Ottawa withdraws controversial amendments to firearms law | CBC News

The Liberal government has withdrawn a series of controversial amendments to pending firearms legislation, C-21 — changes that some firearms owners say would have unfairly targeted hunters and farmers.

Amid fierce opposition from Conservative, NDP and Bloc MPs and firearms rights groups, Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed said Friday the government is withdrawing a long list of guns that would have been classified as “prohibited” firearms as part of a push to ban “assault-style” weapons.

The amendments would have banned these weapons under the Criminal Code, rather than through regulation, which would have made the prohibition much more difficult for future governments to reverse.

WATCH | Liberals drop controversial amendment to firearm bill:

Liberals drop controversial amendment to firearm bill

Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed confirms the public safety committee has dropped the controversial amendment to Bill C-21 that would extend the list of banned firearms. ‘In order to get this bill right, Canadians need to know that we heard them,’ Noormohamed said.

The government is scrapping clauses that would have effectively banned any rifle or shotgun that could potentially accept a magazine with more than five rounds, whether or not it actually has such a magazine.

The government had also intended to ban long guns that generate more than 10,000 joules of energy, or guns with a muzzle wider than 20 millimetres — two rules that would have rendered many firearms illegal.

This amendment would have had the effect of banning a number of long guns in wide use by Canadian hunters.

Bill C-21, as originally drafted, was designed to ban handguns — the amendments dramatically expanded the scope.

Because the amendments strayed so dramatically from how the bill was initially written, the opposition parties questioned whether the changes were even admissible under parliamentary rules. Those concerns are moot now that the government has backed down.

The government will still push ahead with C-21, which enacts a handgun sales ban, cracks down on gun smuggling and automatically revokes firearms licences held by domestic abusers.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino had defended the amendments, saying the government is intent on tamping down on gun violence in Canada.

Critics said a ban on popular hunting rifles would do little to make Canadians safer when many crime guns are handguns illegally smuggled over the U.S. border.

Mendicino was due to speak at an electric vehicle announcement in Toronto but cancelled his appearance just before Noormohamed tabled his motion to dump the amendments.