Tony Bernardo is the Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.Ottawa spent decades telling lawful firearms owners that public safety always demands one more prohibition, one more firearms surrender program, and one more restriction on people who already follow the law.On September 14, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) just showed Canadians what serious public safety work actually looks like.To effectively address the issue, the first step is to identify and locate the individuals connected to criminal activity. Once found, they must be thoroughly investigated. Following the investigation, those who have no legal right to remain in Canada should be removed, and the results of these actions should be published to ensure transparency.CBSA reported 188 removal orders and 111 completed removals through an initiative that tracks immigration enforcement cases with potential links to extortion.The Pacific Region accounted for 91 orders and 58 removals. The Prairie Region recorded 47 orders and 30 removals. The Greater Toronto Area recorded 50 orders and 23 removals.Those numbers describe action against identified people, not political theatre aimed at millions of licenced Canadian gun owners.The CBSA initiative began in the Pacific and Prairie regions in August 2025, then expanded to the Greater Toronto Area that November. Police intelligence, partner agencies, CBSA investigators, and public reports all supplied information.That’s how targeted enforcement works..It starts with conduct. It follows evidence. It focuses government resources on people and networks that threaten Canadian families and businesses.Most importantly, it doesn't start with the lazy assumption that licenced hunters, sport shooters, competitors, and collectors belong in the same category as violent criminals.CBSA highlighted four cases.In the first, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) found a foreign national inadmissible for membership in a criminal organization linked to extortion-related violence. CBSA linked that person to an extortion-related shooting.In the second, a Canadian court convicted another person of forcible confinement. The IRB found him inadmissible for serious criminality, and CBSA removed him.In a third case, the IRB found the person inadmissible for membership in an organization that engaged in a pattern of criminal activity. CBSA also linked him to firearms-related activity and an extortion-related shooting.In the fourth case, the person acknowledged offences that formed part of a criminal organization's pattern of activity. CBSA removed him too.Good. That's what Canadians expect government to do..But that doesn't negate the need for deeper scrutiny.CBSA says the 188 removal orders rested on "various inadmissibility grounds." That phrase doesn't prove that all 188 people committed extortion, possessed illegal firearms, or belonged to organized crime groups.The release gives Canadians four concrete examples. It doesn't explain what the other cases involved.It doesn't say how many removals came directly from extortion investigations, how many involved firearms-related conduct, or how many disrupted active criminal networks.The release also leaves out the important details behind those outcomes.How many investigators worked these files?How many referrals did CBSA receive?How many investigations produced no enforcement action?.How long did the cases take?How many removal orders still face appeals or other legal barriers?Those questions don't oppose enforcement. They test it.Ottawa usually asks Canadians to judge firearms policy by announcements. Another prohibition. Another program. Another promise that restricting lawful ownership will somehow make violent criminals behave.Announcements measure political activity.They don't prove public safety results.Targeted enforcement deserves a harder test.Did police and border officials identify the people who threatened families and fired at homes?Did they dismantle criminal networks, or did they remove individual participants while the networks kept operating?.Did prosecutors pursue traffickers, recruiters, and organizers when the evidence supported charges? Did attacks decline? Did victims receive better protection?CBSA deserves credit for publishing regional totals and explaining the legal basis for four removals. Canadians need more of that and less sloganeering.But the government claims these removals strengthened public safety.It must publish enough information for Canadians to test that claim without exposing personal information or active investigations.Tell us how many cases were tied directly to extortion. Tell us how many involved established organized crime connections. Tell us how many included firearms-related conduct. Tell us whether the initiative reduced threats in the communities that needed help.The lesson for Canadian firearms policy couldn't be clearer.The people who terrorize families, shoot at homes, traffic illegal guns, and operate criminal networks deserve the full attention of law enforcement.Licenced firearms owners aren't interchangeable with them.Canada doesn't suffer from a shortage of rules for people who already obey the law. Canada suffers when government substitutes broad symbolism for focused enforcement, then asks the public to confuse press conferences with actual results.CBSA’s recent actions point in the right direction.Target the people who commit violence. Follow the networks. Enforce the law. Measure the result. Publish enough detail for Canadians to judge it.And stop treating lawful citizens as a convenient substitute for criminals.Tony Bernardo is the Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.
