Ottawa's federal firearms ban, in place since 2020, is now headed to the Supreme Court of Canada, with Ontario stepping in to back the legal challenge against it.
What's being challenged
The Supreme Court of Canada agreed on Thursday to hear a challenge of the Liberal government ban on firearms models and variants it considers fit for the battlefield, not hunting and sport shooting. The government banned the use, sale and importation of 1,500 firearms models and variants in May 2020.
Ontario joins the fight
Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan have all been granted intervenor status in the case, with Ontario filing its notice of intervention on May 19, 2026. Ontario's Solicitor General's office has been blunt about its objections to the federal approach, criticizing the buyback program tied to the ban by saying it "misdirects policing resources and failes to address the real drivers of gun violence."
What the courts have said so far
The case arrives at the Supreme Court after a mixed record in the lower courts. Federal Court of Appeal Chief Justice Yves de Montigny wrote that firearms' "lethality and their ability to injure or kill a large number of people" represent "valid considerations in determining whether their use is reasonable for hunting and sporting purposes," a finding that favoured Ottawa's position on the underlying safety rationale for the ban.
The case against the ban
The group says the bans were carried out through "executive instruments meant for implementation and administration, not for enacting broad, permanent changes that affect thousands of law-abiding citizens." In other words, the group's core argument isn't just about which guns made the list, but whether the federal cabinet had the authority to make that list at all without going back to Parliament.
A representative for the coalition called the Supreme Court's decision to take the case a turning point. "This is a pivotal moment," the representative said, "for the rule of law and the proper limits of executive power in our democracy."
Why it matters here
Ottawa isn't just a bystander in this fight. Whatever the justices decide will apply nationwide, but it starts and, eventually, ends in this city's federal institutions. With three provinces now formally weighing in as intervenors, the case has grown well beyond a single gun-rights group's lawsuit into a broader test of how far federal cabinet powers can reach on public safety measures, one that Ottawa's own courts and government will be watching closely as it proceeds.
The Supreme Court's decision, whenever it comes, will settle a question that has hung over Canadian gun owners and federal regulators alike since the 2020 ban was first announced.
Sources: Global News, QP Briefing, The Canadian Press
