E-commerce giant Shopify bans sale of some firearms and accessories

Shopify is taking aim at weapons companies by banning the sale of some firearms and accessories on its platform.

The Ottawa-based e-commerce giant quietly made changes to its policies this week to keep its merchants from using its technology to sell everything from semi-automatic firearms that accept detachable magazines to accessories including grenades, rocket launchers and flash and sound supressors.

The company did not elaborate on why it changed its policy.

A call by police chiefs for Ottawa to closely vet people who import pill presses that may be used to encapsulate opioids will be carefully considered by federal officials, the minister of organized crime reduction said Wednesday.

Bill Blair, who is also the minister of border security, made the comments in Halifax, as the former police chief told the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police he sees his recent appointment to as an acknowledgment that Ottawa is willing to listen to the concerns of law enforcement.

Police say raids of drug labs have shown that presses, encapsulators, stamps and dyes are widely used in producing counterfeit pills.

In a resolution passed earlier this week, the association said the federal government did not go far enough when it introduced changes that made it illegal to import unregistered presses. The resolution calls for comprehensive scrutiny of people and businesses importing pill presses and encapsulators, including a requirement to spell out the equipment’s intended use. The chiefs also want controls over domestic sales of imported presses.The association said the illicit use of presses has helped increase the supply of street drugs containing synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, contributing to a crisis of overdose deaths.

Blair said the government takes the advice of the police chiefs very seriously, and is willing to look at all measures that could reduce harm caused by opioids. “Let me assure the police chiefs — we are quite prepared to look at any measure,” said Blair during a news conference following his address to the conference.

“I’ve been involved on both sides of those resolutions, formerly as a member and president of the (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police). Those resolutions we know are thoughtful and important. I will tell you tell you that I believe the government will listen very carefully to the advice.”

According to figures published in June, there were 3,987 apparent opioid-related deaths in Canada in 2017, the vast majority of which were unintentional. Almost-three quarters of accidental opioid-related deaths involved fentanyl or fentanyl analogues, compared to 55 per cent the previous year.

Changes to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act last year introduced a registration requirement to import pill presses.