Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says the Liberal government is launching a review of Ottawa’s firearms classification regime, including consultations with indigenous communities on the SKS rifle, ahead of the federal gun buyback program’s launch across Canada.
Gun control groups have lobbied for Ottawa to include the SKS semi-automatic rifle on its list of banned firearms. The SKS is commonly used in indigenous communities to hunt food.
PolyRemembers, a gun control group formed after the 1989 École Polytechnique shooting, has asked Ottawa to prohibit the weapon, saying the buyback program would be “a waste of taxpayers’ money” and a “public safety failure” if the SKS were not included. The group suggested providing an exemption to indigenous hunters who primarily use the SKS for sustenance….