NAWL Applauds Coming Into Force of New Gun Control Measures Addressing Intimate Partner Violence

Women’s and children’s lives remain at stake until regulations are in place to make new domestic violence provisions operable

The National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) welcomes the coming into force of important new measures to protect women and children from domestic gun violence, announced by the federal government today.

Effective April 4, 2025, if a Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) has reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual who holds a firearms licence may have engaged in an act of domestic violence or stalking, they must revoke the licence within 24 hours. Additionally, individuals who are convicted of an offence in which violence was used, threatened or attempted against their intimate partner or any member of their family will be refused a firearms licence.

The Government also announced that other key measures in Bill C-21, an Act to Amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms) adopted in December 2023, will come into force on April 4^th. These measures involve the refusal or revocation of a firearms licence if an individual is subject to a “protection order”. However, these provisions will remain inoperable until the Government adopts regulations to define “protection order”.

“NAWL is pleased to learn that the provision ensuring that firearms licences are revoked within 24 hours when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that someone may have engaged in domestic violence or stalking will be coming into force on April 4^th, 2025,” said Suzanne Zaccour, Director of Legal Affairs. “This long-overdue safeguard is essential in preventing domestic gun violence,” Zaccour underscored.

“While we welcome this significant progress, more work remains to be done to fully implement all of the new measures with respect to improved protections for women and children contained in Bill C-21. The provision requiring the automatic suspension of licences for individuals who are subject to a protection order will remain inoperable until regulations defining what constitutes a protection order are adopted.

NAWL is deeply concerned that the upcoming federal election could cause delays – or, worse, inaction – in adopting the necessary regulations to render these life-saving domestic violence provisions operable.

“Today, we are urging the Government of Canada to table regulations defining what constitutes a protection order for the purposes of these domestic violence provisions, as soon as possible. We also call on all political parties to prioritize this critical issue in their campaign platforms, by committing to immediately table the remaining regulations necessary for all provisions to become fully operable. The alarming rise in femicides and familicides in Canada underscores the urgent need for these protections”, Zaccour said.