AR-15-style rifles are on display at Burbank Ammo & Guns in Burbank, Calif., June 23, 2022. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File
The federal government has extended the deadline for owners of thousands of newly banned firearms to deactivate or turn in their guns as an appeal challenging Ottawa’s gun ban proceeds to the Supreme Court.
The government said the amnesty period to turn in around 2,500 banned firearm models will continue until 90 days after the Supreme Court issues a ruling on the legal challenge.
Canada’s top court agreed to hear the appeal in March but no hearing date has been announced yet. The court is expected to hear the case sometime next year.
Ban
Ottawa’s first firearms prohibition order went into effect in May 2020. Successive Liberal governments have banned approximately 2,500 models of firearms and variants in the past six years since then, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifles.
The government says these firearms are intended for military purposes and have no place in civilian Canadian society.
The Conservatives, as well as firearms rights advocacy groups, argue that the gun ban punishes legal firearms owners instead of going after criminals.
