Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price has apologized for the timing of his social media posts criticizing Liberal gun control legislation in the days leading up to the anniversary of the École Polytechnic massacre but said he stands by his original comments and meant no disrespect.
Price wrote in an Instagram post on Dec. 3
that he opposes recent amendments made to Bill C-21 that, if passed, will restrict legal access in Canada to a number of shotguns and semi-automatic rifles typically used for hunting.
Price also said in the Dec. 3 post that he supports the
Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR), which was recently accused of using the online discount code “POLY,” according to
CTV News Montreal, as an alleged reference to the 1989 mass shooting at École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, in which 14 women were killed.
CCFR
released a statement yesterday denying the promotional code was in any way referring to the Polytechnique shootings.
“It was a two-week-old response to a Twitter account criticizing us for fundraising,” the CCFR said in reference to the promotional code in a statement posted to its website. “Any suggestion to the contrary is blatantly false.”
The Montreal Canadiens
wrote in a statement Monday that Price “was unaware of both the CCFR’s recent marketing campaign” and also of the “unfortunate timing of his statement” opposing stricter federal gun laws, which came just several days before the 33rd annual memorial of the Polytechnique mass shootings.
‘Fellow Hunters’
The Canadiens
also apologized in their statement to “any and all who have been offended or upset by the discourse that has arisen over this matter in recent days.”
Price followed up the team’s apologies with a series of his own Twitter posts saying that he stands behind his original comments made in opposition to Bill C-21 and also saying he did not “agree with the promotional code” by CCFR.
“My views are my own and I do believe in them,” Price wrote in a
Twitter post on Dec. 5. “The only reason I bring up this issue is because it is what’s being brought up now and not out of disrespect to anyone.”
“I continue to stand beside my fellow hunters and sport shooters who have legally acquired our property and use in a safe manner,” he added in a
subsequent post.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre
voiced support for Price several days ago, saying that the Canadiens goaltender is “absolutely right.”
“Trudeau’s attempts to ban hunting rifles are an attack on rural and Indigenous people. We must stop him,” Poilievre wrote on Twitter on Dec. 3.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
yesterday said that the Liberal government does not intend for Bill C-21 to restrict Canadians’ rights to own guns used for hunting.
“We’ve just put forward a list and we’re consulting with Canadians on that,” Trudeau said during a press conference in Ingersoll, Ont., on Dec. 5, referring to the new list of guns the Liberal government is proposing be banned through Bill C-21.
“That’s what we’re listening to feedback on now, to make sure that we’re not capturing weapons that are primarily hunting weapons,” he added.
