By Larry Keane
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is – again – promising strict new gun control measures he claims are needed to stop criminals.
A unilateral ban on the import of handguns into Canada was announced, freezing out Canadians that follow the law and purchase handguns legally. Nothing in the measure, though, actually addresses criminals or the illegal networks that smuggle ill-gotten firearms into Canada and perpetuate crime there.
Tyrannical Mini-King
Prime Minister Trudeau slapped a ban on handgun imports until proposed legislation that would ban the sale and purchase of handguns, among other gun control measures, can be voted on by the Canadian Parliament. The import ban was a knee-jerk reaction after Canadians rushed to buy firearms when the Trudeau administration introduced legislation to end handgun sales.
Prime Minister Trudeau isn’t waiting for debate or a vote. He’s operating by executive fiat. He’s acting like a mini-tyrant and it’s not the first time he’s trampled on Canadians’ ability to own guns or even protest their own government.
Canada doesn’t have their own version of America’s Second Amendment that protects the pre-existing right to keep and bear arms. Gun control laws in Canada are much stricter than that of the United States. Canadians must obtain a license to possess a firearm, and handguns are treated like restricted or prohibited firearms, which means they all must be registered.
Prime Minister Trudeau exploited the tragedy in Uvalde to push the legislation to ban the sale of handguns and when Canadians reacted by buying more, Trudeau’s administration issued the emergency order to ban handgun imports. Since nearly all handguns sold in Canada are imported, this puts a near-total ban on the availability for law-abiding Canadians to legally obtain one. Those already in possession of handguns are allowed to keep theirs, for now.
Blow to Business
The import ban also means it will have impacts on U.S.-based handgun manufacturers that export to Canada. Firearm manufacturers in the United States exported 44,419 handguns (both revolvers and semiautomatic pistols) in 2021 that equaled nearly $20 million in business. Only the first half of the year figures are available for 2022, but 33,638 handguns were exported, a 30.7 percent increase over the same time period in 2021, when 24,767 were exported. Exports in the first six months of 2022 is valued at over $16 million, a 45.3 percent increase over the same period in 2021, when it topped $10 million.
Handgun exports by U.S. firearm manufacturers so far in 2022 accounted for 18.4 percent of all international exports and were valued at 17.5 percent of handgun export value.
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That’s a business Prime Minister Trudeau wants to shut down, just like he shut down Canadians on the sale and possession of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs). Trudeau’s administration – again, unilaterally – is still planning their national “buyback” of specified semiautomatic rifles, despite the fact the price tag is ballooning. His initial price tag for the taxpayer-funded government confiscation scheme was at $250 million. Previous similar Canadian government gun grab attempts, however, put the price tag closer to $600 million, and doubters admitted the real cost could be closer to $2.7 billion.
Canada already extended the deadline for MSR owners to turn in their rifles or destroy them until Oct. 30. That’s because few Canadians are willing to give up their guns, The Reload reported.
Trampling on Rights
Speaking out against the bans in Canada could be dicey. Prime Minister Trudeau already proved he was willing to jail Canadians protesting COVD-19 lockdowns when he sent police to break up and jail protesters. Canada’s Parliament introduced legislation to regulate user-generated content on the web, like YouTube and Facebook. Canada’s conservative newspaper, however The National Post, warned that Canada doesn’t have strong protections for free speech. Freedom of Expression is protected by Canada’s Charter of Rights, The National Post wrote, but, “The preamble to the Charter explicitly mentions that this freedom is subject to ‘reasonable limits.’ There’s also the other part of the Charter where provincial governments can steamroll any freedom they want, provided they publicly announce that they’re doing so.”
Prime Minister Trudeau’s oppressive edict and proposed legislation don’t actually address crime or criminal networks. The fact is, the United States government ensures that handgun exports to Canada are for legitimate sales. U.S. exports to Canada are vetted by the U.S. Commerce Department and approved Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) with end-user checks. That means if the recipient of the exported handguns isn’t a legitimate and lawful business, the exports aren’t approved to leave the United States. Criminals aren’t importing handguns from U.S. manufacturers. Criminal networks are obtaining them illegally. NSSF, as the firearm and ammunition trade association, wants these illegal networks stopped.
That’s why NSSF partnered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for Don’t Lie for the Other GuyTM, to prevent illegal straw purchases of firearms. Firearms must be kept out of the hands of those who are prohibited and not the true purchaser of the gun.
Banning all imports of handguns to Canada doesn’t solve the crime problems north of the border. It only deprives those who can legally purchase a handgun from the ability to do so. It starves Canadians of the ability to protect themselves and doesn’t stop criminals from victimizing the innocent.
Larry Keane is Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.
I guess MMoore was wrong about the Canucks.
You spelled Moron wrong.
Trudeau knows that the price tag for the government to “buy back” MSRs, and eventually every handgun in the country if the ban goes through, is simply too high…so he is trying to intimidate owners into abandoning their guns to the government with absolutely no enforceable promise that they will be compensated for their loss. How terribly (18th century) British of them. That is why the government has delayed and delayed and delayed in setting prices for the guns being abandoned. Now he is just trying to get them for free.
I notice you guys slipped in a mention of the tens of millions of dollars the American gun industry stand to lose from PM Trudeau’s restrictions. We are already beholden to the corrupt and morally bankrupt gun lobby in this country, why try to do the same in Canada? How many child patriots must water the tree of your liberty with their blood?
I am old enough to remember when they were worried because the office of Prime Minister in Canada was becoming too powerful, too much like the American President.
Hey BD, during the used book sales this summer I picked up a never read mint condition book about 20 years old for 2 bucks. Josh Sugarmann’s (that last name is connected to the slave holding class of sugar traders) “Every Handgun Is Aimed At You, The Case for Banning Handguns.” Maybe I will get around to reading it for op research but I did NOT pay any royalties since the book was used.
Tell me, are your 1911 handguns aimed at me? Is Sugermann wrong? How do you remain guiltless even though you have bought products made by the “American gun industry”? Are you “corrupt and morally bankrupt”?
You got some “splanning” to do.
Like your book, most of the firearms in my collection currently were purchased second hand (through FFLs of course, got my papers). They just don’t make them like they used to. I offered as much financial support to Winchester or Colt or Caspian as you did to Sugarmann. I think the last firearm I bought retail was a CZ. As an FFL, I did purchase quite a few American firearms for customer orders. It may disappoint you to know that I too have sinned but my heart of stone was replaced with a heart of flesh and I know that is a debt I cannot pay. All I can do is advocate the righteous path now; to train up men to train others in the ways of righteousness.
You might find Sugarmann’s book Bullet Hoses more timely. Like so many others, Sugarmann meant well but got a little high on his own supply.
Your post reads like you are judging this book based on the cover. I heard that really only works for dirty magazines.
I think the last American firearm I bought retail was a SCCY CPX2, for the record. 😛
Actually, the cover is what caught my eye. A nice orderly night stand with a lamp, a book, a clock for travelling, a glass of water (a bit of lemon?) and a Walther PPK/S. Did Sugermann think this one out? This was a great add photo for anyone staying at a Hotel who might want a firearm for self defense. So I liked the cover but the sample reading has been dull.
I do NOT know about the store front Church that you attend but I’m Catholic and would NOT listen to anything a fake Father like Phleger or this second rate Pope might try to sell against the 2A.
I’m NOT sure you found “gun industry” loophole. It seems to me that you are buying ammo and accessories. If the gun industry is responsible for the criminal use of firearms then every life saved, ever person protected incuding that fake POTUS and the foolish Pope owes their life to the “gun industry.”
Now , save your sermon Vicar . I’m certain you are
aware today is not Sunday .