The Government of Canada’s announced a series of measures to strengthen protections against gun violence. These measures will be introduced through several proposed amendments to Bill C-21 and additional changes made through regulation and other reforms. The proposed measures are intended to help prevent assault-style firearms and ghost guns from entering Canadian communities while also clarifying firearm classification for the gun industry and protecting the firearms of hunters and other law-abiding gun owners.
In Canada, firearms are classified as non-restricted, restricted, and prohibited, with Section 84 of the Criminal Code outlining the criteria for each classification. The 2020 ban on assault-style firearms allowed the Government of Canada to prohibit over 1,500 makes and models through an Order-in-Council. The ban addressed concerns about the safety risks these types of firearms pose and their unsuitability for civilian use. Assault-style firearms can cause injury and death to many people in a short period of time and have been used in mass shootings in Canada.
Bill C-21, introduced on May 30, 2022, is the government’s most significant action on gun violence in a generation. It proposes to strengthen rules to prevent gun violence in Canadian communities by placing responsible restrictions on some firearms used in Canada. The Bill aims to address gaps in the law related to gun crime and introduces a national freeze on the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns. The Bill includes measures to address the role of guns in gender-based violence, strengthen border controls, combat firearms smuggling and trafficking, and address concerns with mid-power “replica” airguns.
The proposed amendments to Bill C-21 include a new technical definition of prohibited firearms that would be inserted into the Import Control List in the Criminal Code. The proposed definition focuses on semi-automatic, center-fire firearms that are not handguns and were designed with a detachable magazine with six cartridges or more capacity. The definition would only apply to firearms designed and manufactured on or after the definition comes into force. Codifying the definition in law and adding a requirement to obtain Firearms Reference Table (FRT) numbers through regulatory amendments would clarify firearm classification for the gun industry and ensure that no firearm is unaccounted for in the classification process.
The package of measures also includes proposed amendments to address the growing threat of illegally manufactured firearms, commonly known as “ghost guns.” The amendments would enact new offences targeting ghost guns and classify them and other illegally made firearms as prohibited. The proposed changes also include a specific provision stating that nothing in Bill C-21 derogates from the rights of Indigenous peoples recognized and affirmed under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Additionally, a new clause in the Bill would require a parliamentary review of the amendment to the definition of prohibited firearm five years after the coming into force of the new provisions.
Beyond amendments to Bill C-21, the Government of Canada plans to introduce additional measures through regulations. The government plans to update regulations regarding large-capacity magazines to require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so that they can never hold more than five rounds and to ban the sale or transfer of magazines that can hold more bullets than the legal number.
By strengthening gun violence protection measures, the government hopes to prevent assault-style firearms and ghost guns from entering Canadian communities, clarify firearm classification for the gun industry, and protect law-abiding hunters and law-abiding citizens.
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