The ban of 1,500 models and variants of assault weapons including the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is receiving the support of the Tsilhqot’in Nation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the ban on May 1 in an effort to decrease gun-related deaths in Canada.
The ban, however, does not apply to Indigenous people who may continue to use guns which were previously non-restricted as a means to hunt for sustenance and carry out their tradition and culture until a suitable replacement is found.
Chief Joe Alphonse, tribal chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, said they experience the consequences of these military-style guns.
“This ban is a step in the right direction to achieve justice for our women across Canada, because women are often the victims and targets of gun violence,” Alphonse said in a news release Friday, May 8. “This order is in the best interest of our people and our women in particular.”
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Strict gun laws in Europe and abroad has resulted in fewer annual gun homicides in those countries, Alphonse said.
“Furthermore, these assault weapons, with their advanced technology, have threatened our people’s food security by wiping out our wildlife populations at alarming rates.”
A two-year amnesty period to provide gun owners time to comply with the order expires on April 30, 2022.
The Federal government has proposed a buyback program which would offer fair market prices to owners who had legally purchased the newly prohibited weapons.
“There is no reason that people need to own AR-15 style weapons,” Alphonse said. “They cause death and a ripple effect of destruction to society and our environment.”
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