Alberta unveils plan to resist enforcement of Ottawa’s firearm buyback program

The provincial government has detailed its plan to fight Ottawa’s gun buyback program, describing the federal plan as an unconstitutional attack on the rights of Albertans. 

Details of the policy, unveiled in an order paper Tuesday, assert that firearms ownership falls exclusively under provincial jurisdiction. 

The motion states that the Alberta Bill of Rights guarantees the right to acquire, keep, and use firearms, as well as the right not to have property taken without “just compensation.” The motion promises to “use all legal means necessary” to actively resist the federal initiative.

The motion is Alberta’s formal declaration against the federal government’s ban on hundreds of assault-style firearms, which includes a voluntary buyback program known as the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program.  

The motion is being introduced as part of Smith’s Alberta Sovereignty Within A United Canada Act, which is designed to allow Alberta to sidestep federal laws.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery is set to table the motion later Tuesday afternoon.

“Turning previously legal firearms into prohibited ones does nothing to make our streets safer,” he said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

“It simply punishes those who have acted in good faith and who have proven that they know how to follow provincial and federal law.”

Under the proposed legislation, Alberta would take all reasonable steps to ensure that neither the government, nor any “provincial entity” participates in the implementation or enforcement of the federal policy — something Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told her base at the United Conservative Party’s annual convention over the weekend.

She said Albertans shouldn’t be prosecuted for defending their homes and families and that the law needs to focus on going after what she calls “low-life criminals.”

It’s a sentiment Amery strongly echoed at the news conference, despite the wording in his motion not addressing defence of property

“With this motion, we are unequivocally saying that our sympathies will lie with law-abiding Albertans,” he told reporters.

“One’s home is their castle. It is sacred … and in the worst case scenario, Albertans should feel confident that they won’t be thrown in jail [for] defending themselves and their loved ones.”

Amery said the federal buyback program does nothing to improve public safety.

According to the order paper filed Tuesday, Alberta’s proposed measures to oppose the federal firearms program include refusing to provide any resources to the federal government for enforcement or prosecution purposes. 

Amery also said that his ministry would provide guidance to Crown lawyers on prosecuting property owners who are defending their property.

He said guidelines would make it absolutely clear that there is “no public interest” in prosecuting those individuals.

The motion, if passed by the legislature, would direct the Attorney General to regularly review directives issued to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service relating to the prosecution of offences for possession of firearms “and the right of all Albertans to use reasonable force to defend themselves in their own home.” 

Under the proposed plan, Alberta would also direct Mike Ellis, the minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, to take any necessary steps to prevent any police force or contracted RCMP police force from assisting with or participating in the federal program.

The federal government has banned more than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style firearms since May 2020. It developed a buyback program, which is voluntary, to compensate eligible businesses and individuals who own such weapons.

But there is an amnesty period on the weapons ban. If people and businesses don’t dispose or deactivate those weapons before Oct. 30, 2026, they risk being charged with illegal possession of a prohibited firearm.