Liberals’ Gun Ban Forces Sport Shooters to Leave Canada to Train, Compete
Baz Kanda bought an AR-15 a few years ago, planning to participate in competitive shooting events. But since the Trudeau government banned a long list of firearms including the AR-15, Kanda has to leave the country to train and compete in his sport.
From April 11–20, gun groups and owners were in Federal Court in Ottawa for an eight-day hearing after launching a court challenge against the government’s plan to bring in a gun ban through an Order-in-Council.
The court heard that many firearms banned by the Liberals include popular models used in sport competition, primarily international shooting competitions. The court also heard that Canadians have to exit the country, train and compete abroad, and return without the firearm used in competition.
According to research by the Public Safety department, 28 percent of Canada’s estimated 2.26 licensed firearms owners hunt for food, while 39 percent target-shoot as a hobby.
In Kanda’s case, his hobby turned into the sport of competitive shooting and training, including taking part in matches as part of the International Practical Shooting Confederation, which holds global competitions in various categories with all varieties of firearms. The group boasts more than 200,000 members from 105 countries and takes itself seriously as a sport, with strict rules and an emphasis on safe gun handling.
Kanda said Ottawa’s proposed ban has already impacted many of his future plans for competitive sporting events.
“It’s pretty much going to kill the sport,” he told The Epoch Times. “It’s going to be dead. No one new can join because of these laws.”
The 49-year-old, who divides his time between Ottawa and Belleville, Ont., says he fears the Canadian firearms culture and heritage in general, as well as the sport of shooting, are are facing an uphill battle to survive.
“It’s a death-by-a-thousand-cuts scenario. Prices are going up. More guns are banned. Ammunition is more expensive. The sport is being attacked from as many angles as possible,” he said. The training he would have been able to do in Canada before now means a costly trip to the United States.
Last year Kanda travelled to Indiana to train. He says by the time he covered the cost of his travel to Indiana, hotel stay, and buying ammunition in the United States—which cannot be brought back to Canada if there’s any left over—Kanda said it made for an expensive training session.
“It’s making it unaffordable, next to impossible for most people,” he said. He added that he hopes the various legal challenges to the proposed firearms legislation will result in the Liberals scrapping Bill C-21 entirely.
Various Gun Bans
In 2020, the federal government issued a ban on more than 1,500 models of previously legally purchased firearms. In October 2022, the government put a freeze on the transfer and importation of handguns, which effectively bans handgun ownership in Canada.
Late last year, the government tabled sweeping last-minute amendments to Bill C-21, but after outcries from opposition and indigenous groups concerned about rifles used for hunting getting banned, the Liberals scrapped the amendments.
Kanda said before the handgun ban, he wanted to participate in “cowboy action” competitions. He explained that these are a fun shooting competition, where participants dress up like people from a particular time period and shoot either single-action revolvers or lever-action revolvers. Under the current handgun ban, however, he can’t legally purchase a single-action revolver or practice shooting it in Canada.
“The government should listen to what the police chiefs are saying,” Kanda said. “It’s smuggled guns from the U.S. that are the problem, not licensed gun owners, who are being made the scapegoats for criminal activity.”
