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Sask. joins Alberta in vowing not to support proposed federal firearm buy-back program

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The Government of Saskatchewan has made its opinion clear on a proposed federal buy-back program of over 1,500 models of firearms.

Owners of these “assault-style weapons” across Canada have one more year to dispose of them, following a federal Order in Council (OIC) on May 1, 2020.

The OIC banned nine types of firearms by make and model. Included are firearms with a bore of 20mm or greater and those capable of discharging a projectile with a muzzle energy greater than 10,000 joules.

The gun buy-back program initially proposed by the federal government was set to be operated by the private sector.

However, the Sask. government doesn’t want the RCMP in the province participating in any way.

“These firearms that we are talking about in Saskatchewan belong to legal firearms owners and they’re licensed, they’re heavily vetted and monitored by the firearms office,” said Christine Tell, Minister of Policing and Public Safety

Minister Tell has sent a letter to the head of the Saskatchewan RCMP.

In the letter she stated that the government will not “authorize the use of provincially funded resources of any type for the federal government’s buyback program.”

Saskatchewan pays 70 per cent of the cost of RCMP policing in the province.

Last week, the Alberta’s Justice Minister, Tyler Shandro, made a similar request of the RCMP.

“Then don’t use provincial policing resources to take them off the streets and be distracted with implementing the program.”

Federal Minister for Public Safety, Marco Mendicino, has called the provincial position reckless and maintains the federal government holds jurisdiction.

“We need to implement the buyback program to get these assault-style rifles out of our communities once and for all,” Mendicino told CTV News.

The Saskatchewan RCMP have declined to comment on the current issue.

The police force may have to seek legal advice to determine whether it’s the federal or provincial government that ultimately has jurisdiction.

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