Alberta Rejects Trudeau’s ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban That Targets Bolt-Action Rifles

Alberta  Justice Minister Tyler Shandro has made clear he will not enforce Justin Trudeau’s “assault weapons” ban and “plans to seek intervener status” in legal challenges aiming to have the ban declared unconstitutional.

CBC reports that Shandro received a letter “asking for police resources to begin confiscating firearms starting this fall.”

Shandro said Alberta will not participate in the enforcement of confiscatory policies to “take the property of law-abiding firearm owners.”

Moreover, Alberta is also seeking to challenge the constitutionality of the ban.

When Trudeau put the “assault weapons” ban forward in 2020, Breitbart News reported that it contained numerous bolt-action rifles. (Firearms which the left labels “assault weapons” are typically semiautomatic firearms which accept detachable magazines and have certain cosmetic features, such a collapsible stock and/or a heat shield or threaded barrel.)

The National Post published a list of the 1,500 firearms prohibited by Trudeau’s “assault weapons” ban, and that list includes the Barrett M99, which is a single shot bolt action rifle designed for long range shooting. His ban also includes the SIG 50, the Bluegrass Armory VIPER XL50 BMG, the Odessa Patriot 50, the Mitchells Mausers M93 Black Arrow Target, and numerous other bolt action firearms. 

Teri Bryant, Alberta’s chief firearms officer, stands against the confiscatory action as well.

Bryant said, per CBC:

“I have previously expressed strong opposition to the federal government’s plans to prohibit and confiscate some 30,000 lawfully acquired firearms from Albertans. …The planned confiscations represent a fatal approach to reducing violence in Canadian society and are unwarranted and unacceptable infringements on the property rights and personal freedoms of Albertans.”

CTV News Calgary also quoted Bryant: “All Canadians whether firearms owners or not should be concerned about the scapegoating of law abiding citizens and the targeting of their property.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.