Alberta Tables Provincial Firearms Legislation to Push Back Against Ottawa

Hunting rifles and shotguns at a gun store in Toronto, in a file photo. Kevin Frayer/The Canadian Press

The Alberta government has followed through on previous promises, tabling a provincial firearms bill intended to push back against Ottawa’s efforts to confiscate certain types of guns.

Justice Minister Tyler Shandro introduced Bill 8, the Alberta Firearms Act, in the legislature on March 7, with the stated purpose of providing the province “with more tools to protect areas of provincial jurisdiction over firearms while expanding the role of the Alberta Chief Firearms Office.”

“Once passed, the Alberta Firearms Act will strengthen Alberta’s ability to regulate, administer, and advocate on behalf of firearms owners,” says a government news release.

One of the proposed changes would prevent municipalities and municipal police forces from “entering into firearms related funding agreements with the federal government.”

At a news conference on March 7, Shandro said the province had “great concerns” about the federal government providing money to municipal employees to act as “confiscation agents” in the seizure of weapons.

Shandro said the province has “opposed the confiscation program from the beginning” because it does not enhance public safety. He said the federal government is “reducing the mandatory minimum penalties for people who are accused and convicted of weapons trafficking,” and instead they should be working with the provinces to improve safety and reduce gun crime.

“The confiscation program doesn’t do that,” said Shandro, who added that with Bill 8, anyone who acts as a “seizure agent” must be licensed by the province.

“We don’t think that there should be anyone involved in being engaged as a seizure agent for the confiscation program,” he stated. “Alberta stands unequivocally with hunters, farmers, sport shooters, and Indigenous peoples, all of whom understand the importance of responsible firearm ownership to Alberta’s heritage and culture.”

Federal Gun Ban Efforts

The federal government first moved to ban a long list of over 1,500 types of legally purchased firearms in May 2020 and reclassify them as prohibited under an Order-in-Council. Trudeau followed with the announcement of a handgun ban and freeze that came into effect on Oct. 21, 2022.

In November, the government tabled sweeping last-minute amendments to Bill C-21, which was being debated by a House of Commons Committee before the session ended for the holidays.

If passed, the bill will ban most semi-automatic shotguns and rifles—including many ordinary hunting shotguns and rifles purchased legally. The proposed amendments would also ban any gun that can hold a detachable magazine.

The bill and sweeping last-minute amendments sparked an uproar from firearms owners and opposition parties, who said it targets hunters, farmers, ranchers, and sport shooters and involves thousands of popular, common makes and models of rifles and shotguns, most of which were never required to be registered and were legally purchased by licensed, trained firearms owners with a permit.

Shandro said at the time that the legislation “will criminalize hundreds of thousands of Canadians overnight—the majority of which reside in Western Canada.”

Bill 8 provides roughly 60 sub-clauses on how the province can make regulations on firearms. For example, one clause allows the province to decide the types or classes of firearms licenses, while another covers application fees for licenses and rules regarding the issuance and renewals of licenses.

“Alberta could create regulations to respond to federal actions that negatively impact law-abiding firearms owners here in the province,” Shandro said, citing the seizure and confiscation of firearms as one example.

The bill would also mandate that the Chief Firearms Office, which was created in 2021 to administer firearms legislation, produce annual reports. The firearms office will have a budget this year of $5.8 million and will more than double the number of staff, going from 30 employees to 70.

It would further require forensic testing of confiscated firearms that may have been used in a crime, and would develop a firearms compensation committee to ensure owners receive fair compensation for their firearms.

Alberta had previously indicated it will not allow the RCMP to act as confiscation agents. The province has jurisdiction over policing agreements in Alberta.

Alberta NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir said Bill 8 “does nothing to get assault weapons off the streets or improve safety for families.” However, he added that the federal government needs “to withdraw and reconsider their amendments that would have captured many firearms, including those used by Albertans and Indigenous peoples for hunting.”

There are 341,988 individuals in Alberta licensed to possess or acquire a firearm. Alberta has 127 approved shooting ranges and more than 650 firearms-related businesses.

The Alberta government said gun ownership is on the rise, from approximately 30,000 who complete the mandatory firearms safety training each year on average, to 38,000 in 2021.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.