Trudeau says federal gov’t re-examining targets of gun legislation

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday the federal government is re-examining its gun legislation after complaints that it was targeting the weapons of hunters.

A proposed amendment to Bill C-21 is looking at banning “a firearm that is a rifle or shotgun, that is capable of discharging centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner and that is designed to accept a detachable cartridge magazine with a capacity greater than five cartridges of the type for which the firearm was originally designed.”

The legislation would ban almost all types of semi-automatic guns in Canada.

Trudeau told Global News the government is examining what constitutes an assault-style weapon.

“Our challenge is that there are many guns that people use for hunting and sport-shooting that may or may not fall on one side of the definition or the other,” Trudeau said.

“We are focused on going after certain guns that have no place in Canada and we are not going after shotguns and rifles,” he added. “And that is the work that is going on right now to look at that list.”

On Nov. 24, the governments of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan issued a joint media release saying the ban would “criminalize hunters, farmers and target shooters who collectively own hundreds of thousands of firearms that could soon be prohibited.”

The Saskatchewan government subsequently introduced the Saskatchewan Firearms Act, which the government said was designed “to protect the rights of lawful firearms owners.”

As Trudeau entered a cabinet meeting Thursday, he told reporters the goal remains to ban military-style assault weapons while ensuring the legislation does not go after shotguns and rifles that are primarily used for hunting.

Also Thursday, seven members of a parliamentary committee studying the gun bill requested two special meetings to hear from witnesses on the government’s proposed definition of an “assault-style” firearm.

The seven Liberal, Bloc and New Democrat MPs want clarity on the amendment amid concerns the measure would outlaw many guns commonly used by hunters.

In a letter to the committee chairman, the members say they weren’t able to question witnesses about the amendment because groups and experts had already completed their testimony.

They say further study is essential to truly protect the public interest and Canadians from gun-related harm.

— With files from The Canadian Press