The fatal shootings in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday came as Canada’s federal government faces hurdles in a national gun buyback program that has proved politically unpopular and a logistical quagmire.
The country’s deadliest mass shooting, in Nova Scotia, precipitated the creation of the program after 23 people, including the attacker, died in April 2020.
Days after that attack, Justin Trudeau, the prime minister at the time, announced a ban on 1,500 types of assault-style weapons. In the subsequent years, the federal government has gradually widened its gun reform project, announcing a freeze on handgun sales and expanding the list of firearms covered under the initial ban.
The police have not released any information about the firearms used in the Tumbler Ridge shootings on Tuesday, or how the suspected shooter came to obtain them.
By far the most contentious part of Canada’s firearms reform has been a multimillion-dollar gun buyback program targeting owners of “military-style assault rifles,” which include a wide range of long guns and rifles, like those used to hunt animals.
The gun buyback has been a politically divisive issue in Canada, where firearm ownership is already strictly regulated.
Handguns are the most common type of firearm used in crimes, according to federal data. In cities with higher rates of gun violence, the vast majority of firearms linked to crimes are traced back to the United States.
Gun owners and lobby groups have criticized the buyback for putting an undue emphasis on rifles, which are an essential part of life in many rural areas. They are common on Indigenous reserves where the hunting of animals like caribou and moose are an important source of food and community engagement.
Some of the critics come from within Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government. Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s public safety minister, was heard in September last year criticizing the program in a leaked audio recording, in which he said the police do not have enough resources to enforce the buyback.
Several police forces and the national postal service have refused to participate in collecting firearms under the buyback, citing either safety concerns or staffing constraints.
There are roughly 1.3 million registered firearms in Canada, according to federal police data.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
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