The Government of Saskatchewan says it is standing up for the rights of law-abiding firearms owners with a recently passed motion in the Saskatchewan Legislature.

The motion called on the Government of Canada to devolve all parts of The Firearms Act to the province of Saskatchewan in order to allow it to administer and regulate legal firearms possession. It was a response to the federal Liberal government’s Bill C-21, which the province says, “criminalizes tens of thousands of Saskatchewan residents while accomplishing nothing to enhance public safety.”

The bill ensured that legally owned and used handguns could no longer be imported, purchased, or transferred.

The province says the bill reduced the value of these firearms to nothing, despite the fact that most handgun crime is committed using illegally trafficked and acquired handguns.

Ray Orb, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities President, says “many rural residents across the province depend on firearms to protect their livestock and to hunt, and responsible firearm owners who practice gun safety and abide by the licensing requirements legislated by the Government of Saskatchewan should not be criminalized.”