A chance to fix flawed gun legislation

Removing assault-style firearms from Canadian streets goes beyond a laudable goal. It is a necessity.

That the governing Liberals have made the road to this goal such a pot-holed, uphill mess again points to a government that appears to have lost its edge and has become sloppy after more than seven years in power.

In the days following the massacre of school children in Uvalde, Texas, the Liberals won praise for introducing legislation that would freeze the sale of handguns, crack down on cross-border smuggling and impose red flag laws that could lead to revocation of weapons permits if the owner posed a threat to themselves or others, a move made with domestic violence in mind. The handgun freeze came into effect last autumn through an order-incouncil, but the others were embodied in Bill C-21.

With enough votes to pass the legislation, the government suddenly got creative, recklessly so. Last-minute amendments were added at committee in November with no warning or explanation, sparking surprise and then, almost immediately, widespread condemnation. Among those surprised were New Democrats who are not supposed to be blindsided by any initiatives from their partners in a confidence-and-supply partnership. While the Liberals were trying to enshrine the ban of assault weapons in legislation and not regulation (making it more difficult for a subsequent government to roll back bans), it ensnared popular hunting firearms in its extremely wide net.

Late last week, after trying to defend the indefensible for too long, the amendments were withdrawn. Retreat was the proper move, albeit late.

“There have been legitimate concerns raised about the need for more consultation and debate on this vital part of the bill,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in a statement.

“We didn’t get it right,” said Liberal House leader Mark Holland. He conceded the government didn’t properly differentiate between guns used legally for hunting and those that are designed for mass killings.

The Liberals really had no alternative. It killed one amendment that included hundreds of pages listing firearms makes and models that would be banned when the bill passed. Some of them were already illegal, but the government sought to legislate their ban. On that list were hundreds of makes and models that are used widely in the Canadian north and rural areas and often by Indigenous Canadians. It also killed an amendment that created an “evergreen” definition of guns that would be illegal in this country forever.

Ottawa has unwittingly allowed gun control to return to its lamentable position as a political wedge issue, where it has been stuck for years

Although Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre claimed that Trudeau backed down under pressure from his team, the fact is the amendments were opposed by Indigenous leaders, NDP MPs, even members of the Liberal caucus. Rarely has opposition coalesced across the full political spectrum.

The messy overreach and complete lack of communications plan has now made it more difficult and time-consuming for this government to finally enact this substantial piece of gun control legislation. It has unwittingly allowed gun control to return to its lamentable position as a political wedge issue, where it has been stuck for years. For too long, gun legislation has been cynically used as a political fundraiser or a club used during election campaigns.

This was a Liberal own goal. Creating a proper registry of weapons that must be banned without firing up anti-gun control lobbyists and their political allies is tough work, but work that must be done and properly communicated.

The Liberals owe it those who have lost loved ones, to victims of gun violence and all Canadians who are feeling less safe on their streets to quickly get back to work on this legislation and do it right this time. They have only themselves to blame for the time that has been lost.