Firearm buyback program remains unpopular among Saskatchewan gun owners

The window is now open to express interest in the federal gun buyback, a heavily criticized program in Saskatchewan. Jacob Carr has the reaction.

Gun owners in Canada now have until the end of March to either be compensated or permanently deactivate any of their firearms that fall under the Government of Canada’s banned list.

Saskatchewan Liberal MP Buckley Belanger said any of the responsible 2.4 million legal gun owners in Canada would side with a program designed to get dangerous weapons off the streets.

“They themselves would agree that getting military style assault weapons of our streets is something that we should always be cognizant of, and the danger it poses to the general public.”

However, CTV News spoke to Cache Tactical Supply Inc. owner Aaron Strauss, who disagrees with the program.

He said the program does nothing but take firearms away from responsible gun owners and does nothing to stop the spread of illegal guns in Canada.

“It will have absolutely no impact on public safety, because every firearms owner has to be vetted by the RCMP through the PAL system before they’re ever allowed to buy a firearm and that system works and this is just adding a bunch of bureaucratic nightmares to the system and for them to essentially steal lawfully acquired property,” Strauss argued.

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The business owner added that he believes the program is a waste of money, a sentiment shared by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).

Gage Haubrich, the director of the organization’s prairie region, said the federal government needs to be instead spending that money on “putting the most resources possible into doing things that actually make Canadians safer.”

“In this case, it’s making sure that illegal guns aren’t being smuggled over the border from the United States. That’s the real problem, right?” Haubrich said. “They’re saying there’s about $742 million that’s budgeted for the program as a whole. But then about $250 million for the compensation program for the banned guns specifically.”

The director pointed out the history of cost overruns that programs such as “far-reaching” buybacks tend to incur.

“We saw that the last time Ottawa tried to do gun control,” he said. “We saw the federal gun registry was supposed to cost taxpayers about $2 million, but then it ballooned up to $2 billion.”

While many organizations and gun owners in Saskatchewan are against the program, it does have its support from organizations like PolyRemembers – a group made up of survivors and families of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, which claimed the lives of 14 women.

Responding to the newest buyback efforts, Heidi Rathjen, the coordinator of PolyRemembers said; “The survivors and families that make up PolySeSouvient/PolyRemembers are encouraged to see the Carney government act to deliver on their election promise to quickly launch and complete the buyback program. The buyback will provide owners of prohibited assault-style weapons with fair compensation while keeping Canadians safer from mass shootings, such as the recent massacre at Bondi Beach in Australia.”

Dr. Najma Ahmed, the chair of Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns, said her organization is also in support of the program.

“Assault-style weapons, designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, are uniquely lethal. This prevention measure will save lives,” she said. “It will also reduce the cost to the health care system of treating victims of gun violence and protect the mental health of first responders and clinicians who are indirectly impacted by such extreme gun violence.”

According to the federal government, if gun owners with banned firearms do not use the buyback program, their weapons must be disposed of or permanently deactivated by the end of an amnesty period Oct. 30.

Province responds

The provincial government responded to the program’s launch on Tuesday, calling it a “completely flawed gun grab program that does nothing to make communities safer.”

“This program will not remove the street weapons that are being used by criminals,” Justice Minister Tim McLeod said in the response. “The federal government is targeting law-abiding firearms owners, and they have now confirmed that they will be offering little or no compensation. This is completely unacceptable.”

The government highlighted three models included in the ban list, the Weatherby Mark V, the Winchester SX-AR, and the Ruger No. 1, arguing the models did not meet the classification of “assault-style guns meant for warfare,” but were rather hunting rifles and collector’s items.

The province ended off by highlighting its online portal to provide appraisals for firearms, ammunition and accessories impacted by the federal legislation.

Amendments to The Saskatchewan Firearms Act are planned for the spring session, and are meant to ensure firearm owners are properly compensated for their property.

“We share the frustrations of law-abiding firearms owners that they are being unfairly treated and being threatened with criminal liability if they do not declare firearms for which they are unlikely to receive appropriate compensation,” Saskatchewan Firearms Office commissioner Robert Freberg said in the response.

“Saskatchewan’s approach in this matter has always been around ensuring that individuals receive fair compensation for their property, and the federal government’s suggestion that we are somehow attempting to prevent our citizens from being paid fairly is as ridiculous as their buyback program.”