SASKATOON, SK: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to scrap its failing gun ban and confiscation program after announcing a pilot project to confiscate firearms from individual Canadians.

“Law enforcement experts have stated the gun ban and confiscation won’t make Canadians safer,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Confiscating guns from licenced gun owners won’t keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.

“Taxpayers can’t afford to spend another dollar on what is amounting to be an absurdly expensive piece of government performance art.”

The federal government announced that it will starting a pilot project to confiscate firearms from individuals in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

The federal government banned more than 2,500 models of firearms since 2020. Before they were banned, all those firearms were used for hunting or sports shooting by Canadians who passed safety tests and background checks.

The police and other experts have publicly stated this scheme won’t make Canadians safer.

“It won’t impact crime rates,” said Doug King, a professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University.

The National Police Federation, the union representing the RCMP, says Ottawa’s program “diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”

“We know that the gun buyback program is going to have, essentially, zero impact on the crime in Toronto,” said Clayton Campbell, the president of the Toronto Police Association.

Since the guns were initially banned in 2020, meaning it’s illegal to use them, violent firearm crimes in Canada have increased.

The government said the confiscation would cost taxpayers $200 million in 2019. In reality, the cost of providing compensation for the confiscated guns could be up to $756 million, not including administration costs, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Other experts have put the total cost at more than $6 billion.

The government has a history of ballooning costs for these programs. The government initially promised the long-gun registry would cost taxpayers only $2 million. The final tab was more than $2 billion.  

“Cops, academics, licenced gun owners and everyday taxpayers know that this program won’t do anything to make Canadians safer,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director “The federal government needs to listen to the police and scrap this program before another penny of taxpayers’ money is wasted.”