the compensated confiscation scheme across Canada in just a matter of weeks.
This week, [Public Safety Minister Gary] Anandasangaree told reporters the government was “analyzing the results of the pilot,” adding that the “technical capabilities have been satisfied,” with the plan to roll out the program nationally only weeks away.
The minister’s spokesman said the pilot, which is now closed, lasted a total of six weeks, with the first three weeks open for firearms owners to declare the fact that they owned a prohibited weapon, with the following three weeks, “for collection, verification, destruction, and payment.”
He added that the results of the pilot would be released before the national launch, and the government remained committed to finishing the program.
It addition to their pilot program flaming out in Nova Scotia, the Liberals are also delaying the resumption of a compensation program for gun store owners who’ve had large amounts of their inventory made illegal by the gun ban. The first round of that program launched in the spring but last just a few weeks. In September, Anandasangaree the second phase would be launched in a matter of weeks, but now a spokesman for the minister says “the exact date will be shared soon.”
Wes Winkel, president of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association, which the government has contracted since 2023 and assisted with pricing, confirmed to National Post there has been an “indefinite delay” on the part of the federal government.
Neither Anandasangaree’s office nor the public safety department has clarified the reason behind the delay.
Whatever the reason, I’m absolutely delighted to see how the Liberals’ gun ban efforts are playing out. I can’t wait to see how the government tries to spin the abject failure of its pilot program in Nova Scotia.. and if the Liberals think compliance was low there just wait until they start trying to collect guns in more conservative parts of the country like Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Editor’s Note: Let’s fight as hard as we can to keep Canadian-style gun confiscation efforts confined north of the border.
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