January 17, 2026

The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (The CCFR) along with law abiding gun owners across the country are in shock and dismay of the Federal Governments’ announcement today. The government has chosen to move forward with this wasteful, ineffective and divisive program, and in a way that betrays the trust of all Canadians who are affected by the initiative.

A key take away from this afternoon's announcement is that the government remains committed to renege on their promise to pay law-abiding firearm owners for their property. This devastating lack of judgment is outrageous. Based on our research, there are over 2 million firearms in Canada that were previously non restricted and are now prohibited via recent bans.

The government has told the CCFR that they intend to pay for roughly 152,000 of these firearms. They've also said publicly that when the ($742 million) budget runs out, no one else is getting paid. This is going to result in over 90% of gun owners being ripped off by a government who for just shy of six years promised that good, law-abiding citizens would not have to pay out of their pockets for the policy choices of this Liberal Government (and its predecessor).

We call on Canadians, and the Canadian Media in particular, to ask one simple question of the Liberals; if this program is so urgent, if it's only about public safety, why wouldn't you commit to pay for every firearm that is turned in, as you promised since 2020?

Watch Public Safety Minister Anandasangaree state compensation is not guaranteed

This is an incredibly serious problem. The Liberals have done this in order to avoid the appearance of a multibillion dollar, wasteful and ineffective boondoggle. Canadians desire to have confidence in the media's ability to hold the Liberals accountable for this atrocious betrayal.

On behalf of over 2.4 million licenced firearm owners, the CCFR calls on the Federal Government to pay all gun owners who participate in this confiscation program as promised. The Liberals’ complaints of the loss of confidence in institutions directly falls on their own shoulders and this betrayal is a perfect example why Canadians are more divided than ever.