Why the Liberals are suddenly talking about ‘ghost guns’ — and why Conservatives say it’s a cynical distraction

OTTAWA - The Liberals' legislation to tighten gun restrictions started out as a bill largely focused on banning handguns.

Then, it expanded into a sweeping ban on hundreds of long guns so broadly seen as a direct attack on hunters and sport shooters that the Liberals simply had to walk that aspect back.

Now, in the version of C-21 they hope to pass before summer, the Liberals are promoting an additional showpiece: measures to crack down on the untraceable weapons known as ghost guns."

In its latest form, the Liberals and NDP say the bill is a win for public safety and represents the best of efforts to find consensus on a bill that's been one of the hardest to get through the House of Commons this year.

But the Conservatives are calling out the Liberal pivot to focus on ghost guns - which all parties already agree should be subject to strict penalties - as a cynical ploy to distract voters from the disastrous reception the bill has received thus far, without making any effort to change what they see as its fundamental flaws.

The Liberal-NDP coalition is eager to rewrite history and pretend ghost guns are their priority, something that was never part of the original bill," said Conservative MP and public safety critic Raquel Dancho.

In reality, Justin Trudeau is desperate to change the channel from his disastrous handling of the firearm file and the complete loss of trust from millions of lawful, trained, tested and vetted hunters, farmers and Indigenous Canadian firearms owners."

What is a ghost gun?

Generally, the term ghost gun" applies to any untraceable firearm. In recent years, it's more often understood to refer to guns assembled with some parts made using 3D printers.

The issue is a growing concern for Canadian law enforcement.

During the gang conflict, we're seeing more ghost guns, specifically in the hands of people who are involved in active murder conspiracies or people who are believed to be working as hired contract killers," Vancouver Police Insp. Michael Rowe told MPs last February, months before C-21 was introduced.

Yet, despite repeated pledges from the Liberals that they wanted to crack down on gun violence, addressing ghost guns wasn't mentioned in C-21 when it was introduced in May 2022.

At that time, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in an interview, the focus was on a marquee Liberal policy to ban the sale and transfer of handguns, the most significant action taken on the file to date.

We think that will save lives," Mendicino said.

Nonetheless, amendments to the bill were expected from the get-go, and Liberal MPs told the Star that many of them were pushing Mendicino to make sure ghost guns were included. Not only were they hearing about the issue from local law enforcement agencies, but they felt it would be easy to get the political consensus required to pass the restrictions.

When C-21 first hit committee study, Rowe even appeared to make his case again: the parts needed to make ghost guns remained unregulated and lawmakers needed to act, he said.

This is only going to grow," he told MPs in October.

A few weeks later, a slew of amendments arrived.

Although it is already illegal in Canada to make or own any firearm without the right licence, the Liberals were now proposing to tighten up the definition of a prohibited firearm" to include any gun made unlawfully, no matter how. The amendments also included a requirement that those who buy certain parts for guns would need a licence.

On the surface, the approach passed muster even with the Conservatives, who reflexively bristle against many forms of gun control.

A violation of the no surprises' understanding

But while the ghost gun amendments weren't a surprise, they were bundled in a package that came as a shocker: a proposal for an evergreen definition for a banned gun in Canada, and a lengthy list of guns that would forever be banned.

The blowback was swift and fierce. With everyone from Indigenous chiefs to their own caucus slamming the approach as a direct assault on Canadians' abilities to use guns for livelihoods or leisure, the Liberals were left with no choice but to withdraw the package and start again.

That the bill was also going to tackle ghost guns hadn't even rated a mention.

The original amendments had also caught the NDP off guard, a tacit violation of the no surprises" understanding that underpins the supply-and-confidence agreement that is keeping the minority Liberal government in power.

While the New Democrats were broadly supportive of measures they could sell as efforts to crack down on gun violence, what the Liberals had proposed infuriated their rural base.

For the beleaguered Liberals, ghost guns were suddenly seized upon as a safe middle ground.

Although they already had the support of the Bloc Quebecois for the toughest gun measures they could come up with, it was the NDP they had to convince to support the bill - to honour the supply-and-confidence deal at least in spirit, Liberals told the Star.

NDP MP Peter Julian was particularly taken by the issue of ghost guns, having received his own briefing from the police in his home province of British Columbia.

I felt pretty strongly it had to be included," he said.

An agreement was reached: the government agreed to the NDP request to broaden the bill in a way that would require gun makers to get new firearms classified before they hit the market - and the ghost gun amendments would be brought back.

A messaging change to sell the bill politically'

I am gratified that the NDP was able to force the withdrawal of amendments ... in February, which caused such consternation to law-abiding gun owners across the country," Julian said during debate in the House of Commons.

What has replaced them, as members are well aware, are provisions that tackle the ghost guns used by criminals."

When it comes to ghost guns, the provisions in the second round of amendments are the same as those in the first round.

This time, however, the NDP and Liberals are talking about them.

This appears to be a messaging change to sell the bill politically," said Tim Thurley, a firearms policy specialist.

Mendicino didn't dispute the notion that the Liberals and NDP were making a point of refocusing discussion of the bill.

While C-21 does enact a freeze on handgun sales and transfers, and bans future makes and models of certain kinds of firearms, those issues provoke highly polarized reactions among the special interest groups that dominate the gun policy debate in Canada.

Talking about ghost guns, and forcing manufacturers to play a role in managing firearms, help underscore what the Liberals' intent is, he said: reducing gun violence and saving lives.

I think my hope is that gun owners will see as well that this is not about targeting them," Mendicino said.

From the NDP's perspective, refocusing was required to address that point too - and to hold those who make the guns as accountable as the criminals who use them.

There's an urgency around ghost guns that I think leads to a bit of a consensus," Julian told the Star.

But will it address the problem?

Thurley said he's not sure, given the fact most of the guns and parts used in crimes in Canada are believed to come here illegally from the U.S.

These provisions seem like an afterthought to the substance of C-21 rather than part of a considered, thoughtful strategy to address that problem," he said.

In my view, the new provisions are insufficient reason to pass a bad bill into law."

Vancouver's Rowe said police can't go after people who assemble ghost guns if it's not a crime to do that.

It doesn't criminalize the folks who would have done this legally anyways," he said.

What this law does is create an offence for police to investigate and charge."

Before that's an option, though, the bill still needs to clear the Senate.

And while Mendicino may have moved mountains in the Commons, it seems there are more hills to climb; despite arriving at the upper Chamber in mid-May, the bill has yet to be scheduled for debate.

Stephanie Levitz is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @StephanieLevitz