Canada’s latest firearms restrictions have forced Regina’s Wes Stevens to travel unarmed to the 2025 World Shoot.
Stevens is one of four Canadians to qualify for the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) event slated for May 19-24 in Znojmo, Czechia, where a recent Canadian government policy prohibiting possession of their guns has forced the Canucks to rent pistol-calibre carbines from an American manufacturer.
“It was kind of a kick in the teeth,” said Stevens, 36. “When last fall rolled around I ordered a brand-new gun because I was representing Team Canada. So I was gonna go all out and build one with everything I wanted.
“I needed a backup anyway, so I bought a base gun and wanted this hand guard, this trigger, these grips, this optic. Everything was in the mail and then the government put in all these restrictions.”
Stevens quickly cancelled his order and obediently locked up his older gun, a Freedom Ordnance FX-9 (millimetre), because it was added to the federal government’s list of prohibited weapons in December. Stevens can’t practise with it, sell it, give it away, travel with it or even dispose of it, he said, until the government decides what should be done with the prohibited weapons.
“All restricted firearms, which would be your shorter long-guns and handguns, they were registered already from when you bought them at the gun store,” said Stevens. “There are also storage regulations. They have to be unloaded and stored separately from the (ammunition). They have to be locked up. It’s not that bad; you get a safe.
“When (the federal government) enacted a new ban, the disappointing part is they kind of circumvented the whole legislative process by an OIC (order-in-council), which was like using emergency powers to freeze the sale, transfer and use of all these firearms. They sold it by saying they’re only affecting the bad guns and they’re not affecting any kind of sports shooters. That’s just not been the case. We are 100 per cent affected by all this and it’s killed certain disciplines. We’re trying to grow in certain areas but it’s trending as a decline.”
Stevens said Canadian practical shooters are attempting to meet with the new federal government to see if it would be willing to loosen restrictions on guns used for competitions, which were put in place when Justin Trudeau was the prime minister. Some handguns can still be used in competitions provided they’re registered by their users, but the re-sale of those guns is prohibited.
The government policy was intended to strengthen Canada’s gun laws and, according to Public Safety Canada, keep the country safer by criminalizing the possession of certain firearms.
Pistol-calibre carbines can shoot four bullets in one second; most are placed within a chassis that is extended with a butt stock, which makes them easier to aim and rapid-fire.
The initial prohibition on “assault-style firearms” came May 1, 2020, making it a Criminal Code offence to possess any variation of nine listed models, including AR-15 and M-16 rifles, mainly semi-automatic weapons and two types of pistols. Another 324 specific models were added in December.
According to the subsequent media release from Public Safety Canada: “The Government of Canada has taken further strong steps to tackle gun crime and to uphold its commitment to keep cities and communities safe.
“As part of its comprehensive approach, on December 5, 2024, the Government announced the prohibition of more military style assault-style firearms. Accompanying the prohibition is an amnesty order, which expires on October 30, 2025, that protects businesses and owners while they come into compliance with the law.”
Financial compensation would be provided to companies and individuals for their guns after a collection plan was put in place, according to the media release. Stevens said he has not been told about the government’s collection plans, so his “handful of guns” are safely locked away.
“Over 19,000 non-restricted makes and models, equating to over 127,000 variations of firearms, remain available for hunting and sport shooting in Canada,” according to Public Safety Canada.
Personally i can’t comment on the rules to IPSC as I don’t partake in the competition myself however, for someone who does partake it can be extremely infuriating to prepare yourself (get a new rifle, attachments, optics, etc) for the government to then restrict your access to these items therefore giving you a disadvantage compared to your peers.
I never commented on the Canadian Constitution and in fact in my last comment praised the current restrictions we had for handguns pre Bill C21.
I agree unfettered access to firearms is not the goal, America has proven that time and time again however, citizens who abide by the government policies in regard to firearm to then be treated as the sole root cause to the increase in firearm crime is absurd!
Keep in mind all the different colour schemes & “furniture” base firearms can come with. The Derya TM22 is a prime example of the same rifle just in numerous different colours.
That’s what I’m here for! Lemmy doesn’t really have a “/r/CanadaGuns” community and I hope to build it up by providing accurate and sensible information.
The last election was really disappointing for firearms owners, a lot of us are left-leaning however, given the recent treatment of our hobby it pushed a lot of people to vote conservative.
I won’t comment on the election much as I feel like that’s history that we should move on from, heads held high!