The vast majority of gun crimes are committed by thugs with illegally obtained firearms. Nothing the Trudeau Liberals announced today addresses this problem. In fact, the Liberals previously reduced sentencing for violent crimes. All that changes today is that a lot of law-abiding firearms owners are at immediate legal risk of serious jail time if they unknowingly don’t comply with every new condition imposed by Prime Minister Trudeau’s regulatory order.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear throughout the COVID-19 crisis that he does not respect the democratic role of Parliament. Without a discussion, debate, or vote in Parliament, the Liberals used a procedural tactic called an order-in-council (OIC) to direct this ban from Prime Minister Trudeau’s desk through his Cabinet into law. Now, the Liberals are pushing through Bill C-21, which features a wasteful and ineffective billion-dollar gun confiscation that goes hard on vetted, regulated, law-abiding firearms owners, hunters, farmers, and sports shooters, while ignoring the illegally smuggled guns used by gangsters across Canada. The Liberals claim to only target handguns, but their recent amendments to the bill would have criminalized millions of hunting rifles, and taken away up to half of the firearms owned by law-abiding Canadians. It was only after pressure from the Conservatives and thousands of hunters, sports shooters, and farmers, that the Liberals dropped these additions to C-21. But make no mistake, they will try this again!
Canadians want answers and action. With Canada seeing a 92% rise in gang homicides, a 62% rise in sexual assaults, a 32% rise in violent assaults, and a 29% rise in murders, most of these crimes are committed using illegally smuggled guns, so taking firearms away from law-abiding citizens will not stop dangerous criminals who obtain their guns illegally. As the RCMP made clear, the Nova Scotia murderer did not have a firearms licence, so all of his guns were illegal.
I will always support common-sense firearms policies that target dangerous criminals – but the Liberal approach is an ideologically driven attack on legal firearms owners that does nothing to prevent gangs and thugs without a licence from using illegally sourced firearms, many of which are smuggled in from other countries - nor does it increase penalties or punishment for crimes committed with firearms or increase monitoring or mental health supports for at-risk individuals.
Please take a minute to email the Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety, or call their offices to let them know how you feel about their unilateral actions:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – 613-992-4211 or [email protected]
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino – 613.992.6361 or [email protected]
And be sure to cc me at [email protected] when you email so I know what you said!
Details on the Liberal gun ban can be found here: C-21 (44-1) - LEGISinfo - Parliament of Canada
Thank you,
Shannon Stubbs
Member of Parliament for Lakeland