A federal buyback of assault-style firearms from individual owners announced earlier this month prompted misleading social media posts from American influencers saying it will soon become “criminal” to own a gun in Canada.

The posts claim all Canadians are being forced to hand over their guns, but in fact many guns are not on the list of federally prohibited weapons. Many firearms used for sport and hunting remain legal, although owners must have a licence to own them.

THE CLAIM

“Canada is forcing all Canadians to hand in their guns,” reads a Sept. 28 post from the U.S. politics-focused account @WallStreetMav on the X platform , formerly Twitter. “They have one year to get compensation by handing in their guns. Starting in October 2026 it will become criminal to own a gun.”

The post,

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