First of all, anyone affected by the May 1, 2020 Order-In-Council (OIC) gun bans will benefit from our success. Our application asks the Court to set aside the gun bans for everyone, not just ourselves. Unlike letters and petitions, a court order cannot be so easily disregarded by politicians.
What benefit is there for those who do not own any of the affected firearms?
Let us first point out that the actions by successive federal governments toward Canadian gun owners indicate a strategy of incremental criminalization of all gun possession. The current government has been able to take advantage of the general public’s poor grasp of existing Canadian gun laws, passing “stronger” laws in order to give the impression that something is being done. Surveys consistently show that this actually works to gain support, even when simple logic shows that the “stronger” laws really do nothing to prevent crime, not even the very crimes that purportedly motivated those laws.
Second, the RCMP has been an ongoing enabler of firearms prohibitions with its obscure classification determinations based on shifting, objective criteria and its creative use of the term “variant”.
In this context, the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement that accompanies the OIC should be cause for concern, in particular where it says:
“There is also a risk that affected firearms owners may elect to replace their firearms with models unaffected by the ban, causing a market displacement. This risk may be mitigated by adding additional makes and models to the list of prohibited firearms in the future.”
[Canada Gazette, Vol.154, No.3, p. 65]
An unchallenged government can be expected to continue adding more types of firearms to the list of prohibited guns. The RCMP can and will employ their creativity and the term “variant” to expand that list. Are you willing to wait until they decide that your gun belongs on it? Our victory can set a legal precedent that stops that from happening.