Firearms buyback nears its end: what Ottawa told Windsor News
Ottawa's firearms buyback is nearing its end. Public Safety Canada told Windsor News the amnesty now runs until 90 days after the Supreme Court rules, and that owners refused by licensed carriers can get help from the program's call centre.
Topics: Public safety
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The federal government is wrapping up its paid buyback of firearms it calls "assault-style." Licensed owners in Windsor-Essex who own one of the banned models now have to choose: sell it to Ottawa, deactivate it, or wait to see what the Supreme Court of Canada decides.
What the ban does
Ottawa banned these firearms by order in council in May 2020 and added more models in December 2024 and March 2025. Owners who bought them legally can no longer use, sell or move them. An amnesty order protects owners from criminal charges while they comply.
What the buyback does
People could declare their firearms for payment under the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program from Jan. 19 to March 31, 2026. Public Safety Canada said on April 1 that 37,869 owners had declared more than 67,000 firearms in that window. Collection and payment run through fall 2026, carried out by the RCMP, local police or secure mobile units. Businesses had a separate program, which ran from November 2024 to April 2025 and again from April 23 to June 4, 2026. When it closed on June 4, the department said more than 61,900 firearms had been claimed in the second phase. Its public tally puts the two business periods at 74,073 firearms claimed as of June 8, 2026, with $96.1 million paid to businesses after their firearms were processed.
The deadline moved
The amnesty was originally set to end Oct. 30, 2026. That is no longer the deadline. In March 2026 the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal challenging the 2020 ban. The amnesty orders for the 2020, 2024 and 2025 prohibitions now expire 90 days after the court rules, which the department expects next year. The department says the buyback itself is not being extended and is "the only opportunity" to be paid. Owners who did not declare must deactivate their firearms at their own cost, hand them to police without payment, or export them. The department says: "Participation in the compensation program is voluntary, but compliance with the law is not."
Who it touches here
The people affected are licensed owners, most of them sport and target shooters who passed federal safety courses and RCMP licensing. Some owners bought firearms that were legal when they paid for them and that they can no longer take to a range. Windsor News asked General Gun & Supply, a Windsor gun store that runs its own shooting range, for comment. It did not respond by our deadline.
Guns and crime here
Statistics Canada counted 156 firearm-related violent crimes in the Windsor area in 2024, up from 108 the year before. Windsor Police reported 61 crime guns in 2025, 9% fewer than in 2024. The police definition counts a firearm used in a crime whether or not it was legally owned. The Canada Border Services Agency says officers at the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel seized 150 firearms from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2025. These counts cover guns used in crime. They do not show which, if any, were banned models.
What Ottawa says
Public Safety Canada's media relations office answered Windsor News's questions by email on Nov. 4. The department said it has prohibited "over 2,500 makes and models of Assault Style Firearms," which it called "a risk to public safety and not suitable for civilian use." It said "more than 19,000 estimated non-restricted makes and models" remain available for hunting and sport shooting, which it put at "over 127,000 variations."
The department said "a total of $248.6 million in compensation has been made available" for owners and businesses, and that the program "is nearing its conclusion." Collection for compensation began in April 2026, it said, with owners turning in firearms to the RCMP, local police or secure mobile collection units. National totals for firearms collected and destroyed, and for compensation paid, "will be released after the program is completed in Fall 2026," it said.
On shipping, the department said a small number of owners, such as those who live far from an in-person collection site, were invited to ship their firearms. "While some owners have been successfully shipping their firearms, we are aware that others are being refused service by the private carriers that are licensed to transport firearms," it said. It said the program has extended the deadline to ship and "will be providing further instructions to affected individuals in the near term," and that its call centre staff can help owners who declared. "If any individual owners in the Windsor-Essex area who declared their firearms in the ASFCP have had challenges with shipping, the Program will support them so they can participate and receive compensation," the department said. A parliamentary secretary told the House of Commons on Oct. 29 that shipping deadlines had been extended in those cases and gave the call centre number, 1-833-759-4551.
The department said extending the amnesty "does not impact" the compensation program, which "remains the only opportunity for firearm owners to get compensation." Owners and businesses who did not take part must dispose of their prohibited firearms before the amnesty ends, it said.
Windsor News asked how many Windsor-Essex owners declared firearms and what the collection timeline is for this region. The department did not provide regional figures. It pointed to its table of declarations by province and territory and to its estimated collection timeline.
Where local MPs stand, by recorded vote
Bill C-21, Parliament's firearms bill, passed the House at third reading on May 18, 2023 (Division 333). It had passed second reading on June 23, 2022 (Division 174).
Dave Epp (Conservative, Chatham-Kent, Leamington) voted against it at second reading and at third reading.
Chris Lewis (Conservative, Essex) voted against it at second reading and at third reading.
Kathy Borrelli (Windsor, Tecumseh, Lakeshore) and Harb Gill (Windsor West) were elected in 2025, so neither voted on C-21.
The area's MPPs, Andrew Dowie, Lisa Gretzky, Anthony Leardi and Trevor Jones, sit at Queen's Park. Gun law is federal, so they have no vote on it.
What Dowie says
Andrew Dowie, the Progressive Conservative MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh, said Ontario joined the Supreme Court challenge over laws "that carry criminal consequences," which he said "must be clear and precise for Canadians to understand and follow," in an email to Windsor News. He said the compensation program "risks diverting police resources away from priorities such as combating violent crime, gang activity, and the illegal flow of firearms across the border," and that governments "should focus on measures that target criminals rather than placing additional burdens on law-abiding firearms owners and businesses."
Dowie said that because the amnesty is a federal program, owners "should continue to follow all applicable federal laws and guidance from Public Safety Canada and the RCMP while the matter remains before the courts."
He said he has heard "concerns from law-abiding firearms owners, sport shooters, hunters, and local businesses regarding uncertainty surrounding the federal regulations," and that many "questioned whether the program will improve public safety." "As an MPP, I will continue listening to constituents and local businesses and conveying their concerns through the appropriate channels," he said.
What Epp says
Dave Epp, the Conservative MP for Chatham-Kent, Leamington, said he is "opposed to this federal gun ban and buyback program." In an email to Windsor News, he said it "targets legally owned firearms instead of getting to the root of gun violence: illegal firearms, smuggling and organized crime," and that farmers, hunters and sport shooters treat firearms "as practical tools for needs such as pest control, farm work, hunting, and heritage, not as weapons of crime."
Epp said owners are "in a bit of a holding pattern" while the Supreme Court case is heard, and that "owners remain protected from criminal liability while the court process unfolds." He pointed to police services in London, Sarnia, Chatham-Kent, Strathroy-Caradoc, St. Thomas and Woodstock that he said have opted out of running the collection program, and said local gun owners and sport shooters told him the flat-rate compensation model does not cover what custom firearms are worth. Epp deferred a question about Windsor-Essex declaration numbers and the local collection timeline to the minister, saying "it is for the Minister to answer as he is responsible for the operations of the department."
Right of reply
Windsor News asked all eight members, General Gun & Supply, and the office of Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, whose department runs the buyback, where they stand, with a deadline of Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Dowie and Epp replied, and Public Safety Canada's media relations office answered for the department. Lewis, Borrelli, Gill, Gretzky, Leardi, Jones, General Gun and the minister's office had not responded by our deadline. We will add any later reply to this story.
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