Trudeau’s Gun Grab BACKFIRES—Only 25 Surrendered

Canada has created a gun surrender program that officials call voluntary while threatening owners with up to 10 years in prison if they refuse to comply.

Story Snapshot

Trudeau government banned over 2,500 assault-style firearms in 2020, launching a buyback program framed as voluntary but backed by criminal penalties for noncompliance after amnesty periods expire.
Owners face an October 31, 2026 deadline to declare, surrender, or deactivate banned firearms or risk prohibited possession charges carrying potential decade-long prison sentences.
A 2025 pilot program on Cape Breton Island collected just 25 firearms from 16 owners when officials expected 200 guns, signaling widespread resistance.
Costs have exploded from initial estimates of $400-600 million to a projected $2 billion, with only Quebec province participating in enforcement while most others refuse federal overreach.
Critics highlight the contradiction: lawful gun owners who committed no crimes face criminalization for keeping property that was legal when purchased, while automatic firearms were already banned.

The Voluntary Mandate That Carries Handcuffs

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the assault-style firearms ban on May 1, 2020, prohibiting initially 1,500 models later expanded to over 2,500, including AR-15s and Ruger Mini-14s. The government positioned the accompanying buyback as voluntary participation with compensation offered for surrender or deactivation. The sleight of hand lies in the mechanics: the firearms themselves became prohibited to possess, creating a legal trap. Temporary amnesty periods shield owners from immediate prosecution, but once those expire on October 31, 2026, continued possession transforms into a Criminal Code violation punishable by fines and imprisonment up to 10 years for unauthorized possession of prohibited weapons.

When Compliance Meets Reality on Cape Breton

The program’s autumn 2025 pilot on Cape Breton Island exposed the chasm between government expectations and gun owner behavior. Officials anticipated collecting 200 firearms but received only 25 from 16 owners, a compliance rate below 13 percent if those projections held merit. This failure occurred despite the hybrid collection model Public Safety Canada designed, partnering with the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association to identify approximately 11,000 firearms in business inventories during Phase 1. The CSAAA, which vehemently opposes the ban, agreed to cooperate for industry input but remains puzzled by the lack of clear budget allocations and implementation pathways, citing provincial regulatory roadblocks as major obstacles.

Provincial Rebellion and the Quebec Exception

By January 2026, only Quebec agreed to provide provincial police resources for the federal buyback program, leaving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to navigate enforcement across vast territories without local support. Saskatchewan and Alberta have gone further, with some provinces explicitly banning their officers from participating in federal firearm collection efforts. This resistance reflects deeper sovereignty tensions and the rural-urban divide that defines Canadian gun politics. Hunters and sport shooters, who legally own most affected firearms, view the program as punishing lawful behavior while doing nothing to address criminals who already ignore automatic weapons bans. The federal government spent $41.9 million by late 2023 employing 60 staff for program oversight, yet has no firm timeline for Phase 2 targeting individual owners.

The Billion-Dollar Boondoggle Nobody Wanted

Initial cost projections of $400-600 million have ballooned to an estimated $2 billion as the program lurches toward its October 2026 deadline, with over $700 million budgeted for collections that aren’t happening. The RCMP and Public Safety Canada call this a comprehensive plan for public safety, but the numbers tell a different story. Between 150,000 and 500,000 firearms potentially fall under the ban, yet pilot results suggest fewer than one in ten owners will voluntarily surrender their property. Marco Mendicino, serving as Public Safety Minister in 2023, celebrated Phase 1 as a milestone despite acknowledging no clear path forward, while the CSAAA expressed confusion about timing and process gaps that persist into 2026.

Criminalization by Calendar: The October Deadline Trap

On January 17, 2026, the government opened a declaration portal for owners to register eligible firearms, providing instructions for the final amnesty period ending October 31, 2026. After that date, possession of banned firearms without compliance transforms any owner into a criminal under prohibited possession statutes, regardless of their record as licensed, law-abiding citizens. This represents the ultimate contradiction in calling the program voluntary: participation is optional only in the sense that owners choose between surrendering property or accepting criminal status. The government added over 300 firearms to the prohibited list in December 2024, with amnesty extended to November 2025 for those models, creating rolling deadlines that layer additional confusion onto an already fractured system.

Canadian Gun Buyback Program Is Voluntary, but Noncompliance Can Land You in Jail https://t.co/1yvxCijdye #gatewaypundit via @gatewaypundit

— Tim M (@Tmcfarlane9M) February 6, 2026

Conservative opposition and gun rights advocates have seized on the program’s failures, questioning definitions, highlighting cost overruns, and defending property rights against what they view as executive overreach through Orders-in-Council that bypassed Parliament initially. The contrast with Australia’s 1996-1997 post-Port Arthur buyback, which destroyed 650,000 guns with broad compliance, underscores Canada’s unique dysfunction. Where Australia united after tragedy, Canada has polarized along geographic and political lines, with urban voters supporting bans on firearms rarely used in crimes while rural communities resist federal intrusion. The program sets a precedent for executive-ordered confiscation paired with delayed criminalization, a model that satisfies neither public safety goals nor constitutional principles of due process and property rights.