For nearly three years the Canadian government has not kept any data on how well – or even if – a crucial provision of gun control legislation is working.
Then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation known as C-21 to freeze handgun purchases, establish a “buy back” of modern semi-automatic firearms and enact a “red flag” law to address domestic violence in May 2022, with the bill receiving Royal Assent in December 2023. However, in March, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that no data had been collected as to how many times the law had been used.
“Since December 15, 2023, one ‘red flag’ order was reported to the Canadian Firearms Program and recorded in the Canadian Firearms Information System,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told the CBC. The same figure was provided in an April 27 response to an inquiry from Conservative Member of Parliament Frank Caputo of British Columbia.
“Courts, judges, and justices must inform the Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) of jurisdiction of any prohibition order that they make, vary, or revoke, including emergency prohibition orders ( ‘red flag’ laws). These court orders are held in the Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS) and accessible to CFOs,” the Canadian Ministry of Public Safety told the DCNF. “We refer you to the Canadian Firearms Program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Chief Firearms Officers of jursisdiction [sic] regarding the data you are looking for.”
Canadian gun-rights groups criticized the legislation and lack of data when reached by the DCNF.
“The real story here is the government isn’t even trying to dispute the reality that their new regulation isn’t working,” Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights Executive Director Rod Giltaca said. “They need only continue to gaslight our people and attack the reputations of those who disagree with them. Actual public safety continues to elude Canadians.”
“The position of Canada’s National Firearms Association is that these laws have failed to have any effect on reducing violence and that they were imposed on dubious ideological grounds at the behest of the civil disarmament lobby,” NFA Executive Vice President Blair Hagen told the DCNF.
“Red flag” laws are statutes that allow courts to temporarily remove firearms (and sometimes other weapons) from individuals who are deemed a credible threat to themselves or others, based on their recent behavior, statements, or circumstances. They are in force in 22 states and the District of Columbia, according to the United States Concealed Carry Association.
Pro-Second Amendment organizations have criticized the laws, citing failures to provide due process. Since the February 2018 shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 17 states have enacted these laws, the USCCA reports.
“The problem with laws that preemptively strip gun owners of their rights without appropriate due process is that they provide runaway government carte blanche to abuse people that have committed no crime,” the Second Amendment Foundation told the DCNF. “It’s all too common for politicians to happily spend taxpayer money on press tours announcing their most recently enacted infringement, but there’s rarely the same investment in accountability for that new policy in action.”
“It’s entirely reasonable for Canadians to want to know exactly how many people have been disarmed as a result of this Red Flag Law, and a dismissive shrug from the government does not communicate its respect for the rights of the governed,” the SAF continued.
This article has been updated with comment from the Canadian Ministry of Public Safety.
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