Group assisting long-planned review of firearms — including SKS — has yet to meet

An advisory group that’s supporting a federal review of firearms classification — including a look at the SKS rifle — is expected to hold its first meeting this fall, almost a year after Ottawa announced the review.

Public Safety Canada says members of the Firearms Classification Technical Advisory Group, appointed to provide expert advice to the department and the RCMP, “will be meeting later this fall.”

The Liberal government has faced fresh questions about the SKS after a document filed in a U.S. court said the killer in the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., mass shooting talked about having an SKS gun.

Eighteen-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed eight people in the Feb. 10 Tumbler Ridge attack before taking her own life.

The RCMP has declined to release details about firearms used in the shootings, saying its investigation is ongoing.

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

It is also commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food.

Prime Minister Mark Carney recently indicated the government would look at the advice of the classification advisory group before making any decision on the status of the SKS.

Since May 2020, Ottawa has outlawed approximately 2,500 types of guns on the basis they belong only on the battlefield. It has not banned the SKS.

Gun control advocacy group PolySeSouvient has long called on the government to impose an immediate ban on new sales of the SKS, to remove from circulation modern, assault-style versions of the rifle, and to implement a voluntary buyback of older models. It calls for an exemption for Indigenous hunters who use the SKS primarily for sustenance.

In early December last year, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the government would “shortly be launching a comprehensive review of the firearms classification regime” with an emphasis on simplicity and consistency.

“This review will be supported by an expanded advisory group, and will involve dedicated consultations with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, including on the SKS, to ensure Indigenous perspectives and traditions are an active part of the process,” he said in a statement.

“The review will take a broad view of the legal framework for firearms, devices, magazines and ammunition to modernize the regime and ensure Canadians’ safety.”

In response to questions this month from The Canadian Press, the Public Safety Department said more information on the Technical Advisory Group and on engagement activities related to the classification review will be made available “in the near term.”

“Members will bring diverse technical knowledge, experience, and expert views from a wide range of perspectives,” the department said.

PolySeSouvient said this week that instead of implementing a comprehensive ban on assault-style firearms and high-capacity magazines, “the government keeps announcing new consultations and panels, and each one becomes another reason to postpone actual change.”

“Lives are at stake,” the group told The Canadian Press. “The government needs to stop consulting and start acting, before more people are killed in mass shootings.”

In a recent commentary on its website, the Canadian Shooting Sports Association said many questions remain about the Tumbler Ridge shootings, including which firearms were used, how they were obtained, and which — if any — had been seized by police previously.

“Reclassifying another firearm before answering those questions may satisfy the demand for immediate action,” the commentary said. “It does not prove that banning another firearm would have prevented this mass murder.”