Welp, we're in an another federal election

Unless you've been back on the trapline away from electronics for the past few days, you know we're in the middle of another Canadian federal election. And, if you've been in Canada for anything longer than a few months, you know that firearms are going to be kicked back and forth by the politicos in coming weeks, just like a CFL third-down football.

With parliament dissolved on August 15, we're still in the early days of the campaign, which means not every party has released a solid plan to deal with firearms laws. However, generally speaking, we expect the same rule as always: Right-leaning parties (Conservative Party, People's Party) will announce some sort of plan to lessen gun control, while left-leaning parties (NDP, Liberals, Green, Bloc) will announce a plan to introduce even more gun control.

In the case of the current election, the Conservatives have already come out stating the party's intention to repeal Bill C-71, as well as the Liberal government's Order in Council bans from May, 2020. However, taking at look at the CPC's plan we also see a plan to crack down on "straw purchasing" by "Amending the Firearms Act so that an individual who, on three separate occasions during a calendar year, transfers a firearm for financial consideration must have a firearms business license." Does this mean someone who sells four hunting rifles a year must now have a firearms business licence, to cut down on street crime? Further inquiries are needed, for sure.

The Conservatives' platform contains several other proposals for firearms regulations, including "Amending firearms laws to ensure that no administrative expiry could lead to criminal charges or the seizure of a licence holder’s firearm(s)." There's a lot to chew on here, so once again, take a look at the whole thing here (the firearms section starts on Page 87).

The reply from the Liberal Party is as expected, here: "Instead of keeping our communities safe from gun and gang violence, O’Toole will ignore the advice of doctors and police and keep his backroom promises to the gun lobby. By promising to repeal the assault-style weapons ban and remove lifetime background checks, O’Toole is putting our communities and first responders at risk." Heading over to the "Our Progress" section of the Liberals' website, we see the party talking about "Banning 1,500 models of assault-style weapons, and moving forward with the strongest measures to combat gun violence that our country has ever seen." Although we have not heard of any new gun control measures announced at this point, it is a foregone conclusion, based on the past few years of Liberal reign.

The People's Party of Canada has an easy-to-find section on its platform dealing with firearms, including a plan to "Require that all firearms categories be based on function, not on looks or arbitrary political whims, and remove ineffective restrictions which unfairly target sport shooters, but have no deterrent effect on criminals." The PPC also proposes to "Mandate that all future changes to firearms regulation be completed through Parliament only. This means that neither the RCMP nor cabinet will be able to move the legal goalposts for legal firearms owners without the approval of Parliament."

What about the NDP? A scan through the party's platform does not reveal any revelations on plans for gun control at this point. No doubt the party will address this at some point on the campaign trail. Same for the Green Party. The 2021 Canadian federal election closes on September 20, so we have plenty of time left to learn everybody's plans for Canadian firearms owners.