Canada’s federal government has been moving since 2020 to ban and then seize a vast array of mostly semi-automatic firearms. In March, Canada’s federal Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program wrapped up its declaration phase with only about 67,000 guns turned in—compliance rates are estimated to be only in the single digits. The country’s amnesty period for having one or more of these firearms runs until Oct. 30, 2026; after that, owners of any of the more than 2,500 newly prohibited models must surrender, deactivate or destroy their guns or face possible criminal charges. This is no “buyback.” It is mandatory confiscation of legally owned property.
For a first-person account of what is going on in Canada, including what is being done to push back against this massive grab of Canadian’s freedom, The Armed Citizen Podcast reached out to Blair Hagen, executive vice president of Canada’s National Firearms Association.
“Basically, what has been happening is [our federal government is] giving people the opportunity to register their now banned order in council guns in a registry for future confiscation at some later date,” said Hagen.
Hagen explained that “at this point in time, [we estimate] 2 percent compliance. And this is voluntary compliance. The government is now scrambling to figure out what to do next.”
This gun-confiscation scheme began in May 2020 when the Liberal government prohibited over 1,500 semi-automatic rifles and variants. The banned list was later expanded through regulations and Bill C-21. These are sporting rifles, hunting guns and collectibles owned by law-abiding citizens. Provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan resisted cooperation, and many police departments refused to prioritize collection, citing strained resources. The cost of this move to disarm the Canadian citizens of popular firearms has continued to exceed early claims.
Nevertheless, the federal government in Canada has continued to push this forward. Canadians, meanwhile, do not have constitutional right to keep and bear arms, but, as Hagen explains in this video interview, it does have protections in British common law.
Whether, after Oct. 30, 2026, the federal government in Canada will escalate to door-to-door confiscation or whether they will be forced in the courts and legislatures to confront the failure of a policy that trades liberty for an illusion of control remains to be seen.
