Proposed ban has sparked `panic' among buyers, firearms dealers say

A proposed federal law targeting handguns has unleashed a pistol buying spree, say operators of Calgary firearms shops.

This week's announcement by the Liberal government of an indefinite freeze on the sale, importation and transfer of handguns has led to rapidly depleting stocks of the weapons.

“We have sold out of pretty much every handgun we have in two days — we had three revolvers left as of yesterday,” said Cindy Leedahl, an employee at Proline Shooters on 9th Avenue S.E.

Staff had to scour the shop's storage area to find stock to offer eager buyers.

Many of those customers were planning on buying a handgun at some point but were triggered into making the purchase now due to the proposed legislation capping the number of legally owned pistols in Canada, said Leedahl.

“They feel their rights are being stripped; there's a lot of angry people.”

While the stepped-up sales are a boon for now, they could be the last handguns the store sells, she said.

“Most of the distributors are out (of supply),” she said, adding if passed, the legislation will put a permanent dent in business.

“It accomplishes absolutely nothing except put people out of business; it'll effectively put a whole bunch of people out of work.”

Last month, the owner of another Calgary gun shop said legislation meant to increase background checks and ban what Ottawa deems a wide range of assault-style firearms led to a sudden hike in sales.

Firearms dealers in other provinces are reporting brisk sales of handguns ahead of the expected legislation, which was debated Friday in the House of Commons.

James Bachynsky said none of it is surprising and has been seen before during previous tightening of gun control measures, particularly in the 1990s.

“(Customers) are reacting as quickly as they can. It's certifiably a panic,” said Bachynsky, president of the Calgary Shooting Centre.

“It's a race against time to get those shipments in and get them out the door.”

The period before the legislation becomes law, he said, “is giving us an opportunity to sell off inventory and it is being sold off.”

Those sales are spiking despite lingering fears the new legislation is merely a precursor to handgun confiscation by Ottawa, he said.

Bill C-21 also promises to force assault-style weapon owners to sell them back to the government through a mandatory buyback program by the end of the year.

“People are taking a chance, they're not happy and they're saying, `I need to get a handgun, what have you got?'” said Bachynsky.

He agreed with Leedahl that the immediate sales spike will be cold comfort for a business that'll eventually be hobbled.

“It's all short-term gain for longterm pain,” he said, adding the shooting range side of their business will also gradually dwindle.

The federal government could have approached the handgun freeze differently by first banning imports of the weapons, said Bachynsky.

And he said the legislation's ban on transferring handguns will ultimately make them worthless, leading their owners to neglect securing them, making them more vulnerable to theft.

“People will be careless, they won't care about keeping them safe,” said Bachynsky.