Justice Minister Tim McLeod says the province isn’t breaking federal law, and is instead utilizing it to exempt gun owners who are helping the government out by storing the guns. (Image Credit: Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

By Lisa Schick, CJME News Staff

GUN BUYBACK

Sask. provides new option for owners to keep guns amid federal buyback

Mar 11, 2026 | 9:00 PM

On Wednesday afternoon, The Saskatchewan Firearms Amendment Act was passed, including an amendment added just the night before, allowing owners to keep their guns under new conditions.

The act already required the federal government to provide fair market value, pre-federal buyback, to owners for their guns. The Saskatchewan Firearms Office is being utilized to issue evaluations.

The new amendment, added on Tuesday night, also allows for exemption certificates.

According to Justice Minister Tim McLeod, these certificates would be provided through an application process to law-abiding gun owners whose property is caught up in the new federal buyback. It would deem them as agents for the government, and would allow them to possess and store the guns until they’re given fair value for the guns through the federal buyback.

He pointed to section 117.08 of the Criminal Code. The section says no person is guilty of a criminal offence or under the Firearms Act for possessing one of the applicable guns as long as they’re acting “on behalf of, and under the authority of” a provincial or federal government.

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“Most of these individuals are not the criminals that we’re concerned about; they are already safely and securely storing their firearms, so we’ll exempt them from prosecution for doing that,” said McLeod.

Certificates will only be available to people with a valid PAL or RPAL who are in good standing, are pursuing compensation from the federal government, and follow all storage laws. Owners would not be able to use those guns while they’re storing them under the exemption certificates, and they will only be valid within Saskatchewan.

McLeod said the province isn’t breaking federal law with this.

“We’re simply utilizing it for its intended purpose,” he said.

Premier Scott Moe said this is the provincial government legislating its way through flawed federal legislation.

He said these gun owners would be doing the province and the federal government a favour.

“We don’t have to go out and find a facility, or the federal government doesn’t have go out and find a facility to store those guns. And our hope would be that they’d store them for a period of time, and then ultimately, this law would be backed up and be pulled,” said Moe.

The Premier said he’s not worried about pushback from the federal government.

“My concern is that Saskatchewan residents, I think, broadly support it,” he explained.

Neither Moe nor McLeod felt the province was getting onto a slippery slope of circumventing federal law.

Moe said his government would only be looking to circumvent federal law if that law is wrong.

McLeod said this just highlights that the federal plan was flawed from the outset.

“All the ministries in the Saskatchewan government are always primarily concerned with protecting the rights and interests of Saskatchewan residents, and so we will continue to do whatever we’re able to do within the bounds of the law to make sure that we’re protecting the people of Saskatchewan and their interests, and in this case, their personal property,” said McLeod.