Liberals defend revised attempt to amend gun bill to ban future assault-style firearms

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was on the defensive on Tuesday over his revised approach to federal gun control legislation, saying the proposed definition banning future assault-style firearms rather than targeting those currently on the market was not 'invented out of thin air.'

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was on the defensive on Tuesday over his revised approach to federal gun control legislation, saying the proposed definition banning future assault-style firearms rather than targeting those currently on the market was not "invented out of thin air."

"The goal is to make sure that we are, as I said yesterday, shrinking the ground … underneath criminals’ feet who may try to use an AR15-style gun to commit a mass shooting," Mendicino said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Mendicino announced a revised package of amendments to the government's contentious Bill C-21, including a proposed new Criminal Code "technical definition" of what constitutes a prohibited assault-style firearm meant to "cement in law" a permanent ban on new assault-style firearms.

The federal government's wording would cover firearms that are not a handgun, that discharge centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner, and were originally designed with a detachable magazine with a capacity of six cartridges or more.

"That is, like, not a definition that the government has just invented out of thin air, but rather by consulting extensively with law enforcement who support it, with advocacy groups who support it," Mendicino told reporters on Parliament Hill Tuesday.

“As a lawmaker in this space, we have a very solid foundation on which we can say: ‘This policy, when added to the existing Order in Council and the action we’re going to take on large-capacity magazines, provides a very robust and strong and comprehensive ban on AR15-style firearms."

However, the definition the Liberals are trying to stitch in to Bill C-21 is being framed as "prospective," meaning it would only apply to future firearms designed and manufactured after Bill C-21 becomes law, and not any guns currently on the market.