EXPLAINER: Which Guns Can Canadians Still Own and Purchase After Bill C-21 Becomes Law?

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

With Bill C-21 passing the House of Commons and going to the Senate, Canada could soon see what Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino calls “the most significant gun control legislation in Canada in a generation.”

The legislation, known as “An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments,” proposes a series of amendments to the Canadian Criminal Code, Firearms Act, and other federal legislation in order to fulfill the Liberal government’s commitments on gun control.

Bill C-21 passed the House on May 18 and seeks to enact a ban on so-called “assault-style” firearms, as well as increase penalties for firearms trafficking, introduce measures to curb homemade “ghost guns,” and cement restrictions on handguns into law.

The legislation will impact Canada’s more than 2.3 million gun owners. So which firearms will be banned, and what will Canadians still be able to purchase?

Which Guns Will Be Banned?

In Nova Scotia in April 2020, a gunman used firearms smuggled across the Canada-U.S. border to conduct the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history, killing 22 people—nine of whom died in fires set by the gunman—and injuring three others before he was shot and killed by the RCMP.

Two weeks after the shooting, the federal government announced it would ban the sale, transportation, importation, and use of more than 1,500 models of “assault-style” firearms. Under an Order in Council, these weapons were re-classified as “prohibited” under Canada’s Firearm Act, leading to a two-year amnesty period for owners to dispose of, register, or sell their guns.

After Bill C-21 becomes law, Canadians will be unable to purchase firearms that discharge centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner, were originally designed with a detachable cartridge magazine with a capacity of six cartridges or more, or were “designed and manufactured on or after” the day the legislation becomes law.

The mandatory buyback will apply to the more than 1,500 models and variants of “assault-style” firearms the federal government banned back in May 2020. The federal government has proposed financial compensation to firearms owners whose guns fall under the ban.

There are a total of 11 categories of firearms that are banned under the new legislation; the AR Platform, Cx4 Storm, CZ Scorpion, M14 Rifle, Robinson Armament, Ruger Mini-14, SG550 and SG551, SIG Sauer MXC and MPX, VZ.58, firearms with a bore diameter greater than 20 mm, and firearms with a muzzle energy greater than 10,000 joules.

Bill C-21 will also “freeze” the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns in Canada, except for a limited set of individuals and businesses, without completely banning their use. The transfer of handguns is already frozen under regulations introduced, but the bill will enshrine it into law.

What About the Amendments to Bill C-21?

In November 2021, the federal government attempted to add two amendments to Bill C-21 that would have constituted a blanket ban on almost all types of semi-automatic firearms, including many used for hunting.

One amendment would have introduced a new definition of an “assault-style” gun that included semi-automatic rifles and shotguns with a capacity of more than five cartridges, while another amendment would have banned 482 additional firearms by name, including the popular SKS rifle used by an estimated 200,000 Canadians.

Conservative and New Democrat MPs, as well as indigenous communities, hunters, firearms groups, and sports shooters, argued that the amendments would prohibit many rifles and shotguns used for hunting. Following an outcry from the groups, the Liberal government withdrew the amendments to Bill C-21 in February 2023.

But in early May, the Liberals introduced some revised amendments to the bill that will still ban many rifles and shotguns currently used by hunters, but only apply to guns manufactured after the legislation becomes law.

Conservative MP and shadow public safety minister Raquel Dancho said the new amendment is the same as the previous one “for all intents and purposes.”

While Public Safety Canada announced on May 1 it will seek to establish the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee—which it says is an independent body to review the classification of existing firearms—Dancho accused the Liberals of potentially using the committee to hide the list of firearms they want to ban from Canadians.

“They have not learned a thing, they have not listened to Canada’s hunting, farming, and sports shooting community or Canada’s indigenous community,” Dancho said, adding that the move showed the government had not listened to concerns raised by the public.

While the gun-control advocate group PolySeSouvient said Bill C-21 contained “solid measures to improve the protection of victims of domestic violence from gun violence,” it said the amendments failed to deliver on the repeatedly promised measure of banning assault weapons.

“Hundreds of models of military-style weapons remain legal and even non-restricted,” the group said. “The [public safety] minister has promised to prohibit such weapons by Orders in Council in the fall, but the scope of these regulations remains to be seen.”

How Will the Buyback Work?

On April 26, 2023, Mendicino announced the first phase of the firearm buyback program, which entails a $707,000 contract with the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA) to work with businesses and firearms stores.

The first phase of the buyback program, which is set to begin in late 2023, will focus on businesses that are in possession of banned firearms. To “streamline” the buyback, the CSAAA said it will work with Ottawa to identify the quantity of and types of banned firearms that businesses hold. According to Mendicino, the CSAAA has already identified around 11,000 assault-style firearms that are eligible to be brought back under the program.

Public Safety Canada did not respond to The Epoch Times about the cost of the buyback by press time. The Parliamentary Budget Office has predicted the program could cost $756 million, “in addition to administration costs.”

Gianfranco Cavallo, who teaches the Canadian Firearms Safety Course in the Montreal area, said when it comes to the exact firearms that will be prohibited by Bill C-21, “nobody knows anything right now.” He said firearm stores are waiting for Bill C-21 to go through the Senate before the RCMP will release a full list of which guns are allowed.

Since Bill C-21 will only cover “assault-style” weapons produced after the bill is passed, gun owners will be able to continue purchasing what gun stores already have in stock. But Cavallo said any guns that might end up being prohibited are not currently being imported into Canada.

“So what happens with the other guns? We have no idea, we don’t even know which of those supposedly deadly weapons will be banned, so we’re waiting for [Bill C-21] to go through the Senate,” he said.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that nine of those killed in the Nova Scotia mass shooting died in fires set by the gunman.