Calgary gun shop owner challenging federal rifle ban

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – The owner of a Calgary gun shop has joined the fight against the Liberal government’s new ban on hundreds of firearms.

J.R. Cox of The Shooting Edge, along with another business owner, has launched a constitutional challenge in Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench.

Cox explained why they’re challenging the federal law in a provincial court.

“Most laws, while they may be federal in nature, they’re actually administered by the provinces and since I would be charged and tried, if I broke these rules, in a provincial court, we are going to try and take our challenge through the provincial court system.”

RELATED: Firearm-rights group challenges Liberal assault-style gun ban in Federal Court

He said the order in council used to suddenly make 1,500 assault-style rifles illegal is hurting his business.

Cox said the ban includes many firearms used by sport shooters and hunters, which he sells. He added there’s another issue with a ban on guns that generate a large amount of energy.

“There’s a number of firearms that we sell, just regular hunting rifles because they’re for larger game. Now, they produce over 10,000 Jules so they’re banned. That’s another chunk of my business.”

He also argued the order in council gives too much power to the RCMP to decide which guns are allowed and which are not.

Cox’s provincial challenge comes on the heels of another constitutional challenge from the Canadian Coalition of Firearms Rights.

The group claims the federal government is banning many rifles, saying they’re being used on the “battlefield”.

However, they say those firearms are used primarily for hunting and sport.