The new federal gun legislation is lacking in crucial areas, according to anti-gun activists and gun owners alike
When Heidi Rathjen was a student in 1989, she witnessed the mass shooting at École Polytechnique in Montreal, commonly known as the Montreal Massacre.
A man entered the school, shot and killed 14 women and injured 14 others.
In response to the tragedy, Rathjen and fellow student Wendy Cukier founded the Coalition for Gun Control. Their mission is to reduce gun deaths and crimes, in part by pressuring the federal government to strengthen firearm control laws.
In 1995, when the federal government introduced the Firearms Act — requiring registration and background checks for firearm ownership in Canada — Rathjen left the coalition, thinking her work was done. But when the Conservative government introduced amendments to the Firearms Act in 2012, Bill C-19 abolished the registry for any non-restricted firearms.
In the wake of these changes, Rathjen and many survivors of the Montreal Massacre returned to their advocacy work, forming Poly Se Souvient, or Poly Remembers, on a mission to prevent the weakening of gun control legislation.
When Justin Trudeau’s liberal government was re-elected, Rathjen was hopeful for the future of gun control. Their 2019 election platform said they would “ban all military style assault rifles” and “initiate a buyback program for all assault rifles legally purchased.”
Finally introduced on Feb. 16, Bill C-21 was meant to fulfil those campaign promises. But Rathjen said she feels betrayed and lied to.
While Bill C-21 does include a voluntary buyback program for all banned assault weapons, Rathjen doesn’t think the government is sincerely fulfilling its promises.
She said a mandatory buyback program would give the federal government the opportunity to start dismantling a large number of assault weapons. Instead, because the buyback is not mandatory, Bill C-21 could easily be overturned by the next Conservative government. If that were to happen,“it will cement our defeat and kill the gun control movement,” said Rathjen.
The National Firearms Association (NFA) has already advised gun owners to keep their guns and wait.
Instead of a mandatory buyback, the legislation proposes making it illegal to discharge, trade or sell assault rifles, while also imposing stricter storage regulations. People who want to retain prohibited guns will be required to get a licence to possess them and will have to register them with the government, according to Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair.
Erin O’Toole, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, has already promised to reverse the assault weapon bans if he is elected. The NFA has also said it will work to overturn Bill C-21.
“Bills C-71 and C-21 exclusively target the rights, freedoms and property of Canadians, while doing absolutely nothing to target the real root causes or perpetrators of violence in Canada,” wrote NFA vice-president, Blair Hagen, in an email. He said their efforts are dedicated to delivering “the rights and freedoms vote” in the next federal election.
“It’s just a temporary freeze on the market of assault weapons, which can be easily reversed,” Rathjen said. “We don’t support Bill C-21 and we want the government to go back to the drawing board.”
She said she is concerned that the bill does not call for a ban on the sale of magazines that can be modified. The current laws in Canada limit cartridge capacities to five or 10 bullets, depending on the type of weapon, but retailers can sell larger cartridges with a pin inserted to limit the bullet capacity to the legal number.
“The pin can be easily removed, which is what mass shooters have done,” she said.
Bill C-21 proposes making it illegal to alter cartridges, instead of limiting the sale of easily modifiable magazines. Rathjen said increasing fines and jail times are the easiest things to do politically but a finding backed by the Supreme Court of Canada suggests that “tougher penalties do not deter crime.”
Since 2013, gun violence in Canada has been increasing steadily, with much of the violence occurring in Toronto, according to Statistics Canada.
In 2013, 141 people were injured or killed by firearms in Toronto, reported Toronto police. In 2020, that number was 217 people. Already this year, nine people in Toronto have been killed by guns.
Louis March, the founder of the Zero Gun Violence Movement in Toronto, said Bill C-21 misses the mark. “It doesn’t address the root causes of gun violence, and it’s very piecemeal and fragmented,” he said.
March said he would like to see more efforts to address the deeper causes of gun violence, especially focused on early prevention.
“Nobody is born with a gun in their hand,” he said, adding that guns used in criminal activity are typically illegal guns coming across the southern border. “Our focus must be on preventing those illegal guns from getting into the hands of young people.”
Minister Blair said that Bill C-21 includes investing heavily in border security, but there is no mention of increased border security in the bill itself.
The new legislation was also drafted without consulting the provincial and municipal governments. Stephen Warner, speaking on behalf of Solicitor General of Ontario Sylvia Jones, said that Ontario would be interested in working with the federal government on strengthening measures at the U.S. border and other legislative reforms. “Our focus is on action that makes a real impact in reducing illegal gun and gang violence,” he said.
More than half of gun-related homicides in Canada involve handguns, according to Statistics Canada. In their 2019 platform, Trudeau’s government said it would work with provincial and territorial municipalities in order to give them the ability to further restrict or ban handguns. The new legislation, however, leaves it entirely up to municipal and provincial governments to impose any new restrictions.
“Toronto does not have the resources, including staff, to be able to effectively enforce any local ban on handguns,” said Toronto centre city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam in a statement.
In order to reduce gun-related violence in Toronto and Canada at large, March said in addition to better policing, he would suggest education, outreach and support for youth in poverty, as well as greater support for ex-convicts looking for legal work.
Bill C-21 promises $250 million distributed over five years to municipalities and Indigenous communities to support anti-gang programming and prevention programs for youth-at-risk. Where exactly that money will go, and how it will be distributed remains to be seen.
“What I’d really like to see is the three levels of government coming together and creating a policy or legislation that they all agreed to,” said March. “That would have an impact.”
On March 26, 2021 at 5:58 p.m. EDT, this story was updated to clarify language in paragraphs nine and 15.
Pelly Shaw worked for the Ryersonian in 2021. She also worked for the Canadian Environmental Law Association as a communications intern.
3 comments
I’m an airsoft player myself I don’t have a PAL or any firearms at all just airsoft this Bill c-21 targets the airsoft community as well and I think personally people should be more educated on the types of firearms that are prohibited in Canada so people don’t mistake an airsoft gun for an actual firearm like for example assault style rifles such as an ar-15 or m14/m1a which in airsoft is the most common airsoft gun you’ll see at any airsoft field unlike the m14 they’re a bit more rare to see at an airsoft game but anyway ar15’s and m14’s are prohibited now people need to see what these types of firearms look like so that they can easily identify real from fake being that ar15’s and assault style weapons are now prohibited I highly doubt you’ll see anyone with a real one if you do now it’s most likely fake
and also sound suppressors are prohibited devices as well which they do make dummy ones for airsoft use only you can’t modify them for a real firearm either because they just aren’t built for real firearms some have tracer units in them that work with glow in the dark bb’s and if you actually pay attention even in the event of a robbery with a airsoft gun you can actually see the inner barrel they were designed this way for that reason to allow you to identify real from fake my airsoft guns I never really bring out unless I’m going to an airsoft game or event I’ve been playing this sport since I was 9 I’m 26 now and still playing and fixing and upgrading my own airsoft guns and has also been the only thing that’s been keeping me afloat during the pandemic and also keeps me busy and also there’s a reason you have to be 18+ to buy one because airsoft guns were never meant for children and also the police have most of these criminals on they’re radar but nothing gets done about it deal with the criminals you’ll solve your gun related violence but also I have noticed police shoot just as many people because they’re going for they’re guns before using non-lethal force which they’re aren’t supposed to do there’s a reason they have tasers and pepper spray my girlfriend’s cousin was shot down by police in tofino and he wasn’t even really involved in the situation but he still had his life taken away because of idiot police officers that do this sort of nonsense if we are having our guns taken away then the police should too because they’re almost as bad as the criminals and last year her niece was shot and killed by police too 5 rounds which was excessive there was no need to do that and where is that officer now he’s still on active duty because he lied in the report so now he’s out there to basically do the same thing because now he’s thinking he can get away with it so it’s not just criminals that are the problem it’s our own law enforcement officials that are a root cause to gun violence too if I was the one investigating that police officer last year I would’ve stripped him from his gun and badge and uniform he wouldn’t be a police officer today if I had any say in it because if Bill c-21 were to pass it may potentially minimize gun violence from criminals but not the police because then they’ll think they have all the power to do whatever they want to civilians because they have guns and we don’t so again if our guns and such are being taken away from us then they should be taken away from the police too instead of targeting groups and communities that do these activities responsibily so again this Bill is pointless and meaningless to Canada because it won’t stop gun violence because if it’s not criminals doing it it’s law enforcement that’s doing it.
Great well balanced coverage of a very overlooked subject. Well written without a injection of personal emotions. Excellent job.
240 gun murders a year in Canada, 82% of crime guns are smuggled from USA according to Chief of Toronto police. So over 200 murders are by criminals with illegal guns. Get rid of the 82% and Canada becomes the safest countries on earth. Legally owned assault rifles killed no one in Canada last year,plus they can only hold 5 bullets in Canada like any hunting rifle
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