OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to hear arguments Monday and Tuesday over the legality of Ottawa’s 2020 firearms ban, giving opponents another opportunity to challenge regulations upheld by two lower courts.

The case concerns the federal cabinet’s authority to prohibit firearms and how it must weigh their use for hunting and sport against public safety, according to reporting by Jim Bronskill of The Canadian Press, published by CityNews.

In May 2020, the government prohibited the use, sale and importation of 1,500 firearm models and variants, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14. The list has since expanded to more than 2,500 varieties of what the government calls assault-style firearms.

The Federal Court dismissed a challenge to the ban in October 2023. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld that ruling in April 2025, calling the lower court’s reasons “thorough and persuasive.”

At issue is a legal provision preventing the Governor in Council — effectively the federal cabinet — from prohibiting a firearm through regulations if it considers that firearm reasonable for hunting or sporting purposes in Canada.

Writing for a unanimous appeal panel, Chief Justice Yves de Montigny said the government could consider public safety when making that assessment, including a firearm’s lethality and its potential use in mass shootings.

In their Supreme Court submission, federal lawyers argue that cabinet exercised its discretion reasonably in response to serious safety concerns. They say thousands of alternative firearms remain legally available for hunting and sport.

A group of appellants that includes the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights argues that neither lower court considered whether the prohibited firearms were actually used for hunting or sport shooting. Their submission says Parliament preserved those activities as legitimate uses of firearms and questions whether the consequences imposed on lawful owners were authorized by law.

An amnesty that had been due to end Oct. 30 has been extended until 90 days after the Supreme Court delivers its decision. Before the extension, the government had said affected firearms would have to be disposed of or deactivated by that deadline.

Sources