The Independent

Gun owners in Lambton County who plan to turn in now-banned assault-style firearms in a federal buy back program may have a hard time finding a police department which will take them.

Both police agencies in Lambton – the OPP and the Sarnia Police Service – say they will not be part of the federal buy-back program.

The federal government has banned more than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style firearms since May 2020. An online portal to declare the weapons and be eligible for federal compensation opened Jan. 17. The federal government says over 22,000 guns were declared across the country in the first week of the program.

Declaring the guns is only part of the program; the weapons either have to be decommissioned or turned over to a police department involved in the program. And it is not easy to find a police station to take them in.

The OPP decided in September its detachments – which serve about 25 per cent of the population of Ontario – will not be involved in the buy-back program. And one by one, local municipal departments in southwestern Ontario, including Sarnia, London and Windsor, also declared they would not be involved.

“As with many other police services, the Sarnia Police Service is not participating in this program and will not be offering any collection appointments,” officials wrote in a news release. 

“The SPS remains steadfast in our commitment to public safety, holding violent offenders accountable, and assisting victims of crime within our community.  We will continue to work with our partner agencies and appropriate levels of government toward those shared objectives.” 

Ontario’s Solicitor General recently issued a statement backing police departments who chose not to be part of the program, saying they don’t have the time or resources for the project. Michael Kerzner added “the federal government can leverage third party service providers of the RCMP to administer this federal program.”

Gun owners have until March 31 to be part of the federal buy-back program. But federal officials say even if gun owners don’t register their now illegal weapons, they must safely dispose of the guns or permanently deactivate the assault-style firearms before the end of October or risk criminal charges.