Ottawa Adds Hundreds of Firearms Models to Ban List, May Send Some to Ukraine

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc speaks with reporters in Ottawa, on Dec. 2, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The Liberal government has announced a ban of more than 300 additional makes and models of firearms, one day before the anniversary of the massacre at École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Dec. 5 that the new list of firearms is in addition to the 1,500 models banned in 2020, which he said are models that are “made for battlefields, not for hunting.” He said these additional 324 gun models were identified following consultation with experts from the RCMP.

“This means these firearms can no longer be legally used, sold, or imported in Canada, and can only be transferred or transported under extremely limited circumstances,” LeBlanc said.

The new measures are effective immediately, and existing owners of these newly banned models have until Oct. 30, 2025, to comply, using the federal government’s buyback program.

Ottawa is also working to identify whether some of the banned guns can be donated to Ukraine to aid in its war against Russia, LeBlanc said.

On Dec. 6, 1989, a gunman killed 14 women and injured 13 others at École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Gun Control Legislation

The government announced a slew of gun-control measures as part of Bill C-21 in February 2021, enshrining into law a ban on what the government called “assault-style” firearms, defined by the legislation as guns that are semi-automatic with centre-fire ammunition and designed to hold a magazine of six or more cartridges. The government had sought to use a definition that would have added more guns to the banned list, but abandoned the plan in early 2023 after backlash from opposition parties and First Nations members concerned that the expanded ban would limit hunting guns.

The legislation, adopted in December 2023, also imposed a national freeze on the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns in Canada. The  measures included “red and yellow flag” provisions. Under the red flag law, a court can temporarily remove guns from owners who pose a risk to themselves or others. The yellow flag law allows a chief firearms officer to suspend for up to 30 days the firearms licence of an individual thought to no longer be eligible to hold the licence. The new law also increased penalties for firearms smuggling and trafficking.

The government said it is working with provinces, territories, and law enforcement on the buyback program.

Some provinces, including Alberta and Saskatchewan, have opposed the ban, saying they will not allow provincial resources to be used for the government’s buyback program.

“The Trudeau government needs to understand: law-abiding gun owners are not the problem,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in 2020 after the initial list of banned guns was announced.

The Conservatives, who have been critical of the federal government’s gun control measures, said the latest measure targets lawful gun owners, and that instead stricter laws are needed to keep criminals behind bars.

“[Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] still has not implemented his long-promised ‘gun ban,’ and now he’s promising a new one while he reduces prison sentences for rampant gun criminals and allows 99% of shipping containers to go uninspected,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a social media post on Dec. 5.

The first phase of the firearms buyback has already begun and involves businesses and the firearms industry returning guns for compensation. While Ottawa recently brought in new regulations allowing Canada Post to store and transport firearms as part of the buyback, the Crown Corporation has repeatedly said that due to employee safety concerns it will not participate in the second phase of the program involving the collection of individuals’ firearms.