Canada’s top court will weigh in on a contentious federal firearms ban after agreeing to hear a challenge from gun owners who argue Ottawa overstepped its authority in blacklisting hundreds of models without evidence the move would reduce crime.Blacklock's Reporter says in a notice issued Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal to the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights and several co-plaintiffs, setting the stage for a final legal battle over regulations first introduced in 2020. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.The case centres on cabinet’s Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms, which prohibited roughly 1,500 models classified as “assault style” firearms. The policy also triggered a $742 million federal gun grab program now underway, requiring owners of an estimated 175,000 affected firearms to surrender or destroy them by Oct. 30 or face potential criminal charges.Lower courts previously upheld the ban, with the Federal Court of Appeal dismissing the challenge last April, stating “the ship has sailed.”In earlier rulings, judges emphasized that the case was not about the broader policy debate over firearms but whether cabinet acted within its legal authority. A 2023 Federal Court decision found the regulations were a reasonable exercise of that authority, even as it acknowledged uncertainty about the evidence behind the classifications..Justice Catherine Kane wrote at the time that “there is no way to know exactly what information was considered” in determining which firearms to prohibit, but cautioned courts against interfering with cabinet decisions. She rejected arguments from applicants that existing regulations were sufficient or that many affected firearms were not truly “assault-style,” concluding those claims did not prove the measures were overly broad.Questions about the effectiveness of the ban have also surfaced in parliamentary testimony. In 2022, a senior official from the Department of Public Safety told a Commons committee there was no data confirming the measures would reduce gun crime.“I am sincerely hopeful that it will help,” said assistant deputy minister Talal Dakalbab at the time. Pressed by Conservative MP Dane Lloyd on whether any analysis showed the policies would improve public safety, Dakalbab responded: “I don’t know exactly what impact it will have.”The controversy deepened following remarks by Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree that were recorded by a constituent and later made public. In those comments, the minister suggested the regulations were politically significant for Liberal MPs in Québec, describing the issue as “a big, big, big deal” for voters there.Anandasangaree also acknowledged concerns about enforcement, saying municipal police services may lack the resources to implement the measures, adding, “Don’t ask me to explain the logic of this to you.”
