A government bill that has had the extreme end of the gun-owning community in a furore since last March has been put on ice until September.

In a slew of deals between the Liberals and opposition parties to adjourn for the summer early on Wednesday, government and NDP MPs voted together to adopt an amended version of the bill after a brief round of committee witness hearings.

But the legislation, Bill C-71, will languish for the next 12 weeks after the House agreed that its final stage, third reading, will take place on Sept. 17.

The final House decisions on the legislation took place in a controversial atmosphere after House Speaker Geoff Regan made a “prima facie” finding that the RCMP was in contempt of Parliament for wording it used in advice to gun shops and firearm owners early in the bill’s Commons stages.

After a complaint last month from Alberta Conservative MP Glen Motz, Regan agreed with Motz that the RCMP was likely contempt of Parliament for using language that assumed the bill will dbe passed into law – even though no final vote had yet occurred in either the Commons or the Senate.

Regan’s use of the term “prima facie” means the RCMP will be found in contempt of Parliament unless it can rebut the allegations successfully. Committee hearings to investigate the Mountie actions and come back with a recommendation to the House will also wait until September.

RCMP web posts for gun owners and a bulletin to firearm businesses were intended as advice on what steps the firearm owners and retailers would have to take after the bill takes effect and – among other measures – the new law adds nearly 20 imported rifles imported from Switzerland and Czechoslovakia to the list of prohibited firearms in Canada.

As the firearms community awaits renewal of debate over the bill in the fall, a key deadline for thousands of owners of the CZ-858 and Swiss Arms semi-automatic rifles still stands.

Even if the legislation does not pass through the House, and then the Senate, after the summer recess, only those who legally owned the rifles up to June 30 will be allowed to continue to own the guns legally after the new law takes effect.

The government rejected a Conservative amendment that would have replaced the June 30 deadline with a date set by cabinet after the legislation passes.

RCMP and Justice Department lawyers testifying at the Public Safety and National Security committee told the committee delaying the deadline to some point after the bill becomes law would create a “larger pool” of owners who would be able to legally keep the rifles under the grandfathering clause.