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B.C. firearms retailers report handgun sales spike in light of new restrictions

Sales have gone 'through the roof' since the federal government announced new restrictions on buying and selling of the weapons.

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B.C. gun shop owners say the handgun sales freeze announced by the federal government earlier this week is causing demand to spike while supply dwindles.

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Jonas Carr, owner of Siwash Sports in Chilliwack, said handgun sales have gone “through the roof” in the last two days. Customers include target and competition shooters, as well as people who want to get a pistol “before they can’t anymore.”

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“People are really concerned that their rights are being taken away,” he said.

In some cases handgun demand is exceeding supply. Already limited by supply chain issues, Carr said some firearms importers have stopped bringing in handguns because they don’t want to be left with product they can’t sell when the new measures come into effect.

Jonas Car the owner of Siwash Sports Ltd. of Chilliwack BC with customers purchasing last of the firearms still left over after prime minister’s announcement. Photo: Francis Georgian
Jonas Car the owner of Siwash Sports Ltd. of Chilliwack BC with customers purchasing last of the firearms still left over after prime minister’s announcement. Photo: Francis Georgian Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG

On Monday, the federal government announced it has tabled legislation seeking to freeze the buying, selling, importing and trading of handguns. It’s one of several measures included in Bill C-21, which will also remove firearms licences from those involved in domestic violence or criminal harassment and increase criminal penalties for firearms smuggling. The regulations are expected to come into effect in the fall.

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Staff are extremely busy after PM’s announcement about new firearm restrictions at Siwash Sports Ltd. of Chilliwack. Photo by Francis Georgian
Staff are extremely busy after PM’s announcement about new firearm restrictions at Siwash Sports Ltd. of Chilliwack. Photo by Francis Georgian Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG

Nicolas Johnson, editor of TheGunBlog.ca, said the vast majority of handguns for sale in Canada are imported. While he expects shipments that are already on their way will arrive in stores as planned, importers might be hesitant to bring in more ahead of the sales freeze for fear of “being stuck with it.”

While those who already own handguns are still allowed to possess them, Johnson called the new measures “slow-motion confiscation.”

Only people with an authorization-to-carry certificate from a chief firearms officer or elite sport shooters in an Olympic or Paralympic-approved discipline will be exempt.

“We know which way the ship is headed,” he said. “It’s a progressive elimination of firearms ownership.”

Johnson said he fears gun restrictions will undermine public safety, moving Canada “closer and closer to a world where the only people with guns are bad guys.”

He also believes a ban will do little to reduce gun crime, which he blamed on unlicensed gun owners.

In a tweet, Lynda Kiejko, an Olympic pistol shooter, questioned how restricting the sale of handguns would crack down on illegal guns and violence.

“How does that solve crime?” she asked.

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The B.C. Wildlife Federation also called the restrictions a “solution to a problem that doesn’t exist in Canada.”

“Further regulating hunters and sport shooters is a waste of the RCMP’s time and taxpayers’ money, money that could be spent catching criminals,” said BCWF executive director Jesse Zeman.

But in a news conference Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government has a “duty” to take action as gun violence rises.

“This is not an easy thing to do, but we all agree it is the responsible thing to do,” he said. “Other than using firearms for sport shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives.”

In response to a question about whether the restrictions go too far, Trudeau referenced the U.S., where 19 schoolchildren and two teachers were killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Tex., last week.

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According to a Statistics Canada report, the number of registered handguns in Canada increased by 71 per cent between 2010 and 2020, reaching about 1.1 million. Handguns were the most serious weapon present in more than half of all firearms-related violent crimes between 2009 and 2020, including more than 600 incidents of intimate partner violence in 2018.

But StatCan data also shows firearms-related crime made up only two per cent of all violent crime in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area.

According to the Small Arms Survey, there is an estimated 34.7 guns per 100 people in Canada.

Scott Carpenter, owner of International Shooting Supplies in Surrey, said his shop was “swamped” on Thursday morning.

“We’re too busy to talk,” he told Postmedia News before getting back to his customers.

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