MP Motz exposes more Bill Blair lies - Petition Response

August 4, 2020

MP Motz exposes more Bill Blair lies - Petition Response

On December 17, 2019, CCFR field officer Brad Manysiak teamed up with a sponsor, MP Glen Motz to launch parliamentary e-petition E-2341-Democratic Process, in objection to the proposed Liberal gun ban that was impending. The petition stayed open until February 15, 2020 - closing with a staggering 175,310 signatures, making history as the "most signed" parliamentary e-petition at the time of it's closing.

The premise of the petition was an objection to the circumventing of democracy Bill Blair had eluded to in media interviews, hinting he would use an OIC (Order in Council) to prohibit and confiscate legally acquired firearms from licensed Canadian gun owners who have done nothing to warrant such an extreme measure. The fact he wanted to use an OIC is undeniable proof he did not have the support needed to do a gun ban with a weakened minority parliament.

There is an irony in writing about this now, months after the #BlackFriday May 1, 2020 gun ban, done exactly how Blair said he would. Democracy be damned.

In any event, the government did table an "official response" to the petition, signed by Canadians from coast to coast. You can read it HERE

MP Glen Motz, a 35 year veteran cop turned politician, has responded to some of the lies and untruths provided in Minister Blair's response. We'll list them below - Motz's points are in bold;

“These weapons have no legitimate civilian use”
- In order for any firearm to be legal in Canada, it needed to be approved by the RCMP as having a legitimate purpose in Canada. Criminal Code states that under 117.15(2) that firearms with a legitimate purpose in Canada cannot be banned – the Liberals have overridden the determination by the RCMP to ban firearms in Canada with legitimate purposes.
“are designed to take as many lives as possible”
- The firearms banned are semi-automatic, mostly limited to 5 rounds, as well as single & double shot rifles, and shotguns. None of the firearms listed were “designed to take as many lives as possible” which would be military firearms and full-automatic firearms
“As of May 1st, the market for these dangerous weapons, which have been used to kill innocent Canadians, is closed”
- The use of semi-automatic firearms, single shot rifles, low and high calibre rifles are all still permitted. Firearms with this capability are still legal – they have banned select brands and models which has no clear order. The claim that all firearms banned were used to kill people in Canada is patently false – the AR-15 has not been involved in any mass shootings in Canada.
“The affected firearms are prohibited as they (1) have semi-automatic action with sustain rapid-fire capability (tactical/military design with large magazine capacity), (2) are of modern design, and (3) are present in large volumes in the Canadian market”
- 30% of the firearms banned are not semi-automatic
- Nearly 300 (~15%) of the models banned were never legal in Canada, including grenade launchers, rocket launchers, anti-tank rifles, mortar launchers and rounds, and military firearms.
- Sustained rapid-fire capability is not legal in Canada because 1) semi-automatics are limited to 5 rounds, 2) automatic firearms are not legal and have been banned for more than 40 years
- There are no large capacity magazines in Canada – semi-automatics are limited to 5 rounds.
- Some of the models and makes banned including WWII era anti-tank guns, rifles, and grenade launchers. There are not “modern” design. None of these style firearms are present in Canada
The use of regulations to reclassify firearms was also adopted by the previous Conservative government.
- This is true, however this regulation was repealed in Bill C-71, which Conservatives opposed and Liberals voted for. The Liberals have not brought C-71 into law despite arguing that it HAD to be passed in June 2019.
“We intend to introduce a red-flag regime in order to better protect public safety”
- The ability to report someone with a legal firearm who is a danger to themselves or others exists today, and police and firearms officers have the power to confiscate firearms. Medical professionals have the ability to report individuals with firearms licences to Chief Firearms Officers, however this power is not used often. The Red Flag laws will only create a redundant process.
“strengthen firearms storage requirements to deter theft”
- Thieves determined to steal firearms will steal the entire locker, or remove firearms and break locks at another location. You cannot stop theft by adding more locks. You need to stop theft by reducing the number of thieves and put repeat criminals through the reform process
“enhance police tracing capacity”
- Under the Liberals, most crime guns are never traced and the evidence labs run by the federal government are so overwhelmed that police services across the country are building their own labs, including in Calgary, Alberta, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, and others.
“work with our partners from other levels of government to give municipalities the ability to further restrict handguns”
- The leading advocate for this – Mayor John Tory – has said the evidence presented to how shows the overwhelming majority of crime guns are smuggled in – which aligns with Toronto Police Service who reported 92% of all handguns involved in crimes were smuggled (with the remainder stolen, untraceable or traced to legal firearms owner in Canada)
- The ban on legal ownership of handguns (which is very strict) would have no impact on crime, as per RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, the Canadian Association of Chief of Police and Vancouver Chief Constable Adam Palmer, former OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis, and numerous police services in Canada (Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina)

It has never been more clear that this government in content to target legal gun owners for political points, rather than focus on actual crime and violence.