Gun buyback program should be mandatory, group says

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

In a letter to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, the group PolySeSouvient urges the Liberal government to implement a mandatory buyback program for all assault-style guns.

The Liberals outlawed a wide range of firearms early this month, saying the guns were designed for the battlefield, not hunting or sport shooting.

The ban covers some 1,500 models and variants of what the government considers assaultstyle weapons, meaning they can no longer be legally used, sold or imported.

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.

PolySeSouvient emphasizes in its letter that several mass shootings in Canada involved legally owned guns. “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,” the 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.”