Province won’t comply with feds’ gun buyback

By Lethbridge Herald on December 3, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The provincial government is taking a stand against Ottawa and the federal gun buyback program

Minister of Justice Mickey Amery has introduced a motion under the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act to protect gun owners in Alberta.

Amery says Alberta isn’t the only province to take issue with the program.

“The federal government has enacted this gun buyback scheme and it’s been ongoing for several years now,” Amery told media Tuesday. “We know that provinces, not just Alberta, but provinces across the country are simply not buying into the scheme. 

“We know that Ontario and Saskatchewan have been very vocal about their intention not to cooperate with the federal government’s decision to implement this gun buyback program.”

The Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program (ASFCP) was developed by the federal government after more than 2500 makes and models of assault-style firearms were banned in May 2020. 

The program had been opened for businesses earlier this year with around 12,000 prohibited firearms being collected for around $22 million. A small scale pilot program for individuals was set to begin in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia with the goal of collecting 200 firearms.

Amery says Alberta takes issue with the fact that the law can affect citizens who have done their due diligence to acquire their firearms. 

“When you take a program that targets people who have done everything that they should have done. By taking the gun safety courses, by being properly vetted by the chief firearms officer, and taking the appropriate hunter safety courses and gun handling safety and properly storing their firearms and then creating criminals out of those individuals, Alberta will not stand by that. We cannot support it.”

In Canada, firearm holders must apply for a possession and acquisition licence (PAL). Applicants are required to pass a safety course and complete a form with the RCMP along with registering each firearm. A restricted PAL can also be granted, which allows the holder to possess restricted firearms.

“We know that there are roughly 350,000 license holders, either PAL or RPAL in this province.” Amery explained. “We know that some may have more than one gun, some may not have guns at all. It’s difficult to know how many guns there are, but we do know roughly how many holders or either a PAL or RPAL there are.” 

The ASFCP was implemented prior to Mark Carney taking over as Liberal party leader from previous prime minister Justin Trudeau. 

Amery says the provinces are in dialogue with the government about the future of the program.

“When we spoke to our federal counterparts and we’re in ongoing conversations with them that program itself, the gun buyback program, doesn’t address the issues that Canadians are complaining about. We know that it won’t provide a single dollar to prosecution agencies anywhere in the country. We know that it won’t shore up our law enforcement, it won’t shore up border security. It does nothing to address the causes of violent crime in this country.”