Gun-control group urges Ottawa to ban SKS as assault-style firearm buyback ramps up

A prominent gun-control group says the federal government's buyback of assault-style firearms will be a waste of money unless it includes a prohibition of the semi-automatic SKS rifle.

Since May 2020, Ottawa has outlawed approximately 2,500 types of guns on the basis they belong on the battlefield, not in the hands of hunters or sport shooters.

The government says a federal buyback program will provide owners fair compensation for their outlawed firearms, with the latest details to be announced Tuesday.

However, the government has not outlawed the SKS, which is commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food.

The SKS has also been used in police killings and other high-profile shootings.

PolySeSouvient, formed in response to the 1989 mass shooting at Montreal's École Polytechnique, says leaving the rifle in circulation would be "a public safety failure."

PolySeSouvient wants the government to impose an immediate ban on new sales of the SKS, remove from circulation modern, assault-style versions of the rifle, and implement a voluntary buyback of older models.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Sunday the government would soon announce the latest phase of the buyback program, including a pilot program in Nova Scotia.

The minister is scheduled to hold a news conference on Parliament Hill Tuesday afternoon..

PolySeSouvient said in a media statement that as long as the SKS is not prohibited, Canada lacks a ban on assault-style weapons.

New SKS models will flood the market and replace other firearm models that have been outlawed, the group said.

"Nothing will change in the long run, other than a waste of hundreds-of-millions of taxpayers' dollars," PolySeSouvient said. "Much of the buyback money will be injected into the gun industry, making manufacturers richer and the gun lobby stronger."