The Canadian Sports Shooters Association (CSSA) yesterday expressed concern that the May 1st prohibitions contain a clause that may cause tens of thousands of 12 gauge and 10 gauge shotguns to be deemed prohibited based upon the following line:
In an email here and on their twitter the CSSA wrote:
In the legal opinion of our firearms team – headed by Edward Burlew L.L.B. , one of the foremost experts in Canadian firearms law – Bill Blair banned almost every modern 12-gauge and 10-gauge shotgun in Canada with removable chokes because they exceed the maximum bore diameter of 20 mm as defined in SOR/2020-96.
Ed Burlew’s legal opinion including reasoning on the measurement can be found here.
They then urged all shooters to regard any shotgun that had an internal diameter exceeding 20mm with choke removed as prohibited under the May 1st ban and not to use them.
In response Public Safety Minister Bill Blair denied the confusion and in his tweet wrote:
This is absolutely incorrect and we will be reaching out to them to correct their misunderstanding. Both 10 and 12 gauge shotguns are under the 20mm provision, and thus not subject to the prohibition. Our government is taking action to protect Canadians by banning assault-style weapons – not those used for hunting. The truth matters.
Yet, many owners today may find in using calipers to measure their own shotguns that some do exceed a bore diameter of 20mm or greater. Your club urges you to wait for clarification in regulation rather than rely on the Tweets regardless of the source.