Bill C-21: What people are saying

Earlier this week, we told you about the federal government's proposed Bill C-21. It's a broad bill, with wordage including the Liberals' proposed compensation for guns banned by Order in Council, future banning procedure, yellow-flag and red-flag laws, a ban on airsoft guns, municipal handgun bans and lots more.

Calibre Magazine's commander-in-chief, Daniel Ritter, put a short video up on Facebook sharing his thoughts on Bill C-21, and in the days since, many others have had their say. Given the controversial nature of Bill C-21, industry insiders, journalists and other Canadians have been sharing opinions. American news outlets are running the story as well. Here's a look at some different viewpoints out there on the web:

National Post

Columnist Matt Gurney tackled Bill C-21 in his February 17 column. Reading through his viewpoint, Gurney seems unimpressed with the law, and doesn't think it will do anything helpful that isn't already addressed by current legislation. "When you set aside all this duplication of existing rules and regulations, and the Liberals’ relentless self-puffery, what you’re left with is … basically nothing," Gurney writes. "The Liberals claim that the legislation will improve public safety. But they aren’t actually taking a single gun from anyone. Details on the buyback of so-called assault rifles isn’t going to come for months, but the Liberals have already been clear that the buyback program won’t be mandatory." Read the full write-up here.

Toronto Sun

In his February 16 column, Lorne Gunter says Bill C-21 is a diversion. Gunter says Bill C-21 is intended to distract from the federal government lagging in its response to COVID-19. "After weeks of bad headlines on vaccines, the Liberals tried to flip the script on Tuesday by introducing sweeping new gun controls designed to fill out the sketchy details of their massive gun ban, announced last May 1," he writes. He goes on to point out parts of the bill that he thinks make sense (the sections regarding gun trafficking, smuggling and theft). He ends the column by pointing out municipal handgun bans are of little value, if they only restrict firearms possession or use in a small geographic area. See more here.

Toronto Star

The country's right-leaning newspapers are unhappy with Bill C-21, but so are the left-leaning papers. The Toronto Star says the law doesn't go far enough. A column carrying the editorial board byline says Canada needs a flat-out handgun ban. After several paragraphs pointing out problems with Bill C-21, the column closes with a demand for a ban on legal handguns, even though the writer(s) admit this "won’t magically rid us of the illegal ones." If you need to see more of this, read here. Look around other left-leaning media sources, and you'll basically get the same message: They all think Bill C-21 doesn't go far enough. Canadian gun control advocates echo that viewpoint.

Runkle of the Bailey

Alberta lawyer Ian Runkle has plenty of his own thoughts on the issue. He's working through analysis of Bill C-21 on his Runkle of the Bailey YouTube channel. Check out his videos below, and if you find his work useful, throw a few dollars his way. More support for his channel = more videos.

CCFR

The Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights tackles Bill C-21 in its weekly podcast, as you'd expect. See the CCFR's opinion below:

Canadian politicians

No surprises here. Generally, Conservative MPs seem to be down on Bill C-21, while the Liberals support it and other left-leaning parties are dithering as they weigh their options. Remember, Bill C-21 also brings in provincial and municipal leaders, particularly in the area of handgun bans. For this reason, it would be a good idea for you to contact your local civic leaders, MLA and MP, and let them know your thoughts. Thinking of voting for anyone other than the incumbent, in the next election? Call that person, too. We've seen suggestions that some CPC candidates are backing Bill C-21 …

American outlets

American magazines and websites are jumping on this story as well. Most of the coverage comes as straight news reporting, but you can find a piece on Bearing Arms that compares it to President Joe Biden's own pending gun ban plans.