How Bill C-21 turned from banning handguns to hunting guns
CBC
Confusion was on the agenda at a parliamentary committee last week after the Liberal government brought in last-minute amendments to its contentious gun control legislation.
The proposed changes to Bill C-21 were tacked on by Liberal MP Paul Chiang after it had passed second reading — drawing complaints from opposition MPs who accused the government of sneaking in changes that would expand the scope of prohibited weapons to include hunting rifles.
The amendment adds long guns to the banned list in four different ways. First, it has a clause that would effectively ban any rifle or shotgun that could potentially accept a magazine with more than five rounds, whether or not it actually has such a magazine. Critics say that includes many rifles designed for hunters, not soldiers.
The list also names guns that fall afoul of two rules nominally intended to ban powerful military weapons such as .50-calibre sniper rifles and mortars. One rule bans long guns that can generate more than 10,000 joules of energy, and the other bans guns with a muzzle wider than 20 millimetres. Critics say those rules would ban everything from antique blunderbusses to the Nine O'clock Gun in Vancouver's Stanley Park.
Lastly, the amendment prohibits, by name, a large number of semi-automatic firearms that do not have detachable magazines and don't meet the definition of an "assault-style firearm," or infringe the other two rules, but which the government wants to ban anyway. They include a number of long guns in wide use by Canadian hunters.
CBC News asked to speak with Paul Chiang about the amendments but was told he was travelling and unavailable.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino insisted that hunters are not being targeted.
"We have a plan to eradicate gun violence once and for all," Mendicino told the House of Commons on Friday. "We are not going to target those guns which are used conventionally for hunting."
Here's what we know and don't know about the changes.
That's not entirely clear.
"The Mossberg 702 .22 Plinkster long rifle. Will that hunting and target-shooting rifle be prohibited as a result of C-21 legislation?" Conservative MP Bob Zimmer asked at the parliamentary committee.
"No," replied Murray Smith, technical specialist with the government's Canadian Firearms Program. "The model 702 Plinkster is a conventional 22-calibre hunting rifle. It's unaffected by what's in C-21."
But in fact, the Plinkster ("plinking" refers to shooting tin cans) is one of hundreds of common hunting rifles and shotguns individually listed for prohibition in the amendments.
The exchange captured some of the confusion caused by the amendment. But the amendment itself is clear: if adopted and passed into law, the .22 Plinkster would become a prohibited firearm.