Saskatchewan Passes Motion Seeking Control of Firearms Regulation

The Saskatchewan legislature unanimously supported the passage of a motion that "calls upon the Government of Canada to devolve all relevant parts of The Firearms Act to the province of Saskatchewan in order to allow it to administer and regulate legal firearms possession." If permitted, this would make the Province of Saskatchewan broadly responsible for the application and administration of the Firearms Act within provincial boundaries.

Tabled by Carrot River MLA Fred Bradshaw, the motion was tabled in response to widespread provincial opposition to the federal Liberal Party of Canada's Bill C-21, which the Saskatchewan Party's caucus press release identifies as nullifying the value of legally owned handguns "despite the fact that most handgun crime is committed using illegally trafficked and acquired handguns." Now having been passed, it will require a response from the federal government and will likely add fuel to an already acrimonious relationship that seems to be forming between Saskatchewan's provincial government, headed up by Scott Moe, and the Trudeau government.

The press release also stated that the Government of Saskatchewan will not "stand idly by as the federal government brands thousands of law-abiding citizens as criminals," but expressed support for measures that actually work to interdict and prevent criminal use of firearms and improve public safety.

Saskatchewan had previously passed firearms legislation that required anyone involved in the confiscation of firearms to possess a Saskatchewan firearms licence - an evident and effective measure to subvert the Liberals' banning of long guns that largely began in May of 2020 by way of Order in Council.

We have reached out to the Government of Saskatchewan for more information and will update this space as we learn more.