The Government of Saskatchewan brought forward amendments to Bill 194 that will better protect the rights of legal firearm and handgun owners within the province by limiting the ability to ban firearm and handgun ownership within the province through new local municipal bylaws.
Premier Scott Moe said the federal government’s firearm ban is extremely concerning, adding to the reasoning for moving forward with the bill amendment.
“Not only the introduction of this ban, [but] the fact that they have not consulted with provinces, and certainly haven’t consulted on expansion of the firearms that are being added to the ban,” said Moe.
The federal government has indicated it plans to pass legislation intended to delegate to municipalities the ability to ban handguns or other firearms. The provincial bill will limit the ability to ban firearm and handgun ownership within the province through new local municipal bylaws.
“This prevents a number of things. It prevents a patchwork across the province so that we don’t have different rules in different municipalities,” said Moe.
“It does take us another step towards ensuring that we are not only protecting the rights of law-abiding firearms owners here in the province, but we are doing right by the Saskatchewan people,” he added.
Moe went on to say that law-abiding firearms people are not the issue.
“The issue is combating illegal gun crime in this nation, wherever you are,” said Moe.
“Approaching and banning legal firearm owners is not the answer to the problem,” he added.
According to a press released sent out by the province, the amendments were made to The Miscellaneous Municipal Statutes Amendment Act, 2019, which was originally introduced in the fall of 2019. Other amendments include clarifying municipal responsibilities when posting public notices.
“We have chosen to represent the law-abiding firearm owners here in the province since they did not have representation in the federal government,” said Moe.
“It would be very wise of the federal government to shift their focus towards where the actual challenge is opposed to the people that are and have been following the laws for many years and decades now,” he added.
“These amendments are proactive steps that will ensure law-abiding citizens maintain the right to safe, legal firearms ownership in Saskatchewan,” Government Relations Minister Lori Carr said. “Clear and consistent firearms ownership rules are needed to avoid a potential patchwork of regulations that will limit the rights of Saskatchewan people.”
“The Government of Saskatchewan prefers to take the position of encouraging education and safety with a focus on current enforcement efforts, while taking a tough stance on criminals who are breaking the existing laws, rather than further restricting legitimate firearms ownership by law-abiding residents,” Carr said.
The amendments were made to The Miscellaneous Municipal Statutes Amendment Act, 2019, which was originally introduced in the fall of 2019. Other amendments include clarifying municipal responsibilities when posting public notices.
Municipalities will continue to be required to publish the following items within their local or regional newspaper:
• Restructuring notices;
• Local status and boundary changes;
• Completion of assessment rolls as well as assessment notices; and
• The last day for assessment appeals.
