Petition calls out Liberal government for ‘egregious’ proposed gun laws

The petition, initiated by Bradley Manysiak—a concerned citizen from Medicine Hat, Alberta—is made up of eight points, with a focus on the “egregious overreach of executive authorities, bypassing the democratic process of the House and the elected representatives of Canadians.”

The petition argues that the government has expressed intention to ban “military-style assault rifles,” though the term is not considered a legal definition in Canada, leaving too much room for interpretation which could lead to abuse by the government.

The petition argues that the government’s use of an Order in Council to ban those aforementioned “military-style assault rifles” would be an “egregious overreach of executive authorities, bypassing the democratic process of the House and the elected representatives of Canadians,” with the use of an Order in Council “neglecting to acknowledge the survey on firearms where the majority of respondents did not support further limiting access to firearms & assault-style firearms.”

Tracey Wilson, a gun rights advocate from the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, says the petition is a necessary and a simple request. “This petition is a simple, reasonable ask: respect proper parliamentary procedure. If the Liberals want gun bans on legal owners, then let’s debate the merits of that democratically,” argues Wilson.

“Let’s review the evidence and data, hear from experts, study the issue and come up with the most effective measures to help keep Canadians safe.”

Wilson believes that the Liberals gun platform is ineffective, as it doesn’t move to remove weapons from the hands of criminals, and it refuses to acknowledge the overwhelming number of gun crimes which are committed with illegal firearms, rather than legal ones.

“Liberals have always used gun control measures to ineffectively combat crime and gang violence because tackling the root causes of why this devastating violence continues to plague our country is a long, difficult, complex fight,” Wilson went on to say. “It can’t be done in one short election cycle and they fear they may not receive the credit.”

The petition also clearly makes this point, stating that a ban on these weapons would unjustifiably target legal firearm owners, who generally go through high standards of vetting to receive their weapon in the first place. ” Possession and Acquisition License (PAL) and Restricted PAL (RPAL) holders are subject to daily screening and are statistically proven to be less likely to commit crimes than non-PAL & non-RPAL holders.”

The pro-gun petition completely has already surpassed a petition launched in November of 2018, which calls for a strict ban on handguns. That petition, which ran until March of 2019, received only 20,110 signature compared to the nearly 30,000 acquired in only three days in the pro-gun petition.

To view the full petition, click here.