BREAKING: Liberals ‘confident’ Canadians will 'voluntarily' obey gun confiscation scheme

As violent crime continues to plague Canada, the Carney Liberals are moving forward with their plans to seize legally-purchased firearms from licensed gun owners

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Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said he has “absolute confidence” that law-abiding Canadians will hand over their firearms to comply with the Liberal government’s gun confiscation program.

On Tuesday, Anandasangaree officially announced the launch of the gun grab program at a press conference where he spent much of the time contradicting comments he made privately to one of his rental unit tenants in a leaked audio recording.

“The program is voluntary. Nobody is having their weapon confiscated,” Anandasangaree insisted in his opening remarks.

He said that nobody is being forced to participate in the buyback program. However, he clarified that when the amnesty period concludes, anybody who does not comply will be considered a criminal for violating federal law.

“I have every confidence that law-abiding citizens, first of all, will ensure compliance with the law. Secondly, I also have every confidence that law enforcement will be able to do their job and to ensure the implementation of the Criminal Code,” he added later on in the press conference.

Liberal MP Nathalie Provost, who was alongside Anadasangaree at the announcement, maintained that while the program was voluntary, the decision to not comply would constitute “committing a crime.”

“Yes, it’s possible that after the program, there will be people who choose to keep prohibited weapons in their homes. But those people are committing a crime,” she said in French.

When fielding questions from the media, Anandasangaree was grilled over remarks he made in a leaked audio, which seemed to contradict much of what he was claiming to support only a day later.

For example, Anandasangaree said in the audio that he would have a “very different approach” if he could restart the program. He said he was sticking to it because it was a “big, big, big deal for many of the Quebec electorate that voted for us.”

He also admitted in the recording that he could roll back the program, but that Prime Minister Mark Carney had given him the mandate to complete it.

When asked about the exchange, Anandasangaree said he had “absolute confidence” in the program, and only wished he could have made it faster, not changed the program.

The Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR) issued a media advisory blasting the announcement and highlighting Anandasangaree’s leaked audio on Tuesday.

“The Minister acknowledges this has been about politics and not public safety, from the start. Specifically, he admits what everyone who has paid attention knows — that this is about votes in Quebec and other urban centres. It is and has been pure cynical politics.”

When asked by a journalist if he had spoken with Carney since the audio was leaked, he did not address the question directly.

He claimed in the leaked audio that police services lack the necessary resources to enforce the plan.

Once more, he backtracked on the claims only a day later.

The CCFR claimed this is not the case.

“The Minister also admits that he is fully aware that public safety will only be improved by locking up violent repeat offenders and strengthening the border. This is something both the Trudeau and Carney Liberals have talked about for years, with no indication of legitimate seriousness,” said the CCFR.

In the leaked audio, Anadasangaree said that there were three options that made the program “voluntary.” They are to deactivate the firearms, turn them in for compensation or do neither. Of course, refusing to do them would make someone a criminal.

The penalty for the illegal possession of a prohibited firearm is up to five years in jail.

Anadasangaree also told the tenant of his rental property in the leaked conversation that he would bail him out of jail if he were arrested.

“I will come and bail you out if that happens. You call me,” he said.

In the same leaked conversation, Anandasangaree also offered to pay his tenant the difference in compensation when his tenant explained that he would not get back what he paid for his firearms.

At the press conference, he backtracked again, labelling the comments as a “bad attempt at humour on my part. It was in no way to suggest that I will bail them out.”

The public safety minister confirmed the $742 million was provided in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement for the program, the last time Canadians were given a budget. He said no new funds have been allocated, and around 180,000 registered firearms are currently being targeted.

However, estimated costs to implement the gun grab are expected to reach nearly $2 billion.

“No reasonable expert believes spending a billion dollars removing firearms exclusively from licensed gun owners is going to result in increased public safety. Even the Liberal government knows this. And let there be no doubt, the government is full of experts, and they’ve known this all along,” the CCFR said in a statement.

Anandasangaree also continued explaining that the firearm targeted what he called “assault-style firearms.”

CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, Rod Giltaca, previously told True North that this was not true.

“There were no ‘assault weapons’ banned since May 1, 2020. Every one of these firearms were for hunting and or sport shooting. That’s why they were legal in the first place,” said Giltaca. “The lies of these people are outrageous.”

The compensation pilot begins today in Nova Scotia. A nationwide declaration period will follow in fall 2025, and collection and compensation will occur across Canada in 2026.

The six-week test in Nova Scotia will apply to 200 banned “assault-style” firearms.

“Now totalling over 2,500 makes and models, these prohibited assault-style firearms can no longer be legally possessed, sold in, or imported into Canada and can only be transferred or transported under limited circumstances.”

The CCFR warned that the Liberals are misleading Canadians.

“This government only tells the truth when no one is listening. This should be of concern to every person that calls Canada home,” the group said.