Liberal gun control bill set to become law after passing in Senate

The federal Liberal government’s gun-control legislation has passed the Senate, setting the stage for the bill to be passed into law in a bid to reduce gun-related violence in Canada.

Bill C-21 brings new measures to restrict access to firearms for known domestic abusers, as well as increasing the maximum penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking from 10 to 14 years.

The legislation also includes a ban on assault-style firearms. Those which fall under a new technical definition would be subjected to the ban if they were designed and manufactured after the bill becomes law.

Prohibited firearms will also be inclusive of “any unlawfully manufactured firearm regardless of the means or method of manufacture,” in an effort to eliminate homemade ghost guns.

The bill passed Thursday with senators voting 60 to 24 in favour at the third reading.

READ MORE: Federal government introduces bill to limit handguns in the country

Introduction of the legislation last year was accompanied by the Liberal’s announcing a plan to implement a freeze on the importing, buying, selling or transferring of handguns in a bid to reduce firearm-related violence.

While federal regulations aimed at restricting the number of handguns in the country are now in effect, provisions in Bill C-21 look to reinforce that freeze.

The bill was passed in the House of Commons last spring with a vote of 2017 to 113, with support from all but one major federal party.

The Conservatives, along with some gun owners, stood firm in their opposition to the legislation as they said it penalized law-abiding owners and users rather than directly targeting criminal gun violence.

In the Senate this week, leader of the Opposition Don Plett deemed it, “an inherently bad and divisive bill for Canada.”

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“But if we are going to be honest, colleagues, I think we need to accept that this government actually intended this bill to be divisive,” the Conservative senator said. “That is because they view this bill as a wedge for the Liberal party in the next election.”

Plett argued the freeze on handguns would not reduce crime, saying “Instead, it will only succeed in destroying competitive shooting sports in Canada for absolutely no benefit.”

Despite the pushback from Conservatives, the bill was ultimately approved without amendments.

Adoption of Bill #C21 by the @SenateCA:
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See our news release:https://t.co/5DVkch6opE pic.twitter.com/jbxV3saiIE

— PolySeSouvient / PolyRemembers (@Polysesouvient) December 14, 2023

Natatlie Provost was injured in the 1989 mass shooting at Montreal’s École Polytechnique believes the bill will save many lives.

“Bill C-21 contains solid measures to better protect victims of domestic abuse from gun threats and violence,” said Provost, who serves as a spokesperson for gun-control group PolySeSouvient.

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That group has cautioned, though, that the true potential of public safety measures will depend on the depth of the detailed regulations that have yet to come from officials.

PolySeSouvient also raised issues with the new definition of prohibited weapons as it only applies to future models “and is easily circumventable.”

Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc said the government will be re-establishing the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee to independently review the classification of all existing models that fall under the new definition of prohibited firearms put forward.

The committee would identify models legitimately used for hunting to allow for them to be excluded from the ban, according to Leblanc.

Additionally, he says the government will be implementing a buy-back program for the 1,500 models and variants barred from use.

Plans to enact a comprehensive ban on large-capacity magazines are also being drawn up.

This report was created with files from The Canadian Press