A firearms rights group is siding with Canada Post in its refusal to collect guns banned by the federal government in 2020.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights says the Crown corporation is justified in refusing to carry out the task.
“Canada Post is right to refuse the job. It would put their staff in direct danger being a target for organized crime,” Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights vice-president Tracey Wilson told The Epoch Times.
“Every little Canada Post truck and depot would be at risk. They don’t have the security force, the secure storage, nor the secure transport to carry out this task.”
Ms. Wilson added that the Liberal government had not appropriately mapped out what a gun confiscation program would look like, claiming it would be “virtually impossible to identify, locate and confiscate over a half million guns from Canadians in a country of this size.”
PolySeSouvient, a gun control group that represents survivors and families of the École Polytechnique massacre, said in a statement it was “deeply disappointed” by Canada Post’s refusal to support the implementation of the buyback. The group said the Crown corporation had experience with delivering millions of parcels every year, including guns sold by manufacturers and retail stores.
“Given these facts, it is unacceptable for Canada Post not to readily provide its expertise for the federal government’s buyback program, which a majority of Canadians support,” the group said in its statement, adding that the decision would put communities at increased risk of gun violence.
A spokesperson from Canada Post told The Epoch Times the corporation would “not be commenting at this time.”Federal sources reportedly told CBC they were puzzled by Canada Post’s refusal to receive the firearms, because the Crown corporation delivers guns to Canadians who buy them online. The sources reportedly said that in talks with Canada Post, they proposed a compromise where the postal service would transport the weapons without the responsibility of receiving them directly from gun owners.
Firearms Buyback
During the 2019 and 2021 elections, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised the federal government would conduct a buyback of semi-automatic weapons, which it initially estimated would cost between $400 million and $600 million. However, internal government documents later revealed estimates that the program would cost nearly $2 billion.The Liberals announced a ban on the use, sale and importation of more than 1,500 makes and models of “assault-style weapons” in May 2020 following a mass shooting a month earlier in Nova Scotia that left 22 people dead. The shooter had acquired five firearms illegally, including three that were imported from the United States.
The federal government announced Bill C-21 in February 2021, which introduced the buyback program for banned firearms. Legislation adopted last year also imposed a national freeze on the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns in Canada.
