We recently reported how Canada’s pilot program for its so-called gun “buyback” failed spectacularly, yet the government decided to continue with the scheme anyway. Now, the federal government is facing open defiance from many of Canada’s provinces over the gun confiscation scheme.
According to a report at the nationalpost.com, half of the provinces, along with two of the three territorial governments, have now said they would decline to participate in the “buyback.” That leaves only Quebec, British Columbia, the Maritimes, and Nunavut that haven’t said they wouldn’t participate in the program.
The defiant nature of many provincial governments is greatly encouraging, considering it looked like most would participate from the beginning. And that defiance is catching the attention of some in the American gun-rights movement, including the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).
Alan Gottlieb, CCRKBA chairman, said the move by many provinces to defy the federal government is encouraging for our neighbors to the north.
“This is a remarkable—and welcome—wake-up call to Canada’s liberal national government, and it is long overdue,” Gottlieb said in a news release on the defiance. “Gun control in Canada has crossed the line when it pushes a massive ‘buyback,’ which is really nothing more than compensated confiscation. What the governments in those provinces and the territories are saying on behalf of the citizens is that this massive gun control scheme is a non-starter.”
According to the nationalpost.com report, the Newfoundland and Labrador government is the latest to reject the gun “buyback” proposal. Canada’s federal government has reportedly allocated $250 million to compensate gun owners for the firearms they would be required to surrender because they were banned by Canada’s liberal government.
“We definitely stand with the common-sense response from provinces which are turning their backs on this gun buyback nonsense,” Gottlieb said. “CCRKBA has friends in Canada, and we’re proud of the fact that literally half of the country is telling the government in Ottawa to abandon this effort and re-allocate the money to fight crime and provide funding for drug intervention and other genuine anti-crime measures.”
The confiscation part of the plan had been delayed several times as the government puzzled over how best to get citizens to turn in their firearms. However, pilot program set up by the government to get the confiscation ball rolling resulted in a dismal failure. Only 25 firearms were turned in as part of the “test run,” which was aimed at collecting 200 banned guns. The total was only 12% of the government’s goal—not a good success figure at all.
Now the defiance by provincial governments is throwing a further monkey wrench into the Liberal government’s plans to take thousands of firearms out of the hands of lawful gun owners.
Ultimately, CCRKBA’s Gottlieb thinks the rejection of the scheme by provincial governments means freedom still exists north of the border.
“In addition to Newfoundland and Labrador, and the territories, we understand the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta have also rejected the plan,” Gottlieb concluded. “That’s virtually half of Canada’s land mass. The people in those provinces need guns for their very survival, and their voices are being heard.
“Freedom and liberty are highly contagious. They’re the only known antidote to government demagoguery, and once people get a taste, they want more.”
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