Bill C-21: Form Letters, Get Your Form Letters!

The Liberal government-backed amendment to Bill C-21, which originally strove to freeze handguns and institute redundant red flag laws, now seeks to prohibit all commercially available semi-automatic centrefire rifles and many semi-automatic shotguns.

The most effective thing you can do as a gun owner to prevent this is to contact your government representatives directly. In order to support and assist gun owners in doing so, we've prepared (and hope to continue to prepare) form letters, because we know everyone's busy these days. Please feel free to copy, adapt, or otherwise use any of the letters below to communicate your concerns to your MP, MLA, or MPP - because we need to communicate our concerns with both provincial and federal representatives at least. Because what we are witnessing with this amendment to Bill C-21 is the single biggest change to Canadian gun law since the very creation of the Firearms Act.

Please, remember to be polite, and both address and sign your emails appropriately, identifying yourself as a constituent (if you're contacting your representative), or as someone impacted or concerned about this paradigm shift in Canadian gun legislation (if you're contacting your provincial or federal Ministry of Public Safety).

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Hello [insert your representative's name here],

I am tremendously concerned about the proposed amendments to Bill C-21.

Originally put forward to the Canadian public and debated in the House as a bill that dealt with handguns and red flag laws, the amendments sought by the government expand it to ban all commercially available semi-automatic centrefire rifles and many shotguns. This definition includes millions of individual firearms, owned by over a million licensed Canadians, none of which have ever committed any sort of violent crime. We know this because doing so would already trigger an automatic firearms prohibition due to the Continuous Eligibility Screening Program that runs daily criminal background checks on all licensed gun owners.

This is the largest change to Canadian firearms ownership regulations since the creation of the very Firearms Act itself, and expands an existing two-year-old gun ban that's coincided with the worst increases in gun violence in recent memory. In fact, seven years of ever-increasing gun regulation has had no demonstrative impact on Canada's violent crime or even gun crime rates whatsoever, while negatively impacting millions of Canadian gun owners' lives and, most importantly, pulling billions of dollars away from chronically underfunded programs that would have larger, positive public safety outcomes, from at-risk youth supports, to mental health facilities, to shelters, to addictions and counselling supports in the community. I'm sure you can think of at least a dozen.

For all these reasons, as a constituent, I ask you to please examine this bill and the amendments being sought and consider opposing it. It does not address the criminal use of firearms nor the criminal possession of firearms, and seeks simply to divide, which it will - at tremendous cost.

I am available at your convenience via this email to answer any questions you might have about my perspective or my concerns, and look forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely,

[Your name here]

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Hello [insert your representative's name here],

I'm writing to you today as a [constituent/gun owner] because I am extremely concerned about a last-minute amendment the government is seeking to Bill C-21; the handgun freeze.

The amendment they're trying to pass will ban all commercially available semi-automatic rifles, and many semi-automatic shotguns. These are firearms that many people prefer to use for hunting because they allow for easier second shots, in case you miss the first and wound the animal, or are doing predator control. Their actions also reduce recoil significantly, which makes them especially popular when a larger, heavier-recoiling calibre is required; such as when hunting big, or dangerous game - of which, Canada's got both the biggest and the most dangerous game on the continent. Finally, semi-automatic rifles are frequently used by those with disabilities, as they're easier to operate and thus, safer.

And to be clear, there are millions of currently non-restricted individual firearms that meet the proposed definition of a prohibited firearm based on this amendment, and likely over a million licensed gun owners in possession of a firearm that would be prohibited by this legislation. Over a million people will see their property rendered worthless, unable to be inherited or passed down to remind future generations of past traditions; their owners having done nothing more heinous than passing the RCMP-mandated training and testing to obtain a gun license and purchasing what - the wrong model of firearm?

This is clearly wrong and should be stopped, even if only so as to allow proper debate through the proper democratic process. So please examine Bill C-21, the amendments being sought by the government, and please consider myself and the thousands of other constituents this legislation unfairly impacts and oppose these changes.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]

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Hello [insert your provincial Public Safety Minister's name here]

On Tuesday the Federal government announced its intention to ban all semiautomatic hunting and sporting rifles, and many semiautomatic shotguns with a proposed amendment to Bill C-21, which originally sought to freeze handgun sales.

Although obviously beyond the scope of our provincial government, I am contacting you today out of concern over the future impacts this amendment may have on our province's budget and economy. Already, numerous provinces have decried the expense of enforcing the Liberal rifle buyback and this amendment expands that prohibition to include literally millions more firearms owned by hundreds of thousands if not millions more Canadians.

Given the modern strains on our policing and safety budgets, I wanted to bring this to your attention as it seems relevant, both as a gun owner, resident of [insert province here] and of course, a taxpayer. The extensive bans installed by OIC in 2020 have had no positive impact on gun crime rates, and the passage of these expanded bans would only increase the cost of enforcement and reduce funds available to support the addicted, mentally ill, and at-risk.

Thank you for your time, and whatever you might be able to do to help stop this,

[insert your name here]

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Hello [insert your provincial representative's name here],

On Tuesday the Federal government announced its intention to ban all semiautomatic hunting and sporting rifles, and many semiautomatic shotguns with a proposed amendment to Bill C-21, which originally sought to freeze handgun sales.

Although obviously a federal matter, such a broad and sweeping change as outlawing semiautomatic rifles that are among the most popular on the market (due to their practical benefits for sport shooting and hunting) will have provincial and community impacts that I believe you should be aware of.

First off, this will have tremendous impacts on the obvious; the firearms industry. But it will also be tremendously detrimental to our local gun club community, which numbers in the thousands, and who rely on the patronage of the sports shooters and hunters this legislation directly targets.

Secondly, it will have a net negative effect on public safety, as the legislation only targets licensed gun owners rather than criminals in possession of firearms, but any meaningful enforcement will require substantial funds - funds that would have a much greater, and positive impact if allocated towards mental health supports, addiction counselling, at-risk youth programs, community health outreach or policing.

I hope that you might carry my concerns to the provincial government, as I truly believe that avoiding saddling provincial Public Safety budgets with enforcing such a pointless piece of needlessly divisive legislation should be a priority.

Thank you for your time,

[insert your name here]