Tell frustrated with lack of consultation on handgun freeze

With a national handgun freeze now in effect, Saskatchewan’s minister of corrections, policing and public safety is not impressed, claiming the provincial government did not get to give any input on the handgun ban.

Christine Tell spoke with Gormley on Tuesday about the feds’ handgun freeze.

“They made a regulatory change in the dead of night in the cloak of secrecy (with) no consultation, of course, with the Province of Saskatchewan,” said Tell. “I understand that there has been no consultation with any province when they introduced this absolute ban.”

Tell said the problem was not legal firearms.

“Our focus is to keep our community safe,” said Tell. “Of course, I have said it before and I’ll say it again that lawful firearm owners are not the ones committing crimes with firearms.”

On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the national ban on the sale, purchase and transfer of handguns.

Meanwhile, Tell also told Gormley the provincial government received a receipt of acknowledgement from the RCMP about a letter Tell wrote to the police force about the federal government’s buyback program for assault-style rifles.

At the end of September, Tell wrote to the Mounties to inform them the provincial government had decided it won’t allow the use of provincial funds to administer and enforce the buyback of assault style-rifles.

The buyback program is a federal initiative to reimburse those for 1,500 types of guns that have been reclassified as prohibited by the federal government.