Group fears gun ban could unravel

OTTAWA — Allowing owners of recently banned firearms to keep them would make it easier for a different government to reverse the ban in future, according to a leading proponent of stricter gun control.

In a letter to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, the group PolySeSouvient urged the Liberal government to implement a mandatory buyback program for all assault-style guns. The Liberals outlawed a wide range of firearms this month, saying the guns were designed for the battlefield, not hunting or sport shooting.

The ban covers about 1,500 models and variants of what the government considers assault-style weapons. The government proposes a program that would allow current owners to receive compensation for turning in the designated firearms or keep them through a grandfathering process yet to be worked out.

Sport shooters, firearm rights advocates and some Conservative MPs have questioned the value of the measures in fighting crime. But the ban was welcomed by PolySeSouvient, which includes students and graduates of Montreal’s École Polytechnique, where a man shot and killed 14 women in 1989.

“Given that the government recognizes the inherent public safety risks associated with the availability of these types of weapons, it follows that each weapon that remains in private hands constitutes a risk,” its letter says. “Moreover, in a scenario where a significant proportion of assault weapons remain in private hands, it would be much easier for a subsequent government to repeal the bans.”