Alberta Uses Firearms Act to Mandate Provincial Licensing of Gun Confiscators

A Browning BAR 270 deer hunting rifle, which would be prohibited if the Liberal government’s gun legislation amendments pass in Canada. Courtesy of Tracey Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights

In its second use of the newly implemented Firearms Act, the Alberta government said it will require any individuals or organizations involved in confiscating firearms to be licensed by the province first.

According to Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, this move is intended to protect the province’s jurisdiction as well as the almost 342,000 Albertans with a license to legally possess a firearm.

“Despite opposition from provinces and territories to the use of police resources, the federal government is signalling that it is prepared to take front-line police officers off the street to implement the federal firearms confiscation program,” said a news release issued on April 24.

The province said that federal Public Safety Canada “also appears to be considering contracting with untrained personnel” to supplement the use of police.

Shandro criticized Public Safety as a “large and inefficient bureaucracy” and said it lacks the resources to undertake this plan.

“In normal circumstances, the federal government would have hit the pause button,” said Shandro. “Unfortunately, we continue to receive indications that the opposite is occurring.”

Shandro said the federal government’s plan to move forward with trying to confiscate legally purchased firearms “will jeopardize provincial requirements for the safe handling, transportation and storage of firearms. We will not allow that to happen.”

The province’s position is that using untrained personnel is “reckless” and would compromise public safety, and further that using police officers, while violent crime is on the rise, is a waste of police resources.

The province indicated that safe storage and the handling of firearms are areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino announces new gun control legislation at a press conference in Ottawa on May 30, 2022. Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press

Alberta’s Chief Firearms Officer Teri Bryant said the federal government needs to focus on illegal firearms activity, rather than targeting law-abiding firearms owners. She said taking guns away from responsible owners “will not improve public safety.”

The Alberta Firearms Act was introduced on March 7 and received royal assent three weeks later. On April 5, Alberta used it for the first time to prevent municipalities, police services, and police commissions from entering into any contracts or funding agreements with the federal government to enforce the Liberals’ planned gun confiscation.

At the time, Shandro said, “This action demonstrates that Alberta stands unequivocally with law-abiding firearms owners.”

Ban

The Liberals maintain their firearms legislation is to protect the public. A question period note—“Comprehensive prohibition of assault-style firearms,” dated Dec. 14, 2022—states: “The Government decided that these newly prohibited firearms and components are not reasonable for hunting or sport shooting purposes given the inherent danger they pose to public safety.”

In 2020, the federal government issued a ban on more than 1,500 models of previously legally purchased firearms through an Order-In-Council, which is now being challenged in court.

In October 2022, the government put a freeze on the transfer and importation of handguns, which effectively bans handgun ownership in the country. Then in December 2022, the government tabled sweeping last-minute amendments to Bill C-21, which is currently being debated by a House of Commons Committee.

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

The Liberal government withdrew the two controversial amendments during a meeting of the Commons Public Safety committee on Feb. 3, after backlash from all opposition parties and various industry and indigenous groups.

In a document referencing a meeting Feb. 21–22 acquired by the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, an advocacy group for legal gun owners, the federal government states that the RCMP will be the main agency responsible for the collection of “assault-style firearms,” and that the funding will come exclusively from the federal government.

There is no legal definition for an “assault-style firearm,” although the Liberal government’s sweeping amendments proposed an evergreen definition that would, by definition, ban thousands of guns and variants, some not even in existence yet. The move caused an uproar from various provinces, indigenous groups, firearms owners, politicians from multiple parties, and the industry.

The government document states that “given the high volume of firearms to collect,” Public Safety has held conversations with potential partners who could assist in confiscating guns banned by the Liberal government. The department said it had “encouraging discussions” with provincial officials from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia.

The federal government has previously acknowledged that the proposed legislation will confiscate many popular guns purchased legally and used for legitimate purposes.

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.