Alberta gun owners await expansion of gun buyback program
Posted Sep 13, 2025 1:29 pm.
Legal gun owners are bracing themselves as the individual portion of the federal government’s gun buyback program is set to kick in this year.
At the Calgary Shooting Centre, gun owner Alan wonders if he’ll be fairly compensated for firearms that he spent thousands of dollars legally purchasing, as the federal government gears up to launch its gun buyback program for individuals.
“It’s really frustrating,” he told CityNews.
“We can’t use them, we are not allowed to use them, they are still in the safe, so there’s nothing I can use them for.”
According to the federal government, in 2020, Ottawa banned 1,500 firearms, with over 2,000 makes and models currently prohibited.
“We do the right thing; criminals by definition don’t follow the law,” Alan said.
Following the prohibition of those firearms, the federal government created a gun buyback program where legal owners of firearms deemed prohibited could hand them over in exchange for compensation.
Doug King, a professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University, says that it won’t deter illegal ownership of firearms.
“It won’t impact crime rates,” he said. “Individuals who have registered firearms are much less likely to commit criminal offences than people who don’t have firearms.”
The program has already been open for businesses, but individuals are still waiting for an exact date from the government for when the program will expand to them.
David, another gun owner CityNews spoke with at the shooting centre, thinks it’s a “waste of money.”
“I think it’s dumb. I think there’s other things that could be allocated to fight actual crime instead of going after law-abiding citizens,” he said.
When CityNews asked for a specific date, the federal government, in a statement, said the individual portion of the program is expected to launch in the fall.
The government says the gun buyback program itself is voluntary, but if gun owners own firearms that they legally obtained and are now prohibited, they are expected to “dispose of their prohibited assault-style firearms and devices, or ensure they are deactivated.”
Legal gun owner Kash, who CityNews spoke with at the shooting range, says he’s going to wait and see what’s going to happen.
“I have to see what is going to happen. I still have a little bit of hope that something is going to happen,” he said.
