Canada tried to copy New Zealand's gun buyback program — what went wrong?

The Canadian government sought to follow New Zealand's lead in 2020 when it launched a program to force gun owners to surrender military-style firearms. But while New Zealand acted quickly in 2019, Ottawa is still struggling to implement its own plan.

The government of then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced its firearms buyback program shortly after a white supremacist killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019.

By the end of that year, New Zealand had collected 56,000 semi-automatic weapons under the supervision of the national police.

In order to move quickly, New Zealand set up mobile units where firearm owners could get refunds in exchange for their firearms. They could also obtain compensation at 43 participating firearms retailers.

Supt. Richard Wilson of the New Zealand Police said the key to the program's success was the work it put into building trust with gun owners.

"The big thing for us in New Zealand was getting the buy-in of the firearms community. Without that, it can be very challenging," he told Radio-Canada.

"We worked really hard to work with them right from the outset."

In Canada, meanwhile, the firearms industry and individual gun owners have vigorously opposed the project, which was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2020.

The Canadian firearms community describes the operation as a "confiscation" or "gun grab." Many gun owners say they hope Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives form the next government and cancel the program.

"I think it will be a dismal failure, if it ever happens at all," said Tony Bernardo of the Canadian Shooting Sports Federation. "The Liberals have demonstrated, in the last four years, zero capacity to pull this off."

Wes Winkel, president of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA), said the level of trust between gun owners and the federal government "couldn't be at a lower spot."

In Canada, firearms retailers have shown no interest in helping the government collect firearms from individual owners — unlike their counterparts in New Zealand.

In fact, the federal government has not yet explained how it intends to collect the weapons it banned in 2020.

Until recently, Ottawa had been hoping that Canada Post would act as a major partner in the project. But the Crown corporation balked, telling the government earlier this year that it could not risk the safety of its staff and facilities by collecting guns.