Liberals Withdraw C-21 Amendments That Targeted SKS, Garand, And Many Common Hunting Firearms

The federal Liberals have withdrawn amendments from Bill C-21 that would have outlawed many common hunting firearms, along with many popular and historic military surplus rifles.

On February 3, Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed said the Liberals would withdraw amendments G4 and G46 from the controversial gun control bill, while leaving the rest of C-21 before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU).

Many Canadian shooters will breathe a sigh of relief at this news. These two amendments were introduced at the last minute of the legislative process, without any warning or proper previous parliamentary debate. If passed, vast numbers of hunting firearms and military surplus rifles would have been prohibited. Amendment G4 would have banned rifles or shotguns that were "…"capable of discharging centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner and that is designed to accept a detachable cartridge magazine with a capacity greater than five cartridges of the type for which the firearms was originally designed."

In other words: If you had a semi-auto centerfire long gun which had at one time had a magazine available that contained more than five rounds, that rifle or shotgun would have been banned. That list would have included longtime gun control targets such as the AR-15, but also hunting firearms like the Remington 74x series of autoloading deer rifles. It also would have targeted service rifles such as the SVT-40.

Speaking of those service rifles, many historically significant firearms such as the SVT-40, the M1 Carbine and the M1 Garand were also caught up in Amendment G46, a list 300-plus pages long that named specific guns the Liberals wanted banned, just in case they slipped through the wordage in Amendment G4. The highly popular SKS rifle was included, along with many shotguns and rifles that have only ever been marketed or intended for hunting purposes, and intended in no way to sell as military-style firearms.

Why the drawback?

This would have been a done deal in parliament, with the NDP backing up the Liberal minority government, except for one thing: Mass pushback by Canadian firearms owners. More than one MP acknowledged a massive letter-writing campaign, and even left-leaning media outlets criticised the government over the amendments, which were seen as a massive expense with little to no impact on actual firearms crimes in Canada.

What's next?

The majority of Bill C-21 is still there, waiting to be rubber-stamped by the Liberals and their supporters under the NDP and Bloc Quebecois flags. We've discussed this bill at length here at Calibre; it bans the sale of handguns (already currently on hold, thanks to other regulatory moves back in October, 2022). There are other issues with the bill, and Canadian political leaders have given mixed response, while law enforcement leaders have stood against it. While the removal of the latest amendments was a major win for Canadian firearms owners, the rest of the bill still drastically alters Canadian firearms law, opening the door for massive future restrictions. In other words, this isn't over yet.