Canada Bans Assault Weapons It Plans To Send To Ukraine

Canada on Thursday announced a ban on 324 models of assault weapons -- granting amnesty in order to collect them from gun shops -- with the aim of shipping them to Ukraine.

The move came on the eve of the 35th anniversary of an anti-feminist attack that killed 14 women at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. 

The massacre left deep scars on the national psyche.

"To honor the memories of those we lost in mass shootings is to act on gun control and to restrict access to the very weapons used to commit these horrible crimes," Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told a news conference.

"Our goal is to ensure that no community, no family, is devastated by mass shootings in Canada again," he said.

Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the December 6, 1989 Ecole Polytechnique attack who has long lobbied for gun control, commented: "I'm crying, but I'm also smiling because it's an important step forward."

"This is a strong signal being sent to people wanting these kinds of firearms (that) the government is acting," she said.

Shootings are less common in Canada than in the United States, but crime statistics showed a steady rise in violent gun crimes in the country over the past decade.

According to the most recent data, there were 1,400 shootings in 2022, or 36.7 incidents per 100,000 people.

Canada in 2020 had banned 1,500 models of assault weapons in response to the country's deadliest-ever mass shooting, a rampage that left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia province.

Thursday's announcement bumps up the types of firearms Canadians cannot buy, sell or import to more than 1,800 models.

An estimated 14,500 guns already in circulation may be turned in under an amnesty in place until October 2025 that would provide owners with compensation.

Defense Minister Bill Blair said Ottawa will work with distributors and gun shops that may have them in stock "in order to get these weapons out of Canada and into the hands of the Ukrainians... for use in their fight against Russia."

"Every bit of assistance that we can offer to the Ukrainians is one step towards their victory," he said.

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