In the wake of the federal government’s recent guns ban, outrage has come from Canadian gun owners, including a Virden man taking it into his own hands to strike it down.
John Hipwell, the mostly retired founder of Westman firearms and accessories retailer Wolverine Supplies, has launched one of several legal challenges to the gun ban making their way through Canadian courts.
The challenge has been filed against the attorney general, the RCMP and the Registrar of Firearms in the Federal Court of Canada in Toronto.
To help pay for the legal costs, Hipwell launched a GoFundMe campaign on May 25 that has already raised $38,335 from more than 500 donors as of Wednesday afternoon.
Wolverine Supplies, which is now run by Hipwell’s son, Matthew, is participating in another judicial challenge of the ban put forth by the Canadian Council for Firearm Rights as a witness. There are also campaigns being run by Calgary-based firearms store The Shooting Edge, Canada’s National Firearm Association and Alberta Tactical Rifle Supply.
The federal government’s ban targets hundreds of firearms and their derivatives described in the order-in-council prohibiting their ownership, use and sale as "assault-style." A ban on weapons with muzzle energy of more than 10,000 joules and bore diameters of greater than 20 millimetres are also included.
"Canada has experienced mass shootings in rural and urban areas such as in Nova Scotia, city of Québec, Montréal and Toronto," the order-in-council reads. "Whether at home or abroad, the deadliest mass shootings are commonly perpetrated with assault-style firearms. Given these events, the growing concern for public safety, the increasing public demand for measures to address gun violence and mass shootings and, in particular, the concern resulting from the inherent deadliness of assault-style firearms that are not suitable for civilian use, these firearms must be prohibited in Canada."
Hipwell told the Sun on Tuesday that he believes the order is too vague, too expansive and there’s nothing in the order that’s worth salvaging.
"There’s nothing to improve border security, to stop the smuggling of firearms," he said. "Nothing to strengthen the police forces. There’s nothing to address mental-health issues. All this does is go after legal gun owners."
He also believes a gun ban should be done through an act of Parliament, not through an order-in-council.
"This order-in-council was done in secrecy," Hipwell said. "It was written up, signed behind closed doors, announced midday on a Friday, effective midnight the day before."
Another element of the gun ban Hipwell disagrees with is the exemption for Indigenous people, which he characterizes as "discrimination."
"If this gun is not suitable for hunting, why are they using it in the first place?" he said.
Earlier this week, Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire told the Sun he believes the ban should have been run through Parliament instead of an order-in-council.
"This has been in the middle of a pandemic, after the most violent slaying of persons in Canadian history, the government walks in with an order-in-council, which means there was no debate at all in the House of Commons on this issue," Maguire said. "And really, no reason (was) given other than the guns look harmful opposed to the function of the firearm."
Maguire said he is in favour of the judicial challenges against the ban going forward and hopes the matter will come up for debate in the House.
Link to actual post: https://www.brandonsun.com/local/virden-man-challenging-federal-gun-ban-571004882.html
