As reported in multiple places, the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) ran a gun confiscation pilot program in NS in the fall with a small goal of “buying back” 200 guns. It was an easy target to hit but still failed miserably, only netting 25 guns from 16 individuals, suggesting that the people of NS chose non compliance instead of getting some money for guns that have been collecting dust for 5 years. Which is kind of crazy because the LPC chose Cape Breton specifically because they thought it’d go well there. Anyway, I thought I’d write a bit to share what I thought this meant, as well as compile some other interesting facts about the gun confiscation scheme.
Interesting gun confiscation facts you may or may not know:
- The original ban was in 2020.
- The ban was for “assault-style firearms”, a new, made-up term that ended up including some bolt action hunting rifles, pump action shotguns, and some 22’s as well.
- The ban was announced after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia that was committed with a smuggled firearm from the US. Thus, the ban would not have stopped the shooting. The shooter also did not have a Canadian firearms license.
- Many more guns were banned in late 2024 and 2025
- The hard deadline for the amnesty period has been moved several times. Now the new deadline is supposed to be October 31, 2026
- Confiscated firearms were originally supposed to go to Ukraine. Ukraine refused them because they’re not appropriate for war
- They still consider the pilot a success and have written an official government post-mortem.
- Only Halifax, Winnipeg, and Quebec have agreed so far to participate in the gun confiscation program.
- Provinces that have effectively banned the buyback program: AB, SK
- Provinces not participating: Yukon, Manitoba, NWT, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ford complained about it but didn’t explicitly say the province is not participating.
- Police forces not participating: OPP, Toronto Police, Saugeen, Barrie, Kawartha Lakes, Brantford, Durham, Charlottetown, Sarnia, Peterborough, Woodstock, LaSalle in Quebec, London, Chatham-Kent, Strathroy-Caradoc, Aylmer, St. Thomas, South Simcoe and Waterloo is considering it
- The government likely lost their partner in charge of destroying firearms when Canadians found out it was probably CZ/Colt Canada and put pressure on the business. CZ has released statements that Colt Canada won’t be involved.
FAQ:
Q: Why is the LPC still pushing for this gun confiscation?
A: The minister in charge of the program was recorded candidly saying they think it’s important to get them votes in Quebec.
Q: Do they have enough money for the buyback to pay for all the guns that are banned?
A: No, not even close. There’s only enough money for an estimated 1-2% of the guns that were banned. The LPC have said that payment for the guns is not guaranteed and that when the program runs out of budget, firearms owners will no longer be compensated. First come, first serve.
Q: Is the buyback voluntary?
A: No, only in the most cynical, weasel-worded interpretation. You can voluntarily give your gun back for a 1% chance of getting paid or the cops can seize your guns for $0 and charge you with possession of a prohibited firearm.
Q: What should firearms owners do right now?
A: Write or meet with your MP and discuss your concerns. Talk to your local police department and try to get them to publicly state that they won’t take part in the confiscation either.
Q: How do you volunteer your guns for confiscation and roll the dice on getting paid for them?
A: As of January 19th, they’ve opened the registration phase of the program. You first submit a declaration of your prohibited guns on that portal. Sometime later (not defined), you can submit your firearms to the government.
From the program:
Q: How are they going to collect the guns for the buyback?
A: The federal government is going to pay provinces and municipalities. They’re paying Quebec 12.4 million to implement the program there. For other provinces, they’ve talked about RCMP or “mobile collection units” handling the collection.
Q: Can criminals submit their firearms? Will this program take any firearms “off the streets”?
A: No. You have to be a law-abiding, licensed firearms owner to take part in the buyback.
Q: Is this program going to save lives?
A: Probably the opposite. Most police forces, unions, and associations have condemned the program as ineffective and misguided. Here’s what the National Police Federation said in 2020: Costly and current legislation, such as the Order in Council prohibiting various firearms and the
proposed “buy-back” program by the federal government targeted at legal firearm owners, does not address these current and emerging themes or urgent threats to public safety. In fact, it diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.
For another perspective, New Zealand ran an assault-weapon buyback program in 2020 and their violent firearms offence rate went up, not down.
What the gun confiscation future means for gun-owners in Canada
Just to summarize the above, the gun confiscation program is being run by the LPC in the hopes of shoring up votes in Quebec. Behind closed doors, the LPC don’t believe in it and haven’t funded it enough and the police don’t believe in it either. The government has cheaped out on the program so most gun owners are going to get fucked: stuck with the choice of giving up firearms for a small chance of compensation or non compliance.
Mass non compliance – the obvious conclusion
As seen in the NS pilot project, most Canadian gun owners are not going to participate. Is that even an option? Well, maybe. For those guns that were previously restricted, they’re registered so the government knows who owns what. Those gun owners will have to participate in some way. For guns that were previously non restricted, the government has no idea and no estimates of how many of them are out there. Gun owners in Alberta and Saskatchewan will have no choice to participate because those provinces won’t allow for the gun buyback and confiscation mechanisms and their provincial governments have also instructed law enforcement and prosecutors to refuse to enforce or prosecute under the scheme either. Just today, I heard that Manitoba won’t be participating in the buyback either.
So after October 2026, hundreds of thousands (maybe a million) of Canadian gun owners will technically be criminals in possession of prohibited weapons. Some will be protected via provincial law, some won’t. No practical benefit is expected other than the LPC securing some votes they need in Quebec.
What a fucking joke.
Update: Jan 26, 2026. After 1 week of having the registration portal open, they’ve seen 22,251 firearms declared. That’s incredibly low compliance, especially considering the compensation program is “first come, first serve, and we don’t nearly have enough money for everyone”.
