Late last month, Liberal MP Paul Chiang added an amendment to the handgun ban that would ban medium-fire semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that can hold a detachable magazine that can hold more than five rounds of ammunition. 1 In these Regulations, «semi-automatic» means, in the case of a firearm, a firearm equipped with a mechanism which, after unloading a cartridge, automatically completes any part of the reloading cycle necessary to prepare for the unloading of the next cartridge. «The problem is that any firearm designed to contain a detachable magazine would meet that definition,» says Mark Ryckman, policy manager for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. «Maybe it`s an unintended consequence of the way things were worded. But the reality is that the change, if it goes as proposed, will ensnare many of the rifles and shotguns that are common in Canada — not only by non-Indigenous recreational hunters like me, but also by our Indigenous peoples, including those in the Far North who hunt for survival. Handgun registration became law in 1934 and automatic firearms registration was added in 1951. In 1969, laws classified firearms as «non-restricted,» «restricted,» and «prohibited.» Beginning in 1979, individuals who wanted to acquire firearms had to obtain a Firearms Acquisition Certificate (CFC) from their local police service. From 1995 to 2012, all firearms owners had to hold a firearms licence – either a Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL), Possession Licence (POL), CAF or minor licence – and all firearms had to be registered. In April 2012, the Canadian Parliament passed the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act to eliminate the registration requirement for non-restricted firearms. The requirement that all firearms owners have a valid firearms licence remained in effect. [2] The Liberal government added an amendment to Bill C-21 effectively banning several million additional rifles and shotguns.

These new bans include SKS, Tavor, X-95, all AR180s and variants, Canuck Bullpup shotguns, Crusader Arms, Kel-Tec Sub2000, SU16, RDB, RFB, JR Carbine, Kriss Vector, Ruger PC Carbine, Norinco T97 NSR, Benelli M4 and countless others. The veracity of Mendicino`s assurances depends largely on the definition of a «shotgun.» Rifles with more than five rounds of ammunition have long been banned in Canada, but many hunters still use semi-automatic rifles such as the Benelli R1, Remington Model 742 Woodsmaster, Auto-Ordnance M1 Carbine and Browning BAR MK III. At the recent Public Safety Committee hearing, Conservative Representative Bob Zimmer mentioned each of these guns as a concern for his constituents. M. Ryckman says that even if Bill C-21 passes the legislature, which he says is likely at this point, there will still be thousands of rifles and shotguns that Canadians legally own and could hunt with. This is not a blanket ban, he says, but a «creeping regulatory sweep.» This led many people to believe that Bill C-21 was largely a handgun ban. But that perception changed dramatically a few weeks ago when Liberal MP Paul Chiang tabled an amendment at committee that would significantly expand the government`s definition of banned «assault weapons.» This definition would include all firearms capable of firing projectiles with a muzzle energy greater than 7,375 feet, as well as any firearm with a bore diameter greater than 20 millimetres. However, the inclusion of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns is what worries hunters the most, as the amendment would prohibit: Asked about these non-semi-automatic firearms at the Public Safety Committee hearing, technical specialist Murray Smith clarified that only models that generate more than 7,376 feet (10,000 joules) of muzzle energy are housed in cartridges. would be prohibited. including the .50 BMG, .460 Weatherby Magnum and .416 CheyTac. These high-performance cartridges are not common among North American hunters, and the ban on rifles contained in such cartridges has been in effect since 2020. Semi-automatic shotguns with fixed-tube magazines would not be subject to the ban, but any shotgun that accepts a detachable magazine would be prohibited.

Hunters are particularly concerned about the ban on the SKS rifle. The SKS is a Soviet-era semi-automatic rifle and, with approximately 200,000 owners, the most popular medium-fire semi-automatic rifle in Canada. It is also widely used by Indigenous hunters in Canada, according to Conservative MP Requel Dancho.