Petition against Liberal gun ban signed by over 100,000 upset Canadians

With over 100,000 signatures, the petition is the second largest in Canadian history.

E-petitions can be open for 30, 60, 90 or 120 days for signature based on what the petitioner prefers. The petitions get a government response within 45 days of their opening. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair is overseeing the “buyback program” which Blair estimates could cost anywhere from $400 to $600 million.

The petition has been sponsored by MP Glen Motz who told The Post Millennial, “I am always pleased to help Canadians voice their concerns, especially on such a deeply flawed policy like the Liberals’ misguided approach on firearms policy that ignore criminals and instead focuses on law-abiding Canadian firearms owners. It is unfortunate that tens of thousands of Canadians feel ignored, maligned and even demonized by the Liberals, to the extend that this petition even necessary.”

“Canadians expect policies that focus on stopping criminals, gangs and the flow of illegal firearms into Canada, not policies that attacking law-abiding Canadians firearms owners.” Motz added.

“Canadians want clear, honest policies based on facts and evidence. But the Liberals firearms proposals make it clear they are intent on ignoring the evidence and will pursue public safety policies that do nothing to make Canadians safer.”

Blair’s office did not respond to request for comment from The Post Millennial. His office was asked what the minister’s response is to over 100,000 Canadians calling on the government to drop what many experts see as a completely ineffectual action to curb gun violence. Blair was also asked about fellow Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski’s letter addressed to him that opposed the gun ban (Powlowski has since retracted the letter) and Winnipeg Police constable calling the ban “nonsense”.

“When we seize handguns, the handguns are always almost 100% in the possession of people who have no legal right to possess them. They’re almost always stolen or illegally obtained,” said Const. Rob Carver. “I simply don’t see how as a 27-year-old veteran, how adding another layer of law will make any difference, anywhere in this country.”

In Powlowski’s letter to Blair he wrote, “Over the course of the past three months, I have heard a wide variety of views on this proposed ban. I believe it is my role to ensure that these views are brought to your attention for consideration.”

“Given that there is currently no legal definition for a ‘military-style assault rifle’ in Canada, some community members I have spoken with are skeptical that a ban based on this term would make sense as a coherent firearm policy,” the letter continued.

In a CBC interview in the summer of 2018, Blair said that most of the gun crime is committed by illegal handguns smuggled in from the U.S. and he was skeptical of a gun ban being effective in combating gun crime. His position changed drastically once he was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the public safety minister.

The Post Millennial also reached out to Tracey Wilson, who is a gun rights advocate from the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights.

“Parliamentary e petition E2341 is currently the second most signed petition in Canadian history. If we had the other 27k that missed step 2 we would be in first place. There is still more time so I’m confident we will surpass previous records,” said Wilson.

“This is proof positive that Canadians not only oppose bans on legal guns, but the undemocratic use of OIC’s to do it. I believe the reason for circumventing the usual parliamentary process is the Liberals know they don’t have the support they would need. They are dependant on other parties to pass legislation in their current state of a weakened minority.”

“There are two main reasons why law enforcement, every credible expert and Canadians in general oppose these measures; 1) they know it’s not licensed RCMP vetted gun owners that need to be targeted, its criminals and gangs. 2) the billions of taxpayer dollars they will waste could have been better allocated to at risk youth and community programs, law enforcement and technology at the border to prevent illicit smuggling.” said Wilson.

She added, “This will go down as one of the Liberal Party’s biggest failures and we are all the victims of it.”

A big portion of the signatures have come from Ontario with 35,533. Alberta had 21,753 signatories and B.C. had 18,930.