Alberta government to survey Albertans in response to federal firearms ban

The Alberta government is seeking the public’s thoughts on a potential provincial firearms policy, largely in response to the federal government’s ‘assault-weapon’ ban. Premier Kenney has been vocally opposed to said gun control measures implemented by Ottawa, having said back in May: “The Government of Alberta is concerned about all crime, including the illegal use of firearms. [This] order by Ottawa does little to target criminals. Instead, Ottawa is singling out law-abiding Canadians who purchased their property legally, have owned these items safely for years, and who have committed no crimes.”

The Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee (AFAC) will host two telephone town halls, one on November 17 and the other on November 23, with these events each able to accommodate up to one thousand people. Online surveys will be accepted until December 6th.

Minister of Justice Kaycee Madu has stated: “Recent legislation announced by the federal government would punish hard-working farmers, hunters, and other lawful gun owners while failing to address the true problem: the flow of illegal firearms through Canada from south of the border.”

“Albertans must be heard, and these consultations will help Alberta’s government develop a responsible firearms-use policy that deters criminals without attacking law-abiding gun owners – and in turn free up the courts for serious matters.”

The province is hoping to make use of feedback from the public to see if any policies should be developed ‘to support responsible gun owners’ in response to the Trudeau government’s clamp-down.

In response to the survey, President of the NFA, Sheldon Clare, stated the following:

"Albertans need to respond to this survey and advise the government that gun control in Canada is based upon a lie that it is about public safety. Control has nothing to do with public safety, and it is important to decriminalize non-violent, non-fiction offences, and to get rid of sections 91 and 92 from the criminal code. Licensing owners, and classifying, and registering firearms prevents no criminal actions. Magazine capacity laws have nothing to do with scope of criminal activity. Canadian firearms as are about civil disarmament, not public safety."

Links to the survey can be found here.