More Fallout From Bill C-21 Amendments

The responses to amendments to Bill C-21 continue, even as the committee behind it prepares to sit once more.

Unveiled last week in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety hearing, these amendments go far beyond the bill's initial scope. At first unveiling in February of 2022, the bill was a jumbled mess, and in the weeks afterwards, civic leaders and law enforcement pointed out many problems with it. Bill C-22, which was announced shortly afterwards, caused even more confusion, as its soft-on-crime message was directly opposed to Bill C-21's tough-on-guns message. Critics pointed out that only law-abiding gun owners were affected by C-21, while criminals got off easier with C-22.

That criticism continues as the vast scope of C-21 becomes even more clear, with hunting rifles like the single-shot Ruger No. 1, the and potentially all Mauser sporter bolt actions. Collector's rifles with historic significance, including the M1 Carbine and the M1 Garand, are also banned (see the whole list of firearms banned by name here, but note that even this 309-page list is not comprehensive; many other firearms are banned based on their functions).

With that in mind, military reservist and author Michael Dorosh penned a piece in the Calgary Herald titled "Public debate on gun bans has ignored Canada's military history." See his excellent analysis of the gun ban viewed against Calgary's military history here.

Unsurprisingly, similar write-ups came from the opinion pages of most of Canada's right-leaning newspapers, and while there's often a corresponding gushing of approval from the left-leaning media, this did not seem to happen. The articles that did cover the amendments (here, here) were very careful to use the words "assault-style" and completely side-step the issue of traditional hunting firearms being banned. Canadians relying on those reports for their news would be completely unaware that the hunting firearms and historic collector pieces in their gun safe could be prohibited firearms in a matter of weeks.

The pushback from the western provincial governments continues, meanwhile. Here's Alberta's Chief Firearms Officer, Dr. Teri Bryant, with her reply to Bill C-21:

In the wake of Saskatchewan and Alberta's provincial governments' very pointed opposition to the C-21 amendments and general resistance to the gun ban, Kelvin Goertzen, Manitoba's Minister of Justice and Attorney General also announced his province was standing alongside them to oppose the federal firearms seizures.

What's next?

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety hearing continues today, and it seems silly to speculate what wild twists come next, beyond the usual opposition from the Conservative members (see Public Safety Critic Raquel Dancho's petition to fight C-21 here).

Some Canadian gun owners have said they've been encouraged by their interactions with their NDP MPs, raising hopes they might oppose the changes. But the reality is that Jagmeet Singh and his party have propped up the Liberal government every step of the way since the last election. It would seem foolish to expect otherwise at this point.

What can Canadians do, then? One thing is for sure: If you do nothing, you can expect nothing good to happen. We've already given you a how-to on letter writing, asking for changes. If you've already written your local representatives, maybe it's time to focus on letter-sending to the Senate, where Bill C-21 can be carefully re-examined, if it gets that far.