Petition against Trudeau government's firearm ban becomes biggest in Canadian history

An online petition against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Order in Council decision which banned over 1,500 firearms has now become the most signed official petition in Canadian history.

Petition e-2574 became open for signature on May 5, 2020 and has already received more than 180,000 signatures. The petition closes on September 2, 2020.

The petition asks the government to “scrap” the Order in Council that took place on May, 1 2020.  It also suggests that the government instead pass legislation that targets criminals and stops firearms from being smuggled into the country.

The petition lists several reasons to cancel the decision:

• The Prime Minister’s firearms confiscation regime, undemocratically imposed without debate during a pandemic while Parliament is suspended, is an assault on Canadian democracy;
• Canada already has stringent regulations and comprehensive legislation related to firearms ownership;
• Canada has millions of responsible, law-abiding firearms owners;
• Data shows that the confiscation regime would not stop firearms violence in Canada;
• The majority of firearms used in violent crimes are obtained illegally and/or are smuggled into Canada;
• Legal firearms owners are strong advocates for measures that will actually prevent firearms violence;
• Legal firearms owners in Canada are vetted on a daily basis through the CPIC system;
• The Prime Minister is using the emotion of the tragedy in Nova Scotia to impose this confiscation regime even though all of the firearms the murderer used were illegally obtained;
• The list of firearms to be confiscated is arbitrary and not based on functionality;
• “Assault rifles”, or fully automatic firearms, have been banned in Canada since 1977;
• Criminals who have illegally obtained firearms will not be impacted by this confiscation regime; and
• The federal government is abandoning evidenced-based decision making as it relates to preventing firearm violence.

Many people who have signed the petition are legal gun owners who feel they have the right to own certain guns in Canada and that the government is wasting its time putting restrictions on law abiding citizens instead of focusing on criminals.

In just days, petition e-2574 has surpassed the former highest signed e-petition which also has to do with firearm rights. The petition is e-2341 and it received 175,310 signatures. It was against the ban of “military-style assault rifles.” The petition opened on Dec. 17, 2019 closing on Feb. 15 2020.

The new petition will be open for signatures for just under four months—closing on September 2, 2020 at 9:20 a.m.