Amnesty Extended for Assault-Style Firearms

Summary#

The Canada Gazette published the Order Amending Certain Orders Made Under the Criminal Code: SOR/2025-208, which changes earlier amnesty orders that protect owners of newly prohibited assault-style firearms. It lets individuals hand in banned firearms to Mobile Collection Units or ship them to approved businesses for deactivation, and it extends the amnesty protection until October 30, 2026. The order came into force on October 10, 2025.

What it does#

• Amends the existing amnesty orders (including Order Declaring an Amnesty Period (2020), Order Declaring an Amnesty Period (2024) and Order Declaring an Amnesty Period (2025)) to add new ways for individuals to give up prohibited firearms.
• Allows individuals to deliver prohibited firearms to Mobile Collection Units (MCUs) staffed by contractors and used by Public Safety Canada and police for on-site destruction.
• Lets individuals hand a prohibited firearm to a licensed carrier (as defined in the Firearms Act) so the carrier can ship it to an approved business for deactivation.
• Keeps the existing transport safety rules for people who personally move a firearm: unloaded, no ammunition in the vehicle, stored out of sight (e.g., in a trunk), on a reasonably direct ground route, and under direct supervision.
• Harmonizes and extends the amnesty periods so they all now end on October 30, 2026.

Who's affected#

• Individuals who own firearms that were added to the prohibited list in the 2020, December 5, 2024, and March 7, 2025 regulatory changes — the prohibitions now cover roughly 2,500 makes and models (the original May 1, 2020 list was about 1,500, later expanded by 324 and 179 additional makes/models).
• Firearms businesses approved to deactivate or destroy prohibited firearms, and the carriers that ship firearms to them.
• Local police services, which may be asked to coordinate or request MCUs for collection in their area.
• People in rural or remote areas who may have had difficulty reaching an approved deactivation business — the MCU and carrier options are intended to help them.
• Public Safety Canada and the Department of Justice, which will oversee and implement the expanded collection and shipping options and the related compensation program (Assault Style Firearms Compensation Program (ASFCP)).

Why it matters#

• It gives individual owners safer, more convenient ways to surrender or deactivate prohibited firearms without risking criminal charges while the amnesty is in effect.
• The new options (MCUs and shipping by carrier) make it easier for people who live far from approved deactivation businesses to comply.
• The extension to October 30, 2026 gives owners more time to apply for compensation through the ASFCP and to remove prohibited items from circulation.
• If someone still has a prohibited firearm after October 30, 2026, they could face criminal charges for unlawful possession.
• The changes aim to reduce the number of prohibited assault-style firearms that remain in communities, which the government says helps reduce risks such as diversion to illegal markets or use in violent incidents.