by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues on his path to make Canada an authoritarian state. His latest move was to freeze the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns.
Update: People can no longer buy, sell, or transfer handguns within Canada – and they cannot bring newly acquired handguns into the country.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 21, 2022
While there is a gun control act called Bill C-21 that is pending before Parliament, Trudeau is relying upon regulation to do what legislation does not allow him to do. This is similar to what he did earlier with regard to certain semi-automatic firearms in 2020. Provincial governments in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan are pushing back on co-operation with the RCMP on that move.
From his official release on the move:
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the national freeze on the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns comes into effect. From now on, people cannot buy, sell, or transfer handguns within Canada, and they cannot bring newly acquired handguns into the country.
A national handgun freeze was first announced alongside Bill C-21, the strongest gun control measures in over 40 years, in May 2022. While the bill continues to be debated in Parliament, we are taking immediate action through regulations to keep Canadians safe.
The national handgun freeze is part of the government’s comprehensive plan to tackle gun violence. We have already banned over 1,500 types of assault-style firearms and have strengthened our gun control laws to expand background checks. Bill C-21 proposes further measures to keep guns out of the wrong hands like revoking the firearms licences of those involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, continuing to fight gun smuggling and trafficking, and providing law enforcement more tools to investigate firearms crimes.
According to the details, applications submitted before October 21st for the sale, purchase, or transfer of a handgun will be processed. Their temporary ban on the importation of handguns implemented in August 2022 will remain in effect. Finally, there are limited exceptions to this freeze. Thus, “high-performance sports shooting athletes” and security guards will be exempted along with the film industry (of course!), gunsmiths, and museums. The last three are exempted only to the extent of their existing licenses.
Trudeau even used the “if it saves one life” canard in his justification for this authoritarian measure.
I love Canada. I have traveled through most of the provinces in both the east and west of that formerly great country. Indeed, my honest-to-god first girlfriend was a Canadian from Ontario. It just saddens me tremendously to see the extent to which Trudeau fils has abridged freedoms in Canada. He really does illustrate the difference between a citizen and a subject in the way he governs.
