Bill C-21 Amendments: Fallout And Pushback Begin

Earlier this week, at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety hearing, Liberal MP Paul Chiang introduced an amendment to Bill C-21 that did two things. First, it banned any semi-auto centerfire rifle or shotgun that could accept a detachable magazine containing more than five rounds. Second, it also added a long list of guns to the prohibited-by-name list—that is, the list of firearms that are banned although they do not have automatic fire capability, short barrels, or other functions or features that are outright banned in Canada.

As a result, basically any commercially available semi-auto centerfire rifle is now banned. Notably, the list includes any and all AR180-pattern rifles (which includes most semi-autos built in Canada over the past few years), the Benelli MR1 rifle and M1 and M3 shotguns, the Ruger PC Carbine, the Ljungman AG42 service rifle, the M1 Carbine and M1 Garand, the SVT-40, the Kel-Tec SU16, Sub 2000 and RFB rifles, the JR Carbine and even the SKS rifle and variants. You can see a 309-page list published by the CCFR here.

Remember that many of the firearms on this list were already named by the May, 2020 Order in Council. Also remember that this is a wish list of what Liberal politicians want to have added to the prohib list. It is not law yet. None of these most recently added firearms will show up on the Armalytics.ca website for now, but others like the AR-15 and its variants will, since they were previously affected by the OIC.

Note that despite some politicians calling this a blanket ban on semi-auto firearms, this is not the case at this point. Generally speaking, tube-fed hunting shotguns seem to be unaffected by Bill C-21 as long as they aren't specifically named. The fate of semi-auto deer rifles is more questionable; no 10-round magazines are available in Canada for firearms such as the Remington semi-autos, and they aren't specifically named in the updated prohibited list, but it seems unwise to make any statements without confirmation either way until the bill is passed, if indeed that happens. Consider that the Mini-14 and Mini-30 and many other hunting rifles are currently banned.

Opposition from political leaders

In the days following the C-21 update, Alberta Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe have both voiced their opposition to the last-minute changes to the bill, and of course, the federal Conservatives on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety have also announced their opposition.

Minister Shandro's statement following the C21 rule change was particularly interesting, as he stated the following in a press release:

"Only two months ago, Alberta took unprecedented action to protect law-abiding firearms owners by announcing our intention to intervene in six firearms lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the 2020 federal firearms prohibitions.

“Alberta then went further, announcing that we would take steps to seek to prevent the federal government from conscripting RCMP officers to confiscate legally acquired firearms. Alberta was quickly joined by Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and the Yukon.

“With the amendments tabled on Nov. 22, it has become increasingly clear that these actions are not enough. The federal government is clearly seeking to ban legal firearm ownership altogether. In the coming weeks, Alberta will explore all available options to take action.” 

What are these other available options? We shall see, just as we shall see if the other western provinces, the Yukon and New Brunswick will back Alberta's play again.