The federal governmentsa国际传媒檚 firearms bill would sa国际传媒渆ffectively ban millions of hunting and sporting rifles,sa国际传媒� punish law-abiding gun owners, and do little to curb gang violence in Canada.

Thatsa国际传媒檚 according to the B.C. Wildlife Federation, a 44,000-member organization that says changes to Bill C-21 unfairly target lawful holders of a Possession and Acquisition License (PAL).

Bill C-21 covers a lot of ground on firearms, including a national sa国际传媒渇reezesa国际传媒� on the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns by people within Canada, and bringing new handguns into Canada. That came into force on Oct. 21.

But itsa国际传媒檚 the new rules on restrictions to the capacity of long-gun magazines that has many gun groups upset.

Under the changes, Bill C-21 would require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never hold more than five rounds, and will ban the sale and transfer of large capacity magazines under the Criminal Code.

Bill C-21 was originally introduced by the government to implement a mandatory buyback program for so-called sa国际传媒渁ssault-stylesa国际传媒� firearms. But the rules will also impact semi-automatic rifles and shotguns sa国际传媒渄esigned to accept a detachable cartridge magazine with a capacity greater than five cartridges of the type for which the firearm was originally designed,sa国际传媒� said the news release.

That will affect millions of guns used for hunting, say firearms groups.

sa国际传媒淏anning and buying back rifles that are used for hunting and sport shooting by licensed firearms owners will have no impact on crime at all,sa国际传媒� said Jesse Zeman, executive director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, in a statement. sa国际传媒淭he federal government should focus on the real roots of gun crime: Gangs and smugglers, neither of whom will be affected by these changes.sa国际传媒�

Zeman added that the federal government will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to buy back weapons that would never be used to commit a crime.

sa国际传媒淏anning and buying back rifles that are used for hunting and sport shooting will only affect law-abiding, RCMP-vetted Canadians who rely on wild game to feed their families or enjoy a day at the shooting range. In contrast, smugglers are literally using drones to fly illegal handguns across the border to gangs, and the federal government is looking the other way because investing in better border security isnsa国际传媒檛 in their political interests.sa国际传媒�

Zeman said most gang violence is perpetrated with handguns that are unlicensed and illegally obtained.

this week

sa国际传媒� Toronto Police Service Guns Seized #offthestreets (@TPSGunsSeized)

The federal government counters this argument by saying it is tackling gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, providing more tools for law enforcement to investigate firearms crimes, and strengthening border security measures.

sa国际传媒淲e made a commitment to Canadians to tackle gun violence,sa国际传媒� said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, in a statement.

sa国际传媒淭he legislation we introduced sa国际传媒� is part of our comprehensive strategy to promote safe and responsible gun laws, invest in law enforcement to stop organized crime and illegal gun smuggling at the border, and to invest in communities to address root causes and prevent gun crime from occurring in the first place.sa国际传媒�

Budget 2021 provided more than $312 million in new funding to increase firearms tracing capacity and implement stronger border control measures. Law enforcement agencies seized more than double the number of firearms at the border in 2021, compared to 2020, which is also the highest number of firearms seized in recent years, says a federal government statement.

RELATED: