NTI to challenge gun ban after Ottawa rejects prolonged Inuit exemption
Inuit need rapid-reload rifles for polar bear protection and big-prey hunting, says NTI vice-president Adamie Itorcheak
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is looking at options on how to proceed after the federal government rejected its request for a prolonged amnesty period for Inuit who own newly-banned rifles. (File photo)
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. will continue exploring how to keep some newly banned guns in the hands of hunters, after the federal government rejected a call to prolong an amnesty period for turning these weapons in.
“I’m sure this will be a continuing file to be looked at by the board,” Adamie Itorcheak, vice-president of NTI, said in an interview about his organization’s next steps.
More than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style weapons are banned under a federal law passed by the Liberal government in May 2020, saying these guns are “designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible” and are not appropriate for sport shooting or hunting.
The law includes an amnesty period for people to turn in their guns as part of a government buyback program. That period ends Oct. 30.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. issued a public call on March 26 for the federal government to prolong the amnesty period by five years for Inuit and to use the time to find “evidence-based” alternatives for Inuit to continue to hunt for sustenance and protect themselves from polar bears while on the land.
The federal government rejected that request.
Of particular concern is the Ruger Mini-14, a newly banned semi-automatic rifle that can fire 40 rounds per minute and used regularly by hunters, said Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. spokesperson Hannah Uniuqsaraq in an email.
“It is the most popular,” she said.
People need to understand “the pressures and the stressors” of living in the North, Itorcheak said, pointing to unique circumstances in Arctic day-to-day life.
Inuit need to be able to protect themselves when encountering large predators like polar bears and grizzlies, but also fast predators like wolves, Itorcheak said. Rapid-reload firearms are also useful in big-game hunting like whales and walrus.
“You need to be able to put it down quickly so that you don’t let it suffer,” he said.
Itorcheak, 60, started hunting when he was 16 years old. He is also former treasurer-secretary for the Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Association in Iqaluit.
The decision about how to proceed sits with NTI’s board of directors, Itorcheak said. The organization could, for example, reach out to Lori Idlout, the newly minted Liberal MP for Nunavut, for help.
“That avenue will be looked at,” he said.
Itorcheak said he would not discuss the possibility of legal action, saying that would be the board’s decision.
Unfortuneately at this late stage of the game, the Liberals are going to hold the course on their attacks on sport shooting and hunting AND Indigenous sustenance hunting! The time to reject these restrictions was long before they became law! Trying to carve out a race based exemption is not only ethicaly wrong but also exactly the type of racial division the Liberals use to divide opposition and get their way! Attempting such a carve out is insulting to the millions of canadian gun owners who have been opposing this bill since 2020. The best course of action now is to contact lobby groups such as CCFR and support them in their supreme Court of Canada challenge to the so called assault styled gun ban! If succesful its possible the entire gun ban falls and we all regain the use of our sporting rifles for their intended purpose. Going it alone simply plays into the hands of the Liberals.
Kindest regards.
Total lie mini 14 can only shoot 40 rounds a minute with a huge clip.you are only allowed 5 shot clips so in canada you would have to pull the trigger 5 times drop out the clip put another one in fire 5 more changing clips and firing 8 time .It is not an automatic weapon
Magazine, not clip.
Your statement has many errors. How exactly could they oppose this before it became law? The liberals didn’t use proper parliamentary procedure. You say they are to late but then urge them to support ccfr’s fight. Is it to late to fight or not? I agree with the rest of what you said and I support the ccfr. I also don’t agree with the race card being used.
Inuit organizations have been lobbying for hunter rights exemption for several years now. Not just now.
ABSOLUTELY insulting the liberal controlled media outlets call these guns assault rifles, unless when the government is buying them and you all call them carbines. All in your wording to sell your narrative.
100% correct. As usual the liberals are going after Law abiding citizens and paving the way for illigal guns and criminals. Sicking the amount of ediocy in the liberal government.
I am a firearms owner and hate what’s happening. I have to say I hope there are not two ownership standards because there are no polar bear where I live. The SKS is also in danger of being made illegal. They need to stop adding to the list. They are making us all criminals.
Time to say goodbye to the Lie-to-all party in Canuckistan. Get rid of them all. And enforce the “no crossing the floor ” rule because it allows for representatives to betray the voters they are elected to SERVE, NOT RULE OVER!
Thanks
An independent Alberta coming to you later in 2026. We will have unalienable rights to self defence, property rights . Criminals will be the focus of the Alberta government and not well armed and law abiding citizens!
Pretty late to the game NTI. Maybe you should have defended the rights of your members 5 years ago when they announced the program.
See how the govt.peddals wrong info. On how many rounds per minute from every carbine like they’re machine guns.All b.s. go back and take a look at the guns shown at anti gun rally in canada .All illegal and have been for 70 years
non natives need these firearms as well. There’s black bears and grizzly bears in the rest of the country
The way they write this article is telli g of the bias in all media. First calling any gun an assault rifle is just buying into inaccurate language. There’s no such thing as an assault rifle. There are single shot (bolt, break barrel or lever action), there are semi automatics (which are most rifles) and they have a limited magazine capacity in Canada, and then there are automatic rifles and pistols which are already highly illegal.
Then the writer goes on to say that the most widely purchased Rancher’s rifle, the Mini-14, is a so called assault rifle that “can fire 40 rounds per minute” if you wanted to put 40 rounds down the barrel of a Ruger Mini-14 you would have to pull the trigger 5 times, eject the magazine, put in another magazine and pull the trigger 5 times again, eject the magazine, put in another pull the trigger 5 more times, that’s 15 shots and probably 2 minutes so far, then eject, put in a new one, pull trigger 5 times… Man I’m getting tired writing. Who even owns the 16 magazines you would need to get to the 40 shots per minute. Assuming you don’t have a jam.
There’s a reason why normal everyday people see the “gun ban” for what it is and why we are also losing trust in the media (or AI) writing these articles.
Please do better. That’s all anyone wants.
If you had a 40 round clip, you could fire that many, but that would make it illegal even before the ban. So the problem they want to solve, had already been resolved. This is the liberal way, tackle issues that have already been resolved so you dont have to look at the real issues.
Magazine, not clip.
I totally agree if you want something banned do research so you don’t sound handicapped mentally while discussing what it is you would like banned
Pistols are restricted. Not illegal
I forgot a step. After you push the magazine release lever, pull out the magazine and replace it with the next one you still have to charge it by pulling back on the charging handle. You would be 15 minutes older and $60 poorer before you got 40 rounds off.
As the old saying goes “guns dont kill people, people kill pepple”
Maybe liberals can do a better job protecting the border from illegal guns coming in from USA instead of going after law abiding indigenoud and non-indigemous canadians?
The government is brain dead
It is NOT guns that is the problem
It is the government not being able to understand and knowing how to fix a problem
Guns are the item of choice for criminals
Criminals are the problem
They need to be locked up for life or given a 5 foot plot
Let them choose what they want
It is the justice system that lacks clout
Then you have another bigger problem that this government does not comprehend.
If you do not know what is wrong
Please hang up your shingle as you are definitely not the person to speak up
And definitely you are definitely working in the wrong place and have got the wrong God controlling you.
Here is maybe something you can understand
In your own personal house which you may comfortable serve 5 or 6 people
You can use all the facilities comfortably,
Meaning you can use the washroom, the kitchen and sleep in your bed and use your favorite chair to sit in.
But what happens when this mentally incompetent liberal government forces you to accommodate 100 people to live in your house ? Please wake up this concerns you and everyone in Canada.
Ask yourself do you think you could use the bathroom daily or may be use the kitchen and ask yourself when will you get to use your own bed or be able to sit in your most comfortable chair
Have you got the brains to understand what is and has been happening
While Carney gives and has given away billions to out of the country NOT fixing our infrastructure.
LIKE THE MEDICAL SYSTEM !
Oh he may drop a few pennies here and there for medical, but he is killing torturing every Canadian that needs medical help except himself
According to ChatGPT, an AR15 has never killed anyone in Canada. Once again, the Liberals have created a problem that only they can solve.
1. Don’t trust ChatGPT.
2. Look up Cory Vallee, convicted of a 2009 murder.
3. Look up Louise Russo, who ended up in a wheelchair because the shooter using an AR-15 missed his target and instead hit her in the spine.
4. Realize you stated misinformation.
I think Walter meant to say legally owned AR 15.
Both your examples are gang related shootings and illegally owned firearms. So this law would have absolutely no impact on either crime. Tougher laws dealing with gang violence however would.
I don’t know why the article says The federal government rejected NTI request.
That’s false in formation.
Thank you NTI. This new law doesn’t work here for guns like the Mini-14.
I was told Lori crossing to the Liberals was going to prevent this kind of nonsense. Where is she hiding?
I don’t know what the government are thinking anyway. Most of the city massacres seem to be with blades. What’s next? No steak knives?
Funny enough they asked Gary that question in the case of an assault style hammer and he blamed the hammer and the person, so soon enough everything will be banned including vehicles, tools, knifes, forks, we will have to eat with our own hands
You can’t ban Culture.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304572715_Do_Triggers_Pull_Fingers_A_Look_at_the_Criminal_Misuse_of_Guns_in_Canada
There is a simple way of determining if rapid fire rifles are needed for defense against bears, which is the claim. Every bear kill in Nunavut is documented, whether sport hunt, defensive shooting, or nuisance bear shooting. Every bear attack is recorded somewhere. So, if the claim is true, it should be very easy to list those cases where a rapid fire semiauto was successfully used in a defensive situation.