A police officer points out a firearm as police display guns seized during a series of raids at a press conference in Toronto on June 14, 2013. The Federal Court is dismissing applications brought forward by critics of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's May 2020 regulations banning some 1,500 styles of firearms.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
OTTAWA – The Federal Court today dismissed a legal challenge to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s May 2020 regulations banning some 1,500 styles of firearms.
Justice Catherine Kane says in a decision released today that the applicants raised issues around the matter of guns and public safety but the court only explored the question of whether Trudeau’s cabinet went beyond its powers in passing the regulations.
A few weeks after a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 22 people in April 2020, the Liberals announced they were banning 1,500 models of firearms that it considered too dangerous to be society.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights and other gun organizations challenged the regulations in court arguing the government lacked the authority to enact the order-in-council that banned the weapons including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14.
In her decision Kane says issuing the order-in-council and subsequent regulations did not exceed the power of Trudeau and his cabinet.
She also says the regulations do not infringe on sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as the Canadian Bill of Rights.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2023.
