The story so far...
It is no secret that the last nine years have been challenging for firearms owners and in particular, the last 3 to 4 years have been particularly difficult with the prohibition on sale, transfer and import of handguns and the repeated OIC measures to reclassify commonly owned firearms to prohibited status.
Over this period, we have maintained optimism regarding the future and most of our clients are aware that we have remained vocal on the subject of securing whatever license opportunities are available. When the 2022 announcements were made, a lot of firearms owners were left without a route to handgun ownership simply because they did not possess the correct license to take advantage of the ‘feeding frenzy’ that followed in the days and weeks that followed.
It became apparent to us through conversations with our students that there is a great deal of misunderstanding around the restrictions and prohibitions with most believing that handguns are ‘banned’. This is absolutely not the case, only the sale, transfer and import of handguns were ended by the federal Liberal government; the use and more pertinently, the loan, of handguns is quite legal and regularly exercised. Additionally, we have seen some surprise that the firearms reclassified as prohibited under OIC are still in the hands of owners even though they cannot be legally used currently.
Political analysis for 2025
With the excellent 338canada.com projecting a landslide majority for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) in the next federal election, the signals for change in our political environment are strong.
As we write this post, Trudeau has stated his intention to resign as leader of the federal Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) and as Prime Minister and has also prorogued parliament until the end of March. The current indication is that the LPC will announce a new party leader on March 9th.
Compounding the issues for the LPC, the leader of the NDP has announced intention to support a vote of non-confidence in parliament, joining the Bloc leader and CPC leader in the intention. The CPC have announced the intention to call for this vote at the earliest opportunity and have two immediate opportunities once parliament reconvenes at the end of March. If this occurs, and is successful, we will move to a springtime general election, possibly in April. If these attempts are unsuccessful and no other attempts are made in the following months, legislation mandates that a general election is held no later than October 2025. Therefore, the safe bets are all on Canada having a CPC majority government between April and October 2025.
Is this good news?
It is good news for firearms owners. While the CPC would position themselves as ‘friendly’ to firearms owners, the reality is that they are simply the least hostile option and therefore are the party of choice for our sport.
We were fortunate to meet with our local federal MP this week, the honourable Rob Morrison, MP for Kootenay-Columbia. Rob attended our monthly meeting at the Creston Valley Rod & Gun Club to update the membership on a number of issues but unsurprisingly the conversation was dominated by the CPC intentions on the firearms portfolio. Rob was forthright in his answers and gave a clear picture of the future, paraphrased here:
The CPC intends to utilise Order In Council (OIC) measures immediately after election to reverse the unjustified measures put in place by the LPC which will rewind firearms legislation to 2015, before the LPC took office. It is also the intention over time to replace current firearms legislation with a clearer, more practical and far more efficient model designed to target illegal firearms use in crime and to safeguard legitimate law-abiding sport-shooters and hunters. Before we do that, we need to get elected.”
In summary, when the CPC gains office, we will see a rapid reversal to 2015 firearms legislation which will once again allow law-abiding firearms owners to buy and sell handguns and use their legally acquired firearms that had become prohibited since 2015. In addition, firearms retailers will once again be permitted to import handguns and firearms prohibited by OIC.
What does this mean for me?
Each user case is different. If you have your PAL with RPAL endorsement, it means that you will once again be able to buy and sell handguns. You will be able to legally use your firearms that were reclassified as prohibited.
If you have your CFSC but not your RPAL endoresement, and wish to ensure that you do not miss out on the ability to purchase handguns once the LPC legislation is repealed, you need to consider booking a seat on a CRFSC course as soon as possible. Acquiring the endorsement is not a fast endeavour and the reality is that immediate action would be required in order to have your RPAL in-hand for a reversal of OIC following an April election. Sure it seems months away but the process is slow and CRFSC seats are limited.
If you do not have your CFSC then you should be aware that demand for CRFSC this year is anticipated to be very high. This may well impact your ability to sit both the CFSC and CRFSC on the same weekend; the advice above applies with the additional caveat that you may not be able to secure a seat for CRFSC.
Those who wish to own handguns are not about to miss the opportunity a second time and we anticipate heavy demand for CRFSC throughout 2025.
