Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handgun ban is blowing up in his face after more Canadians are rushing to buy handguns than ever.
Firearms store owners and employees across Canada say that sales for restricted firearms have skyrocketed after Trudeau announced the handgun freeze in May.
The manager of Markham Ontario’s Solely Outdoors said that firearms sales are “going crazy.”
“It’s very busy. We sold over a couple of hundred handguns in three days,” said Solely.
According to Soley, the number of shoppers looking to acquire a handgun “more than tripled” since the ban was announced.
Moreover, G4C Sports Gun Store employees said the skyrocketing sales are a direct result of Trudeau’s announcement.
“It’s amazing in a sad way,” said an employee.
“Because Mr. Trudeau banned the guns, everybody fears there’s never gonna be a chance for them to own a handgun, so they buy.”
Firearms rights advocate and spokesperson for the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights Tracey Wilson said that handguns are nearly sold out across the country.
“Handguns are almost sold out in Canada as it stands right now,” said Wilson.
“Most stores are posting on social media saying that they’re almost sold out. I’ve got pictures and pictures of empty gun cabinets from stores all across the country.”
The Canadian gun-buying frenzy has even made headlines in the US, where several outlets published headlines with titles like “Gun sales surge in Canada after Trudeau proposes gun ‘freeze.’”
Even in Campbell River, BC, one store owner said he witnessed a “mad rush” of people coming to buy handguns.
“Mr. Trudeau announced it on Monday of last week and we opened Tuesday morning, and there was a mad rush. We could hardly keep up with the traffic,” said Gun Smoke co-owner Kevin McCurrie.
