Bob Zimmer, MP for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, took part in a march in Ottawa this weekend protesting against the federal government’s assault weapon ban.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights was behind Saturday’s (Sept. 12) outdoor event on Parliament Hill, dubbed an 'integrity march,' to advocate for the rights of its members.
The Parliamentary Protective Service said roughly 800 people attended the event.
In May, the Liberal government announced it would be banning a range of 1,500 types of assault-style weapons, which it says were designed for the battlefield — not hunting or sport shooting.
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government have repeatedly shown their lack of respect for our outdoor community,” Zimmer said in a statement this morning (Sept. 14).
“Instead of focusing on efforts to combat criminals and illegal firearms, they have continuously targeted our highly vetted firearms owners.”
The Trudeau government announced in May that the newly prohibited weapons could no longer be "legally used, sold, or imported."
The government is in the process of setting up a buy-back system to take the guns out of circulation, issuing a tender last month for 15 companies to come up with a "range of options and approaches to inform the design and implementation/management of a potential buy-back program for the recently prohibited firearms."
Gun control advocates say the proposed program must be mandatory in order to effectively reduce gun violence.
“It was an honour to be at the Integrity March in support of and with thousands of lawful Canadian firearms owners who were there to demand that the Liberal government take real, concrete action to make our communities safer,” Zimmer added.
“Blanket firearms bans and making law-abiding Canadians follow even more rules is not the answer.”
The federal Conservative has long advocated for the rights of lawful Canadian firearms owners, stating previously that communities may not be safer when giving more rules to follow.
- with files from The Canadian Press
