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Gun group says firearms ban driven by ideology as government stresses public safety

Nov 30, 2022 | 12:20 PM

OTTAWA — A firearm advocacy group says the Liberal government’s effort to ban a wide variety of rifles is being driven by ideology, not public safety.

But the government says it’s all about prohibiting guns designed to kill people, and hunters will still have thousands of types of rifles and shotguns available to them.

The Liberal government wants to include an evergreen definition of a prohibited assault-style firearm in gun-control legislation being studied by the House of Commons public safety committee.

The measure would build on a May 2020 regulatory ban of over 1,500 models and variants of what the government considers assault-style firearms, such as the AR-15 and the Ruger Mini-14.

At a news conference today, Rod Giltaca of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights says the government is going after millions of licensed gun owners who have done nothing to deserve it.

The group says the government should go back to the drawing board and take a hard look at what really needs to be done to make Canada a safer country.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2022.

The Canadian Press