Supreme Court to Hear Assault-Style Firearms Ban Challenge

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a legal challenge to the federal government's ban on more than 2,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms, a decision announced on March 19, 2026, that could reshape gun control policy amid ongoing debates over public safety and executive authority.

The ban, enacted by the Liberal government in May 2020 through an order-in-council, prohibited the use, sale, and importation of 1,500 firearms initially deemed suitable only for battlefield conditions rather than hunting or sport shooting. The measure followed the Nova Scotia mass shooting in April 2020, which claimed 22 lives and marked the deadliest such incident in Canadian history. Since then, the prohibited list has expanded by over 1,000 models, drawing criticism for targeting legally owned weapons while illegal firearms drive most gun violence in the country. Government officials maintain that approximately 19,000 non-restricted makes and models remain available for civilian use in hunting and sport activities.

The challenge originates from the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, along with firearm owners, businesses, hunters, and recreational shooters. It...