Government Measures to Reduce Gun Violence

Date: March 18, 2021
Classification: Unclassified
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: CSCCB/Public Safety

Proposed Response:

• From coast to coast to coast we have seen a strong common consensus that more must be done to counter firearms violence.
• The May 1st ban was a critical first step for our Government in delivering on its promise to Canadians.  For nearly a year, the Canadian market has been frozen for over 1,500 models of assault-style firearms.  We established a two-year Amnesty Order to protect owners while they come into compliance with the law and created a temporary exception to allow continued use for Indigenous peoples exercising their constitutional rights and sustenance hunters until a replacement firearm can be found.  
• On February 16, 2021, we introduced Bill C-21, which delivers on most of our firearms commitments, including measures to reduce gender based violence, targeting criminal use and the illicit market and strengthening border controls.
• Bill C-21 proposes amendments to the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code that would build on the Government’s previous actions to promote the safety of Canadians while protecting the privileges associated with lawful firearms ownership. These include:
  • bringing into law “red and yellow flag” regimes that would give anyone - medical practitioners, family members, neighbours and victims of gender-based, intimate-partner, and family violence - the ability to seek a temporary licence suspension or removal of firearms from those who pose a danger to themselves or others in cases of domestic violence, suicide, or hate motivated crime;
  • imposing tougher penalties for trafficking and smuggling and related offences;
  • creating new offences for altering a cartridge magazine, depicting violence in advertising;
  • tightening restrictions on replica firearms and the importation of non-prohibited ammunition;
  • increasing the exchange of intelligence between the RCMP and local police of jurisdiction;
  • providing firearms owners affected by the May 1 assault-style firearms prohibition with disposition options including a strict non-permissive storage regime; and
  • helping create safer communities by supporting the efforts of municipalities who choose to take action to restrict handguns within their boundaries.
• We are also making important investments in our communities to reduce gun and gang violence.  We will help create safer communities by giving young people the opportunities and resources they need to resist lives of crime by providing $250 million over five years to municipalities and Indigenous communities to support youth programming.
• This complements our government’s previous investments to support provincial and territorial activities through the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence. More than $214 million, over five years, is being directed to our provincial and territorial partners to combat gun and gang violence.
• The portfolio is not seeking any additional appropriation in 2020-21 Supplementary ‘C’ Estimates for these initiatives.

Main Estimates 2021-22 seeks:

• $59.3 million to the Gun and Gang Violence Action Fund to be distributed by Public Safety to provinces and territories to advance efforts in areas of prevention, gang exit, outreach and awareness training, enhanced intelligence and sharing, and increased law enforcement capacity;
• $2.0 million to the Youth Gang Prevention Fund to be disbursed by PS to help support projects that prevent at-risk youth from joining gangs, provides exit strategies for youth who belong to gangs, and offers support to youth so they don’t re-join gangs, in communities where youth gangs are an existing or emerging issue. 
• $5.3 million (excluding SSC, PSPC and EBP costs) to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to strengthen controls at the border to prevent illegal firearms from entering the country; and
• 7.3 million to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as part of the original funding approved for the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence. This funding will continue to help the RCMP enhance its capacity to support investigations through the provision of nationwide firearms support services, firearms inspections and identification, intelligence development and analysis, and access to specialized databases and training.

Background:

Firearms-related homicide doubled from 2013 to 2017 (134 to 267) but fell slightly in 2018 (249). Shootings have now become the most common method of homicide. According to police, gang violence accounted for approximately 52% of firearms-related homicides in 2017 and 51% in 2018.This rising firearms-related violence is fueling public concern and giving rise to demands for federal action to curtail the availability of firearms in Canada.

Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms)

Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms) was introduced on February 16, 2021. The Bill introduces amendments to the Criminal Code to:

• Impose higher maximum penalties for firearms smuggling and trafficking and related firearms offences;
• Prohibit unregulated replica firearms;
• Permit anyone to apply for a temporary ex parte emergency weapons prohibition order and emergency limitation on access order against another individual to protect public safety (“red flag” law);
• Create a new offence of altering a cartridge magazine to exceed its lawful capacity;
• Include the Bank of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mint in the definition of “public officer” to allow them to possess and use prohibited firearms for security purposes and to further amend the Criminal Code to allow other federal entities to be prescribed as public officers in the future; and

It also introduce amendments to the Firearms Act to:

• Establish a non-permissive storage regime for newly-prohibited assault-style firearms;
• Repeal the existing provisions that allow for continued possession of prohibited firearms by regulation in the future, removing grandfathering and authorizing non-permissive storage;
• Provide a new mechanism for the short-term suspension of a firearms licence by a Chief Firearms Officer in receipt of information leading to reasonable suspicion about the licence holder’s continuing eligibility to hold the licence (“yellow flag” law);
• Require surrender of firearms to specified persons, or lawful disposal, by those appealing a licence revocation;
• Require the presentation of a firearms licence when importing non-prohibited ammunition;
• Create a new offence for the glorification of violence in firearms marketing and sales by licenced businesses; and
• Support municipalities that wish to further restrict handguns through by-laws restricting storage and transportation in their jurisdictions. Individuals who violate these municipal by-laws would be subject to federal penalties, including licence revocation.

Prohibition of Assault-Style Firearms

On May 1, 2020, the Government announced the prohibition of over 1500 models of firearms, and a its intention to subsequently bring forwards a buy-back program to compensate affected owners. Under the Amnesty Order that accompanied the prohibition, affected owners may, at any time before the end of the amnesty on 30 April 2022, choose to dispose of their firearm in one of the following ways: deactivate it so it is no longer a firearm; deliver it to a police officer for destruction or disposal, without compensation; export the firearm in accordance with all legal requirements; or, if a business, return the firearm to its manufacturer. The non-permissive storage option, once in place, would complement these options. Work on the buy-back program is underway.

The non-permissive storage option proposed within Bill C-21 is more restrictive than past regimes. Owners under the new provisions could keep their firearms, but not use them and cannot buy additional firearms from others within the pool, or sell, trade or bequeath them. To be eligible for the non-permissive storage option, owners will need to pay an increased licence fee and to provide information on their storage arrangements. When the owner’s firearms licence is no longer valid, the firearms will be disposed of in accordance with the law. Owners of prohibited firearms also always have the option to dispose of firearms through export, deactivation, or permanent modification to render the firearm non prohibited. Firearms owners will be responsible for meeting all eligibility criteria for non-permissive storage, and for maintaining a valid licence.

In addition to provisions for firearms owners impacted by the May 1, 2020 prohibition, existing provisions in the Firearms Act that allow for grandfathering of prohibited firearms by regulation would be updated. Specifically, the amended provisions will ensure the Governor-in-Council (GIC) can allow the non-permissive storage of firearms by regulation regardless of their previous classification (either non-restricted and restricted), but subject to the new “non-permissive” conditions.

Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence

Budget 2018 announced $327.6 million over five years and $100 million in ongoing funding to establish the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence (ITAAGGV). This funding included $214 million for provinces and territories (PTs) to fund targeted initiatives to reduce gun and gang crime in their communities. It also included $86 million in funding for the RCMP and CBSA to enhance their capacity to detect and disrupt gun smuggling.

Through the November 2020 Fall Economic Statement, the Government committed an additional $250 million over 5 years, starting in 2021-22, for municipalities, community-led initiatives and Indigenous communities, to support anti-gang programming. This funding complements the Government’s previous investment under the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence and previous investments as part of Youth Gang Prevention Fund under the National Crime Prevention Strategy.

Contacts:

Prepared by: {REDACTED}, Policy Advisor, Firearms and Operational Policing Policy Division, {REDACTED}
Approved by: Talal Dakalbab, Assistant Deputy Minister, Community Safety and Countering Crime Branch, 613-852-1167

Date modified:

2021-08-17