Canada Post refusing to collect banned guns for Ottawa's buyback program

Ottawa's plan is to have owners of banned guns place the unloaded and secured weapons in government-issued boxes and then send them back to the government to be destroyed.

Government sources say they're puzzled by Canada Post's refusal to receive the weapons, since the corporation already delivers guns that are sold online.

The ban hit 1,500 types of weapons, including the AR-15, which has been used in a number of mass shootings in the United States, and the Ruger Mini-14, which was used to kill 14 women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989.

The government has promised to carry out the buyback in two phases, starting with weapons and parts still in the hands of businesses and then proceeding to guns owned by individuals.

Four provinces — New Brunswick, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba — urged Ottawa to "halt plans to use scarce RCMP and municipal police resources" to "confiscate" legally acquired firearms.

Pierre Pharand, co-owner of a shooting centre in L'Ange Gardien near Ottawa, denounced what he called the "confiscation" of legally-owned firearms.