A surge in teen gun owners brings concerns about U.S. social media influence in Canada

Canadian-born Hashim Akbar archetypal changeable his grandfather's weapon arsenic a kid portion visiting Pakistan.

"It was evidently scary. I was a tiny child, but it was besides precise breathtaking arsenic well. There's ... a batch of adrenalin that goes done someone's body," said Akbar, 23, vice-president of the Simon Fraser Sports Shooting Club (SFSSC) successful Burnaby, B.C.

As a teen, the assemblage student tried and loved skeet shooting and present owns his ain lever-action rifle. He applied for a weapon licence past October, making him 1 of 7,446 Canadians nether 30 to bash so in 2024. But by the clip helium received the document, the guns helium wanted were prohibited by the national government.

Canada has banned much than 2,000 makes and models of firearms since 2020 successful effect to concerns from the nationalist and advocates implicit home violence, violent thoroughfare crime and high-profile tragedies, including the wide shooting successful Nova Scotia successful 2020 and the 1989 murders of 14 women astatine École Polytechnique in Montreal.

At the aforesaid time, the fig of weapon licence applicants — particularly young males — has accrued by thousands, with a important rise among an property radical that includes teenagers.

According to RCMP data, weapon licence applications spiked 11 per cent for young radical betwixt the ages of 10 and 19 betwixt 2023 and 2024, erstwhile a full of 9,654 males and 1,778 females were registered.

That's created a concern wherever the country's newest weapon owners are successful galore cases immoderate of Canada's newest voters — and immoderate are looking for leaders who are signalling they'll easiness up connected weapon laws.

This summation successful weapon ownership, mostly among young males, besides comes amid fears that U.S.-style weapon civilization and toxic definitions of masculinity are seeping implicit the border, immoderate experts say.

'If you marque thing taboo, you make interest' 

RCMP information besides shows that applications are up three per cent for those aged 20 to 29, and 2.5 per cent for radical 30 and older. That translated into astir 60,000 new weapon owners past twelvemonth — adjacent to 7,500 of them nether the property of 30.

Applicants betwixt the ages of 12 and 17 tin get a minor's firearms licence erstwhile they walk the Canadian Firearms Safety Course and tests determined by Section 7 of the Firearms Act. Once 18, they're required to use for a Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL).

The lone exceptions are children nether the property of 12, including Indigenous minors, who request to hunt for sustenance. Minors tin besides usage guns with nary licence if they are supervised by a licensed big — and this is communal successful situations similar cadet grooming oregon different younker organizations learning astir firearms use, people signifier oregon hunting.

There's a batch of disappointment erstwhile young radical larn astir weapon bans, said Blair Hagen, enforcement vice-president of Canada's National Firearms Association.

"A batch of young Canadians are getting progressive successful this for assorted reasons and besides caller immigrants who travel to Canada, due to the fact that they privation to bask the aforesaid rights and freedoms that we person had for many, galore years," Hagen said, arsenic helium fielded calls from weapon owners at his store, Lever Arms Service Ltd., in Richmond, B.C.

His store shelves are half empty owed to weapon bans.

In Calgary, weapon scope owner James Bachynsky said newcomers usually privation to acquisition firing a gun, similar they've seen successful the movies. Bans person wounded a batch of weapon businesses, and a batch of customers "are feeling that the authorities is becoming much and much intrusive and much and much restrictive," said Bachynsky of the Calgary Shooting Centre.

"If you marque thing taboo, you make involvement successful it."

Who are these young guns?

Thirteen-year-old Jayden Gagnon and his father, Kaven Gagnon, of Calgary signed a information waiver earlier the young shooter tried a Glock 19X pistol astatine a weapon range. Clad successful information goggles and receptor protection, Jayden was guided by a trainer — some down information solid — with a manus connected his backmost arsenic helium took purpose astatine a insubstantial people metres distant and squeezed the trigger, creating a bid of spine-vibrating bangs.

"You consciousness similar you're much almighty with this. You consciousness protected also," the Grade 8 pupil said.

Akbar, of Simon Fraser University, and chap pupil David Chen — some successful the precocious stages of their archetypal subject degrees — are caller weapon owners. Chen, 22, opted to walk astir $700 and bargain an SKS, a semi-automatic rifle, 1 of the fewer that's not restricted.

He said helium worries that the firearm helium enjoys disassembling may extremity up banned. "I'm much funny successful firearms mechanics," said Chen, president of the SFSSC.

Akbar said weapon restrictions were tenable until 2020, erstwhile sweeping bans were enactment successful place. "I judge the authorities whitethorn person possibly crossed the boundaries a small bit," helium said.

He besides questions the fiscal contented of the weapon buyback program, but said like astir of his friends, he's chiefly acrophobic with cost-of-living issues.

In Ottawa, Carleton University pupil Hadi Srour, 23, recalls archetypal firing a weapon successful Florida portion connected a household vacation. After that experience, helium joined his university's weapon nine and is present buying for his archetypal gun, adjacent arsenic much are banned each month.

"I deliberation Canada's trying to determination distant from guns successful the existent absorption we're seeing," helium said.

"I bash deliberation [restrictions] whitethorn beryllium a small spot excessive, and I consciousness similar that's the wide statement I get from speechmaking however different radical consciousness online."

The weapon vote

Daniel Fritter, steadfast of Calibre Magazine, a firearms work successful Kelowna, B.C., said he believes that weapon issues volition find however immoderate radical ballot successful the upcoming national election.

"I deliberation that the magnitude of radical for whom this has go a governmental contented has accrued truthful dramatically successful the past 5 years," helium said.

He said Canada's grounds 2.4 cardinal registered weapon owners underestimates the fig of existent weapon owners, whom he believes number person to 4 cardinal imaginable voters.

WATCH | Interest successful weapon licences surges among young men successful Canada:

Fritter said the nonstop fig of guns owned by Canadians is unclear. When laws changed aft the École Polytechnique massacre, immoderate Canadians tucked distant household heirlooms and undocumented firearms. The full fig of firearms recorded connected Canada's long-gun registry earlier it was discontinued successful 2012 was lone astir fractional the full fig of guns that showed up connected importation records into Canada, helium said.

Montreal sociologist Marc Lafrance said the satellite is seeing an unprecedented governmental displacement among young men.

"For the archetypal clip successful surviving memory, young men [aged 18 to 24] are much blimpish and often much radically blimpish than men implicit the property of 55," said Lafrance, an subordinate prof astatine Concordia University.

He blames the societal media "manosphere," which he said feeds young men a dependable watercourse of  "right-wing messages astir gender," defining male power with muscles and guns.

This appeals to young, frustrated males for whom "the aboriginal feels a small bleak," Lafrance said.

"I'm not amazed that with that accent connected accrued muscularity and accrued carnal fittingness arsenic being the cardinal to solving each of the problems that presently face men, that weapon ownership would beryllium portion of that landscape."

Party lines connected weapon control

The Liberal authorities has prohibited handguns for the astir portion and pledged to toughen laws connected banned assault-style weapons and marque it mandatory for owners to either merchantability firearms backmost to the authorities for demolition oregon person them disabled.

In contrast, the Conservatives accidental they'll rotation backmost controls connected rifles and shotguns, arsenic good as the prohibition on the sale, transport and importation of handguns, said Wendy Cukier, co-founder of the Coalition for Gun Control, which was created aft the École Polytechnique massacre.

She said most Canadian governmental parties support stronger weapon control, calling the Conservatives an "outlier."

"The Conservatives person made it precise wide they would rotation backmost the weapon power legislation. They've been explicit astir that," said Cukier, a prof successful the section of entrepreneurship and strategy astatine Toronto Metropolitan University.

While Canada has a long-standing past of firearms ownership, particularly successful agrarian and Indigenous communities for hunting, Cukier said that "when radical commencement talking astir weapon proprietor rights, I get precise acrophobic astir the ideological travel of ideas from the U.S."

"There is nary close to carnivore arms successful Canada," she said.