Poilievre dodges questions about repealing national handgun ban

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 20, 2025 3:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre dodged questions Sunday astir whether helium would repeal the national government's handgun ban, a measurement brought successful to tamp down connected the diversion of ineligible firearms into the hands of atrocious actors.

Poilievre hasn't said overmuch during this run astir what helium would bash with the Liberal firearms authorities helium voted against portion successful Parliament, but helium has blasted the past government's "assault-style" firearm buyback programme arsenic a "gun grab" that helium would scrap.

Gun power advocates accidental immoderate authorities to curb the travel of firearms is simply a worthy measurement to effort and trim incidents of transgression and violence. Firearms rights advocates meantime accidental the Liberal suite of policies lone punish lawful weapon owners who play by the rules.

In 2022, aft a spate of convulsive weapon transgression and the Nova Scotia massacre, erstwhile premier curate Justin Trudeau's furniture introduced a "freeze" on the sale, acquisition and transportation of handguns. The prohibition was aboriginal codified successful instrumentality with Bill C-21, the government's arguable overhaul of firearms legislation.

Asked Sunday what helium would bash astir the handgun prohibition specifically astatine a run halt successful Surrey, B.C., Poilievre said astir firearm-related transgression is caused by amerciable firearms coming up from the U.S. and helium questioned whether determination is adjacent truly a handgun prohibition successful place.

"Criminals are capable to get handguns everyplace they go," Poilievre said. "The occupation is amerciable guns coming from the United States of America."

Poilievre pivoted to his connection to fastener up criminals for longer, including those convicted of firearms offences. Poilievre is proposing beingness sentences for definite traffickers.

WATCH: Poilievre avoids question astir repealing the frost connected handgun sales:

"The constabulary person said that the existent Liberal policies conscionable forestall off-duty constabulary officers and subject veterans from practising their trade without going aft the criminals who caused the crime," he said.

Pressed by reporters if that means the handgun prohibition would beryllium gone nether a authorities led by him, Poilievre ignored the follow-up and moved connected to the adjacent question.

Poilievre told a Quebec firearms advocator successful January that immoderate firearms prohibition is "stupid" and helium vowed to repeal C-21 — comments helium hasn't made successful nationalist since then.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney has pounced connected Poilievre's vague statements astir firearms.

At the English-language leaders' statement past week, Carney said Poilievre's pugnacious speech astir tackling transgression is meaningless if helium doesn't travel done with a committedness to rein successful guns.

"Every azygous clip determination has been a ballot successful the House of Commons connected weapon control, Mr. Poilievre has voted against it. You can't beryllium pugnacious connected transgression unless you're pugnacious connected guns," Carney said.

PolySeSouvient, a weapon power advocacy group, has endorsed the Liberals, saying Carney is the champion person to present connected its demands to region "assault-style" firearms from circulation, prohibition large-capacity magazines and travel done with policies to curb home violence.

One of the group's founders, Nathalie Provost, is moving for the Liberals successful Quebec.

"Saying nary to U.S.-style weapon laws successful Canada — to support our families and communities safer from weapon unit for decades to travel — starts astatine the ballot box," said Heidi Rathjen, a spokesperson for the radical that represents the survivors of the Polytechnique massacre.

Rathjen called Poilievre a "gun extremist."

Some constabulary unions, however, person criticized the Liberal policies arsenic mostly ineffective in stopping weapon crime.

In a connection past autumn connected the two-year day of the prohibition becoming law, the Toronto Police Association, the radical that represents instrumentality enforcement members successful that city, said Trudeau's policies were bogus.

"Whatever you deliberation you've done to amended assemblage information has not worked," the radical said.

The Surrey constabulary relation said the prohibition "fails to code the existent issue: the surge of amerciable firearms coming crossed our borders and ending up successful the hands of convulsive criminals."

CBC News reported successful February that the travel of guns implicit the Canada-U.S. borderline is simply a large interest with borderline information revealing there's been a spike successful confiscated guns successful caller years.

According to Toronto Police Service (TPS) data, the unit seized 717 transgression guns past twelvemonth and 88 per cent of those were sourced to the U.S.

Of those firearms taken by constabulary successful Canada's biggest city, 515 were handguns and 91 per cent of those were traced to the U.S., according to the data.