Since 2020, Ottawa has outlawed about 25-hundred guns, saying they belong only on the battlefield. Now, compensation's being offered to those who turn them in. But as our Sam Samson reports, there might still be some hitches in the plan.

Ottawa

The Canadian government has launched the next phase of its national gun buyback program, allowing owners of banned firearms to declare their intention to surrender or deactivate their weapons in exchange for compensation. The process can be started online until the end of March, with nearly $250 million allocated for payouts covering up to 136,000 firearms.

The program has seen mixed responses across provinces, with Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta expressing varying degrees of resistance. While the RCMP will collect firearms in provinces where local police are not participating, implementation in Saskatchewan and Alberta is currently on hold. Critics argue the funds would be better spent addressing gang-related gun crime, while the government emphasizes the need to remove military-style firearms from communities. Owners must dispose of banned firearms before the end of October to avoid criminal charges.

Ottawa unveils next steps in its national gun buyback program

As of Monday, Canadians can declare whether they want to surrender or deactivate their banned guns and get some cash back for it. If you're thinking about it, you have until the end of March to start the online process. From there, you'll go through an appointment-based process to either surrender your gun to police or deactivate it through an accredited gunsmith. These are firearms designed for war, for killing people. They have no place in our communities. This comes after a fall pilot project in Cape Breton, where officials expected to collect about 200 guns, but really only received 25. Now, they say they've made some changes, they've learned some lessons, and they've added a video tutorial, they've made registration easier, and they say they've extended the time that people can apply to be part of the program. Ottawa says it has almost $250 million set aside for compensation, which will cover about 136,000 collected firearms. Not everyone is on board, though. For provinces with conditions, like Ontario, where the Premier does not want provincial resources going toward this program, like the OPP, Ottawa says the RCMP will step in to do the work of collecting these firearms. Now, for Saskatchewan and Alberta, which have passed laws to push back against this buyback program, Ottawa says it's just not feasible to actually do it right now. Canadians in these provinces, though, can still declare online that they want to participate, and Public Safety Canada says they'll present those numbers to the provinces afterwards. The magazines are in here. Some Canadians say Ottawa is trying to take away property from law-abiding citizens, like farmers, hunters, and recreational gun users. You are taking personal property that they have worked hard to buy and just said to them, you can't have that anymore. We live in a country that's supposed to be freedom of choice. Nobody's committing a crime with them, so why do we have to give them up? Diane Harnois has owned this gun store in Edmonton for 25 years with her husband. She believes the money Ottawa has set aside to pay gun owners back would be better spent elsewhere. I'd suggest throwing the whole thing out the door and using the money to go against the problems that actually exist in this country with the gangs and how they're getting their guns. Canadians can surrender their guns to police at any time, whether they're part of this program or not. Ottawa is reminding Canadians though that these banned firearms must be disposed of before the end of October. If you're found with one after that, you could face criminal charges. Sam Sampson, CBC News, Edmonton.

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Breakdown