Earlier this year the Liberal government introduced bill C-21, which would stop the sale of handguns and impose other "red flag measures" on owning firearms.
Recently proposed amendments to the federal firearms bill would see hundreds of commonly used rifles defined as "assault-style" weapons, effectively banning them.
The bill has come under fire from gun rights groups and firearm and ammunition retailers. They feel that hunters, farmers and sport shooters are being unfairly targeted in the recent rendition of the bill.
Select Shooting Supplies located at 200 Preston Parkway, sold out of all their handguns almost immediately after Bill C-21 was introduced earlier this year.
They aren’t seeing quite the same reaction with the rifles, but their sales are up as the threat of their unavailability looms.
“I can look at the rack right behind me and see a lot of the guns that will be prohibited if this bill passes,” said Ryan Simper, business development for Select Shooting Supplies.
Simper and his customers feel like they are being picked on and this bill will only come at the expense of the business.
“We're reacting to this the same way that we react every time the government does something that does nothing to solve violent crime,” Simper said. “They keep targeting us, they keep targeting our customers and they're not targeting the sources of the illegal guns that are coming in, nor the criminals that are using them.”
One of the bigger aspects of their business is selling ammunition for sport shooting. Simper thinks this bill will hurt the sport, because a lot of the guns that will be on the list are used for this exact purpose.
“Some hunters will go through one box of ammo every 10 years while those participating in sport shooting buy exponentially more,” Simper said. “They make it a very bad environment to do business.”
Cambridge MP Bryan May, said that while there are many amendments to bill C-21, it is not likely that all of them will make it to the final draft.
“Many of the proposed amendments to C-21, I believe there were over 100 at last count, haven't even been tabled, which means that the Committee process is going to take a while,” May said.
The Cambridge MP is watching the bill for any changes and plans on reviewing it thoroughly when it comes back to the house for a third reading.
He makes his intentions about the bill very clear, he wants to help reduce gun violence, not hurt responsible owners.
“I would not support a bill that unfairly targets hunters and farmers. I support legislation that will help to reduce gun violence in Canada, as well as the rights of legal and responsible firearms owners,” he added.
Simper agrees there should be gun laws to protect people and notes Canadians currently have some of the strictest gun laws and registration systems in place.
“It would be hard to find anyone in the firearms community that wouldn’t support sensible gun laws to keep people safe,” he noted. “We take exception when we are being targeted for nothing more than political reasons.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently spoke about the bill and agreed there needs to be more consultation between the public and the federal government. Simper said that he is more than open to talk with members of parliament as a firearms expert to plead their case.
“I would love to let them know how it's going to affect the business and how it's going to affect the people who we employ,” Simper said.
“What they need to realize is this is an $8 billion a year sector of the economy that they just want to wipe out. It’s going to affect a lot of people, businesses and families.”