The reaction of the Conservative party, which for months had been fighting the amendment to the gun law, was swift, with its leader, Pierre Poilievre, defining the change as a "humiliation" for Trudeau.
Conservatives and I forced Justin Trudeau into a temporary and humiliating retreat today. Trudeau desperately wanted to ban hunting rifles, and he sent Liberal MPs to take a swipe at legal licensed gun owners by banning their hunting rifles. He was asked specifically if that was his goal, and he said yes, and I'm going to quote him, this was in December, "there are some guns, yes, that we're going to have to take away from people that are used for hunting." That's his agenda. That's why today's humiliating step backwards, which we forced Trudeau to take, is a temporary pause in his plans to ban hunting rifles. And he's backing off because he's been found out.
Poilievre also added that if the Liberals regained a majority in parliament they would undoubtedly try again for a gun ban that includes hunting rifles.
On numerous occasions Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the government's aim is to remove and ban all assault weapons that are designed to kill as many people as possible.
NDP leader Jagmeet Sighn also reacted, but less viscerally than the Conservative leader.
I think it's a positive step that the amendment has been withdrawn. But I want to be very clear on this issue, we believe in keeping our communities safe, and our communities have been seriously impacted by gun violence and we want to see laws that help keep that safe pass. What we've seen is that, for liberals, as well as conservatives, this is a political game. They want to create division and ride the wave. We don't believe in waves, we believe in keeping people safe, but with good laws that help achieve that goal.
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