E-petition E-2574 seeking the scrapping of the May 1st prohibition order now available

An official e-petition asking the government to scrap their May 1st Order In Council is now available for signing. Unlike other online petitions you may have seen such as Change.org this is an official e-petition sponsored by an Member of Parliament that must receive a response by the government and is tabled for discussion in the House of Commons. If you have not done one of these before pay attention to the instructions as you have to confirm your digital signature by email.

Petition to the Prime Minister

Whereas:

• The Prime Minister’s firearms confiscation regime, undemocratically imposed without debate during a pandemic while Parliament is suspended, is an assault on Canadian democracy;
• Canada already has stringent regulations and comprehensive legislation related to firearms ownership;
• Canada has millions of responsible, law-abiding firearms owners;
• Data shows that the confiscation regime would not stop firearms violence in Canada;
• The majority of firearms used in violent crimes are obtained illegally and/or are smuggled into Canada;
• Legal firearms owners are strong advocates for measures that will actually prevent firearms violence;
• Legal firearms owners in Canada are vetted on a daily basis through the CPIC system;
• The Prime Minister is using the emotion of the tragedy in Nova Scotia to impose this confiscation regime even though all of the firearms the murderer used were illegally obtained;
• The list of firearms to be confiscated is arbitrary and not based on functionality;
• “Assault rifles”, or fully automatic firearms, have been banned in Canada since 1977;
• Criminals who have illegally obtained firearms will not be impacted by this confiscation regime; and
• The federal government is abandoning evidenced-based decision making as it relates to preventing firearm violence.

We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Prime Minister to immediately scrap his government’s May 1, 2020, Order in Council decision related to confiscating legally owned firearms and instead pass legislation that will target criminals, stop the smuggling of firearms into Canada, go after those who illegally acquire firearms, and apologize to legal firearms owners in Canada.