Canada to confiscate citizens' hunting weapons – and send them to Ukraine

Published 11 December 2024 at 14.44

Foreign. Canada bans more firearms – and at the same time plans to donate the weapons to Ukraine so they can be used in the war against Russia. ABC News reports.

Share the article

TwittraShare

The Canadian government has announced that an additional 324 types of firearms will be banned, citing that they are “weapons of war” that are not belongs to hunters or sports shooters.

At the same time, plans are being made to donate the seized weapons to Ukraine.

According to Defense Minister Bill Blair, Canada has been in contact with the government of Ukraine, which has expressed interest in receiving the weapons.

– Any little help we can offer is a step closer to victory for them, Blair said.

Canada's public order minister Dominic LeBlanc says the goal is to limit access to military weapons in civilian society.

– This means these weapons can no longer be used, he says.

The ban builds on previous restrictions from May 2020, when Canada banned 1,500 gun models, a number that has now grown to over 2,000. The latest move comes after criticism from advocates of stricter gun laws, who believed many types of so-called “assault-style” weapons were still allowed.

The government is also working on a scheme to buy back the banned ones weapons from Canadian owners, but the details of how this will be done are still unclear.

Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre calls the decision a “political stunt” and believes that it primarily affects law-abiding hunters and sports shooters.