Tony Bernardo is the executive director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.Conservative MP Bob Zimmer asked the federal government a simple, necessary question about its so-called Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program, better known as the Liberal government’s Firearms Confiscation Compensation Scheme.Question: “Has the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST) communicated with Chief Firearms Officers or local police to identify firearm owners for enforcement action?”The RCMP’s answer:“There has been no communication between the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST) resources and federal/provincial Chief Firearms Officers or police of local jurisdiction to identify targets for enforcement action under the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program.”That sounds reassuring until you read the rest of the government’s response.Ottawa confirmed that after the amnesty expires, the Registrar of Firearms will notify licence holders whom the government records as still possessing previously registered affected firearms.If those owners do not take action, their information will be shared with local police and Chief Firearms Officers (CFOs) “in accordance with existing information sharing authorities.”The government says NWEST has not yet helped identify “enforcement targets,” then describes the information-sharing process that will identify firearm owners to police once the amnesty ends.That’s not reassurance. It’s a timetable..The government’s carefully limited denial does not say that no enforcement planning has occurred anywhere within the RCMP or Canadian Firearms Program.It does not say that no lists or records exist.It does not say police will be prevented from receiving owners’ information.It says only that there has been no particular communication involving NWEST, CFOs, or local police “to identify targets” under the firearms compensation scheme while an amnesty remains in force.Why would NWEST be identifying enforcement targets today when the conduct in question is temporarily protected by an Amnesty Order?That’s the wrong question.The right question is: What happens the moment the Amnesty Order expires?NWEST is not a public-relations office. The RCMP describes it as a national police-support organization whose purpose is to help police investigate and prosecute firearm offences.The Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) does not believe Ottawa created a nationwide prohibition, maintained records of previously registered firearms, collected declarations from 38,671 individuals, and developed a post-amnesty information-sharing process without contemplating enforcement.The government says approximately 166,555 affected firearms were held by individuals before the compensation program began.As of June 22, owners declared 68,793 firearms — 67,512 for surrender and destruction and 1,281 for deactivation.That’s a gap of almost 100,000 firearms that remain in the hands of licensed firearms owners.The numbers don’t reveal how many affected firearms have already been lawfully exported, deactivated, destroyed, or otherwise disposed of..Nor do they establish how many individual owners remain affected.But they do explain why firearm owners should take the government’s enforcement language seriously.CSSA cannot independently prove that Ottawa possesses a complete list of every person who owns every newly prohibited firearm.Many affected firearms were formerly non-restricted and were not individually registered.The government does, however, acknowledge it can identify at least some owners through existing registration records — and that this information “will be shared” with police after the amnesty expires.The amnesty, extended until 90 days after the Supreme Court of Canada delivers its decision in the pending challenge to the May 2020 prohibition, postpones criminal exposure.It does not erase the prohibitions or dismantle the enforcement machinery.When that amnesty protection ends, NWEST will still exist. The Canadian Firearms Program will still possess its records. Local police and CFOs will still have their enforcement powers.Ottawa has now confirmed that information about some owners “will be shared” if they do not take steps the government considers compliant.The government wants Canadians to focus on its claim that no “enforcement targets” have yet been identified through NWEST.Firearm owners should focus on what comes immediately after that sentence.And Ottawa’s own word isn’t “may.” It’s “will.”You can bet your freedom on it.Tony Bernardo is the executive director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.
