ATRS's legal challenge against FRT changes to proceed

Alberta Tactical Rifle Supply (ATRS) and its owner are headed to trial in its legal challenge against the federal government's changes to the Firearms Reference Table (FRT). It's a different angle than some of the other ongoing legal challenges against the Order in Council, and the results of this lawsuit could have a big impact on firearms owners.

ATRS manufactures a range of rifles at its Calgary location, including precision bolt-actions and a semi-auto series that includes the Modern Sporter, Modern Varmint and Modern Hunter. These are built with modern design features, but they are not AR-15s, and they are not made with interchangeable action parts.

Despite that, in the days following the Trudeau government's Order in Council broad-sweeping firearms bans, the ATRS Modern Sporter, Modern Varmint and Modern Hunter were classified as variants of the AR-15, and entered into the RCMP's Firearrms Reference Table as prohibited models, despite previously being approved by the government's firearms lab as non-restricted firearms. In other words, they went from being easy-to-own hunting rifles, with the RCMP's stamp of approval, to banned firearms that the government plans to seize and destroy, or leave in owners' hands rendered inoperable.

ATRS's business was hit hard, as those firearms made up the majority of its sales, and owner Rick Timmins was told to stop production,advertisement and sales of those rifles. Now, Timmins is looking to battle back in court. He's hired well-known firearms-savvy lawyer Ed Burlew to represent, and he's suing two RCMP officers and two firearms officers, accusing them of "misfeasance." That rarely-used word means "the performance of a lawful action in an illegal or improper manner," according to Merriam-Webster's. Basically, Timmins is saying the feds' banning of his previously-approved firearms was illegal.

Here's how his GoFundMe page explains it, in part:

"On June 28, 2015 the Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-42. Part of Bill C-42 includes legislation that prohibits the RCMP/SFSS (Specialized Firearms Support Services, headed by Murray Smith and William Etter), from making changes to the legal status of firearms after 12 months have passed since their determination. Bill C-42 clearly says that after the first 12 months, the RCMP/SFSS cannot legally change the legal status of a firearm. The instrument that Canadian Law Enforcement uses to communicate the legal status of firearms in Canada is the Firearms Reference Table (FRT) ...

"Following the recent incoherent Order in Council that became effective on May 1, 2020, the RCMP/SFSS was mandated to change the FRTs of the firearms listed in the OIC. However, on or about May 15, 2020 - just days before Murray Smith's retirement - the RCMP/SFSS directly contravened the legislation in Bill C-42 by proceeding to remove relevant information from the FRTs for the Modern Hunter, Modern Varmint, and the Modern Sporter. The information that was removed included the crucial details that set them apart from many like them thereby removing all information that led to their legal classification as nonrestricted firearms. Further, the RCMP/SFSS proceeded to illegally change the legal status of our semi-automatic firearms without justification as these firearms are not included in the OIC's list and are not AR15/AR10 variants."

In his most recent court appearance, Timmins saw some setbacks. Initially, his lawsuit asked for compensation for having his property wrongfully confiscated. That, and other aspects of his lawsuit, were disallowed by the federal judge. However, the core part of his lawsuit is proceeding. Timmins will be allowed to go to court with his accusations that law enforcement and firearms officers mis-used the law when banning his company's products.

There's more to this lawsuit than argument over ATRS rifles, though. Potentially, the judge's decisions will be long-reaching and affect other rifles and shotguns affected by the OIC ban, or the legality of the FRT itself. Keep an eye on the ATRS Facebook page for more details (latest update here).