Some guns used for hunting may still fall under firearms ban, Liberal MP says

Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed says the federal government's controversial firearms legislation is not trying to target hunters and farmers — but some guns commonly used by them may still be banned.

Noormohamed, who sits on the parliamentary committee now grappling with the bill, acknowledged that firearms like the SKS rifle — which is on the list of proposed prohibitions — are sometimes used by hunters. But specific variants of the SKS have also been used to commit acts of violence, he said.

"The SKS has been used to kill cops across this country," he said in an interview on CBC Radio's The House airing Saturday. "It is used in some context by hunters, but it's also, unfortunately, in the hands of criminals."

The British Columbia MP told host Catherine Cullen that SKS variants have been used in killings across Canada — including in his own province — and have been used to murder two police officers in Ontario.

Asked to explain how the Liberals could claim the bill did not target hunters when it bans firearms like the SKS and some Remington 742 guns, Noormohamed said that "in some cases, unfortunately, both things can be true."

Some Remington models, he said, were designed to use magazines larger than those allowed by the proposed law.

"The overwhelming majority of Canadians have said to us we need to get some of these guns off our streets, and this is where we have to figure out exactly how to thread the needle on this in a meaningful, thoughtful way," he said.

Noormohamed also echoed a willingness expressed by others in the government to adjust a proposed amendment to the bill that triggered an intense outcry.

"If there are guns on this list that shouldn't be there, for all of the reasons that folks have identified that are reasonable, then we need to work on fixing that," he said. 

He said the government is looking to "make sure that we allay any concerns that are out there, but more importantly, that we tweak the list, that we ensure this is not done in a way that does not capture commonly used hunting rifles and shotguns."

Bill C-21 was proposed originally as legislation to ban handguns in Canada, but an amendment introduced by the government last month added language that would create an "evergreen definition" of "assault-style" firearms banned by Ottawa.

That definition includes two measures put forward by the government through regulations in 2020: a limit on muzzle energy and bore diameter, and a new rule banning semi-automatic rifles or shotguns designed to accept a detachable magazine with a capacity greater than five cartridges.

The government also introduced a list that included thousands of models that were covered by the ban — many of them firearms frequently used for hunting or sport shooting.

The federal government has faced intense criticism over the new amendment. Conservative critic Raquel Dancho has called the move a historic "attack on the culture of hunting." The Assembly of First Nations passed an emergency resolution at its conference in Ottawa condemning the amendment.