Bruce Grey Owen Sound MP Alex Ruff says if the Liberal Government is serious about banning so-called 'military style assault rifles,' they should be open to debating it in the House of Commons, but he's concerned the government will do it without debate through an Order In Council.
The Federal Liberals shed more light on Tuesday on their plan to ban “military style assault rifles' specifically including the AR-15 rifle (Armalite-15). That includes a program where the government wants to buy-back banned assault rifles, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. They also want to give power to municipalities to ban handguns.
In addition, the government says it will “Take other steps to keep people safe from gun violence.”
Ruff says that's a “bit of a sales pitch” and is meant to appeal to “certain demographics in certain parts of the country.”
He says Canada has some of the most stringent firearms laws in the world and argues the gun crime issue in Canada is more often one of illegal weapons and handguns in urban centres, (not assault rifles).
“They need to go after the gun smuggling, they need to go after the drugs, they need to go after the gangs, they need to go after poverty. That's where we should be dumping our money, not dumping money into trying to fix a non-existent problem,” says Ruff, who notes the government has not yet done so.
When asked what the government means by a “military-style assault weapon,” Ruff, a retired Colonel who spent over 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces says, “I don't know. I have yet to see a definition. Is that because it means it looks like it? Does it mean it's a certain calibre? Does it mean it's got some certain functionality? Or capacity issues? Define it,” says Ruff.
He says a ban would mainly affect law abiding gun owners like target shooters, farmers and hunters and a broad definition like 'military style' could, for example apply to the bolt-action rifles carried by both Canadian Rangers in the military and everyday farmers, “Are those military style? Are they banning all firearms?”
“Why are you punishing them when it's not going to reduce or change a single statistic or level of violence in our major urban centres?” says Ruff, who notes the government has not yet done so.
He says hunting and target shooting have a positive impact on our economy. The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA) says Canadians spent $8.5 billion on hunting and sport shooting in 2018.
While the AR-15 (Armalite Rifle-15) has been used in mass shootings in the United States, it does not have a history of use in gun rampages or mass shootings in Canada.
“If they have some statistical evidence or something that demonstrates that these firearms have led to, or are the ones responsible for a significant level of crime or violence in our country…well then just provide that information and I don't think you'd get near as much pushback,” says Ruff.
Some of that pushback has taken the form of over 98,000 signatures on a petition to the government initiated by Bradley Manysiak from Medicine Hat, Alberta. It's sponsored by MP Glen Motz and calls for the government to do away with the assault rifle ban idea.
Statistics Canada says there were 249 homicides in Canada in 2018 that involved guns. 143 of those reported involved handguns, while 56 involved rifles or shotguns. Stabbings weren't far behind guns with 183 stabbing homicides reported in 2018.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States had around 14,000 gun related homicides in 2018.
Meanwhile Owen Sound Police Chief Craig Ambrose says “I understand the assault rifle type of ban,” saying they're not typically used for hunting or farming.
He says he hasn't given extensive thought to the idea of municipalities banning handguns, but notes gun related calls are currently not common in Owen Sound.
He does expect that will one day change,”Certainly as pressures happen down south and people who are connected to gang activity or drug activity start moving outside…as the increased pressure on the Guns and Gangs funding moves people out of the big cities, I think you'll see it come this way. At the present time I don't think there's enough to justify saying it's a problem here.”
Meanwhile, Alex Ruff says, “We'll wait to see what they bring forward in the House of Commons and how they do it, whether or not they're going to be interested in actual debate or whether they're going to pass this as rumour has it, through an Order in Council.”
For those interested, please review and sign the following e-petition: https://t.co/NEBTxcDbKX, sponsored by MP @GlenMotz, standing up for our law-abiding firearms owners.
— Alex Ruff (@AlexRuff17) December 18, 2019
Regardless of my 25+ yr career in the @CanadianForces handling all types of firearms, I successfully completed the Cdn Restricted Firearms Safety Course today. Looking fwd to chatting with @BillBlair soon. #educatedMP #standingup4lawabidingfirearmsowners https://t.co/jH9HRoxYKZ
— Alex Ruff (@AlexRuff17) January 20, 2020