Canada Threatens Prison for Gun Owners in ‘Voluntary’ Buyback Scheme

Canada’s government has taken a dangerous turn threatening up to five years in prison for citizens who refuse to surrender their legally owned firearms under what it laughably calls a “voluntary” gun buyback program.

This Orwellian scheme, revived from a 2020 order in council issued under then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is now being aggressively pushed by current PM Mark Carney despite massive backlash from gun rights advocates, law enforcement officials, and provincial leaders across the country.

The so-called “assault-style firearms compensation program” demands that citizens turn in thousands of newly prohibited weapons by October 30, 2026 or face criminal prosecution. The government’s own statement confirms this isn't a choice:

“While participating in the program is voluntary, compliance with the law is not... or risk criminal liability.”

Either hand over your legally owned property or go to jail. That’s not voluntary. That’s coercion.

Even worse, the government doesn’t guarantee compensation. Instead, it says participants “may receive compensation subject to availability of program funds.” So not only are they demanding your firearms they’re not even promising to pay you for them.

It’s a nightmare scenario for Canadian gun owners: the federal government knows it can’t enforce its own ban, has no clue who owns what, and is now resorting to threats of imprisonment to scare citizens into compliance.

“They have no idea where [the guns are] or who has them,” said Blair Hagen of Canada’s National Firearms Association. “So it’s proving to be a very, very difficult situation for the government.”

No surprise. A 2025 pilot program intended to confiscate 200 firearms across several provinces yielded just 25 guns in six weeks. And yet, the government called it a “success.”

Canada’s gun control obsession has nothing to do with safety. It’s about civil disarmament, plain and simple.

• The program explicitly exempts Indigenous groups who rely on these firearms for sustenance hunting.

• Multiple provinces, including Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick, have refused to help enforce the buyback.

• Local officials like Alberta Chief Firearms Officer Teri Bryant said, “We will have nothing to do with this program.”

That leaves federal agents on their own trying to round up firearms across a country that doesn’t want to be disarmed.

And let’s be clear: criminals aren’t turning in their weapons. This is about punishing law-abiding citizens while emboldening those who ignore the law.

“You can put all the laws and restrictions you want on lawful gun owners, but it’s not going to stop criminals,” Hagen said. “They will always find a way.”

Americans should pay attention.

Kamala Harris supported a mandatory assault weapons buyback during her first presidential campaign. The Biden administration’s ATF has already ramped up crackdowns on so-called “ghost guns,” stabilizing braces, and private sales.

As NRA spokesman Justin Davis warned, “There’s no criminal in the world who’s going to turn in their firearm for a few dollars.”

In countries like Canada, Europe, and Australia where there is no Second Amendment disarmament is already well underway. Gun bans. Confiscation threats. Criminal charges. It’s all happening.

The only reason it hasn’t taken full root in the U.S. is because of constitutional protections and political leaders willing to defend them.

If this is what a “voluntary” buyback looks like in Canada, imagine what the American left will try when they’re back in full control.

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