Alberta Uses New Firearms Act for First Time to Block Confiscation Efforts

Rifles and shotguns on display in an Ottawa hunting store, in a file photo. (Jonathan Hayward/CP Photo)

Alberta has used its new Firearms Act for the first time in order to restrict municipalities and police from entering into agreements with the federal government, the province announced on April 5.

In a news release, the province said it had moved to use the first regulation under the Alberta Firearms Act since it was introduced on March 7.

The regulation requires that municipalities, police services, and police commissions receive written approval from Alberta’s minister of justice and attorney general before signing funding agreements or accepting funding from the federal government to take part in the federal firearms confiscation program.

This will allow Minister of Justice and Attorney General Tyler Shandro to review the agreements, said the province, to “ensure they are consistent with safe delivery of firearms programming.”

Shandro said the action “demonstrates that Alberta stands unequivocally with law-abiding firearms owners.”

“There is more to do. Stay tuned,” he said.

Teri Byrant, the province’s chief firearms officer, said that public safety “should be the cornerstone and overriding factor in all decisions,” adding, “The federal firearms confiscation program will not improve public safety.”

She said that her office had called on the federal government to focus on “the criminal misuse of firearms” rather than on law-abiding firearm owners, who are registered, trained, and vetted.

Federal Gun Ban

In May 2020, the federal government banned roughly 1,500 models and variants of firearms it called “assault-style” guns using an Order-in-Council.

Cabinet also officially outlawed the buying, selling, and transferring of new handguns in Canada effective Nov. 9, 2022, under the Firearms Act.

Bill C-21 would write the May 2020 gun ban and last year’s handgun freeze into law. The legislation also plans a mandatory firearms buyback program, which multiple provinces have objected to and refused to take part in.

The new Alberta regulation will not impact normal police activity—for example, if officers have to confiscate a weapon as part of a criminal investigation.

The province said there are 341,988 firearms license holders in the province, with 127 shooting ranges and more than 650 firearms-related businesses.

Tracey Wilson, with the Canadian Coalition of Firearms Rights (CCFR), said in an April 5 news release that a leaked memo outlines that the RCMP will be the main agent confiscating weapons for the federal government under new gun regulations making their way through the House of Commons and Senate.

According to the CCFR, the government document states that “encouraging discussions” had taken place with Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia.

“The agenda shows that both Calgary and Edmonton are working with the federal Liberals on the buyback municipally. This will come as a shock to many Albertans,” said the gun owners advocacy organization.

The CCFR stated that other cities working with the Liberals to implement the buyback confiscation program include Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Saint John, Halifax, and Charlottetown.

Wilson said, “Today, Tyler Shandro has taken action.” She said Shandro has been “unequivocal in his support of firearms owners” and is “actively opposing the federal government’s abuse of our property rights using the Alberta Firearms Act.”

On Oct. 21, 2022, a news release from the prime minister’s office (PMO) said, “Fewer guns means safer communities.”

“We will continue to do whatever it takes to keep guns out of our communities and build a safer country, for everyone,” said the PMO.