Mass shootings in Canada have helped prompt changes to firearm laws over the decades

Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair on the federal leaders’ ‘heartfelt’ reactions to the Tumbler Ridge, B.C. mass shooting.

OTTAWA — Mass shootings in Canada — including an April 2020 rampage in Nova Scotia — have helped to spur changes to gun laws in recent decades.

Police were offering no details early Wednesday on the type of firearm used in the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shootings that left 10 people dead, including the suspect, and many others injured.

Since May 2020, the federal Liberals have outlawed about 2,500 types of firearms, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14, on the basis they belong only on the battlefield.

Prohibited firearms and devices must be disposed of -- or deactivated -- by the end of an amnesty period on Oct. 30.

Firearms rights advocates and the federal Conservatives have accused the government of targeting law-abiding gun owners and have denounced the program as a poor use of taxpayer dollars.

Gun-control advocates have applauded the compensation program while criticizing the government for not banning new sales of the semi-automatic SKS rifle.

The SKS is commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food and also has been used in police killings and other high-profile shootings in recent years.

The government is carrying out a broad review of Canada’s firearms classification regime that will include consultations with Indigenous communities on the SKS.

The Liberals have also taken steps to restrict handguns, increase penalties for firearms trafficking, keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers and curb homemade ghost guns.

In 1989, a gunman armed with a Ruger Mini-14 and a hunting knife murdered 14 women at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique.

In the early 1990s, federal legislation toughened penalties for gun-related crimes and ushered in new measures on acquiring and storing firearms.

The Liberal government of Jean Chretien created a universal registry for firearms, including ordinary rifles and shotguns, in the mid-1990s.

The registry was lambasted by critics as a needless intrusion into the lives of farmers, hunters and sport shooters, and touted by others as a worthy tool for police who used it daily to glean crucial information.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives introduced legislation to scrap universal registration, ending the requirement to register non-restricted firearms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press