Firearms in Canada

An Introduction for Foreigners and Domestic Newbies

by Francis Marion

Photo from magazinewraps.com

Gun ownership in Canada is best described (as stated in the video below) as a well kept secret. Contrary to popular belief there is in fact a long held tradition of firearms ownership amongst the general public here that goes back hundreds of years. Indeed, there are millions of gun owners in Canada. In fact no one is sure exactly how many; the government of Canada says about 2 million but estimates from other sources put that number upwards of 4 to 5 million. Why the discrepancy? Government numbers are based on licensing data (not everyone is licensed) which brings me to the primary difference between the US system and ours. In order to own a firearm “legally” here one must be “licensed”. This will seem abhorrent by American standards but the “licensing system” here is not totally unlike the process of buying a firearm in the US and is in some ways better and in other ways worse. How can that be? Well, stand by and I’ll tell you.

First, a little background:

Canada does not have a “Second Amendment” in the sense that the US does. However, our legal heritage has the same roots and our government is still – to some degree – required to recognize certain natural rights that the common law has protected for centuries. Among these are the right to property and self defence, which are curtailed here but still in existence. However, without a proper constitution and with centuries of common law to wade through and with decades of legal tinkering by lawyers and politicians our government has had more leeway to force a variety of schemes down our throats than their counterparts in the US have (although I would say this is becoming as big a battle across the line as it is here).

One of those “harsh by US standards” rules is a licensing system that has been in affect here for decades. In order to own a firearm in Canada one must hold what is referred to as a “Possession and Acquisition” license. In order to obtain this license one must attend and pass a firearms safety training course that is generally taken over the period of a weekend. Once the course is complete the student must then pass a multiple choice and practical exam which covers the safe handling and legal aspect of gun ownership here. Assuming the student passes he or she is then required to submit their test results along with an application to the federal government. A background check is then conducted along with contacting references which the student must provide and so long as everything checks out and there is no criminal or mental health record a Possession and Acquisition license is issued.

Once the individual has his or her license in hand they can now purchase firearms. For the new license holder firearms are split into two different classes: restricted and non-restricted. Restricted firearms can be described thusly: all handguns that are not prohibited, all AR platform rifles and any semi auto centre fire long guns with a barrel length of less than 18.5″. Non restricted firearms are pretty much everything else. There is a third category called “prohibited” but it is not relevant to the topic as the Newbie, except under very specific circumstances, may not acquire this class.

Now, here is what makes our system for acquiring firearms both better and worse than our US counterparts: with reference to the latter restricted firearms here are registered. That means if you own a handgun its serial number is attached to your name and address and must at all times be accompanied by its government issued “certificate”. It may only be held at your home and transported to a range for use there. Only under special circumstances can you obtain a permit to carry it for protection. These permits are rare and are generally reserved for either work purposes or for the political elite to protect themselves.

However, non restricted firearms (and the list of things that fall into this category is huge) require zero paperwork. Zip. They are not registered. If you are licensed to own firearms in Canada when you walk into a gun shop here and purchase a non restricted firearm there is but one requirement: you must have your license on you. The purchase is not ledgered (in fact some would argue that it is illegal to do so), there is no background check performed (your license is your background check) and there is no waiting period.

For a closer look at some of our regulations and the types of firearms we own you can watch this video of Rod Giltaca from Civil Advantage training with Lauren Southern of “The Rebel” at a range in British Columbia. Under that I will follow up with a sampling of what falls under our “non restricted” category.

The non restricted class here covers a huge variety of firearms. All of your standard hunting stuff falls under this category. But there is also a long list of surplus and modern sporting firearms that fit here as well. Here are a few that are popular up north:

CZ 858 and VZ 58

Russian and Chinese SKS

Type 81 – New and in the process to of being imported – demand will exceed supply

Robinson Arms XCR

Kel Tec SU-16

Springfield M1A & Norinco M305

IWI Tavor

HK SL8

Swiss Arms Black Special

Dominion Arms Grizzly

And the list goes on…..

The danger here, of course, is that in Canada majority governments have a tremendous amount of power to do as they please with our legal system. We are currently living with a Liberal majority. The battle we could face over the coming years to retain what we have may end up being the mother of all legal battles. Recently, a private members bill put forward by a retiring Liberal Senator has rattled a lot of chains. Bill S223, if it were to pass, would end almost all private firearms ownership AND most hunting in the country. It is undeniably draconian in its intent and would be impossible to implement but these sorts of things never seem to phase the radical Marxists that infest our political systems. Fortunately, it will likely die in the Senate because, as of the publication of this article, it no longer has a sponsor. However, its mere existence is proof that when it comes to political liberty we are constantly fighting a rear guard battle.

There are many elites and liberals in general in our country who look at the private ownership of firearms as a political embarrassment and barrier. Whether they will admit it or not they know that private firearms ownership is one of several things standing between them and their political agendas. The thinking Canadian public is aware of this as the rate of firearms coming into the country over the past decade has ballooned with the number of restricted firearms held by private individuals more than doubling over the last 6 to 8 years. No one knows for sure how many firearms in the non restricted class there are here but like the US it is likely many times more than the government of Canada is willing to admit. An impromptu look at the SKS rifle alone reveals that one importer (and there are several) estimates he is responsible for importing close to a quarter of a million units. That’s one model of rifle from one importer in a country of just 36 million people. You do the math.

Your is Liberty,

Francis Marion

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Wip
Wip

Keep stacking…..bullets, that is.

Fiatman60
Fiatman60

Well done Francis…… excellent post. As a holder of a POL, I’m constantly amazed at the number of stakeholder’s (timber companies, Regional districts [government]) who are now demanding that you cannot carry your firearm’s onto “their” property which is vast, in British Columbia.

James the Wanderer

Thank you for this article, which is effectively a public service. As the Marxists and socialists gain ground in the US, moving north is becoming a distinct temptation … but not for the same reasons the Liberals might (such as a Trump presidency).

card802
card802

Francis,

What do you think Trudeau and the growing liberal party are going to about firearms going forward?

Hard to believe they will tolerate any tradition, heritage or natural rights they don’t agree with.

Francis Marion

@ Fiat,

Don’t know if you are aware but one of the benefits to C-42 that the CPC passed before losing the election was that your POL is now a PAL. If you hold a POL you can now purchase with it. The POL is technically extinct.

@ card802

I don’t know. The last time the Liberals tinkered with our gun laws they went from a Majority to a junk status party barely in front of the Greens. I think they are probably aware of the role their tinkering played in that process and are treading lightly so far. Hopefully they continue to do so.

ragman
ragman

Good article. Many states “allow” private sales. You give your Benjamins to the dude, he/she gives you your new gun in return. All federal gun laws are unconstitutional. Many politicians(Bolsheviks) are fundamentally challenged by the Second Amendment. If they cant understand what”…shall not be infringed” means they shouldn’t be permitted to run for dogcatcher, let alone President.

Didius Julianus
Didius Julianus

Licensing is similar to Canada in New Zealand. A wide range of guns can be bought and sold between license holders without any further “tracking”. Seems excellent to me! Also, the hunting culture is very healthy in New Zealand as well as the sport shooting culture. I am not exaggerating, I know of at least four shooting ranges within 5 miles or so of me, there are probably more as I know of these through going by them, not though exhaustive looking. The gun violence rate is also extremely low. Three or four years ago a man who owned a convenience store in Auckland shot and killed a robber in self defense. He was acquitted during trial as his actions were found to be reasonable given the situation.

overthecliff

Didius gun violence in the USA is rare . There is a lot of gun the violence in Bantusans. To eliminate confusion USA means United States of America not Union of South Africa.

Glad to see that Kiwis have jury nullification.

Rise Up

At the very beginning she shoots either a Ruger Mini-14 or Mini-30. Nice. I favor the Mini-14 over an AR-15.

But that “gansta” shooting with the handgun sideways is ridiculous. No instructor would teach that method. Then he shoots in the same lane as her and one of his shells ejects into her face. He’s an idiot.

Francis Marion

Rise Up,

I’m pretty sure it was an AR followed by a Chinese Type 97 but I’d have to go back and watch it again to be sure. Good memory but sorta short and I’d already watched it twice before I posted it so I’m sorta done with it. You can let me know if I’m mistaken. I often am.

The “gangsta” shooting style, while definitely not my thing, is typical of newbies who want to try handguns. I’ve had a few people out over the years (not something I’m big on doing because I am not a patient teacher) and everyone wants to try it for some reason. It’s harmless and if it puts a smile on their face who cares. As for the lane issue – I’m starting to learn that shooting etiquette is different everywhere.I always assumed that clubs in the US were huge and had an executive, various boards, departments etc just like ours. I have been educated otherwise recently. You can correct me if my education is incorrect. Anyways – I don’t shoot at that range but like all of them here they have memberships that are in the thousands. My club is out of the way and remote compared to the one in the video. It has over 2000 members. The one in the video has so many they have capped their membership (which is one of the reasons I won’t shoot there). All this means is that we are used to sharing lanes when we have to. At some of the clubs here not only do you share when needed but you wait in line for hours for the opportunity to use one at all. All of this is because one of the requirements for owning restricted firearms is that we belong to a club. We can claim collector status but it gives the RCMP access to our homes this is unreasonable if we do while denying us the ability to take them to the range to actually shoot them.

We are actually at the stage in the southern portion of BC where we need to petition the gov’t to release Crown land into the private domain for purposes such as this. Mind you, I’m not holding my breath that it will happen any time soon.

ottomatik
ottomatik

FM- Thanks, I have always wondered what specifically the system was like. Lots of testing to get your license. Our current President would have had an executive field day with that.
Further your “restricted class” sounds like our NFA(National Firearms Act)class; silencers, sawed off shotguns, machine guns, and destructive devices. Is that so? Can you buy machine guns? You can in many states here by going through about the same process as you described. Although we can shoot anywhere in our states with them and need notify ATF only if traveling out of state with them.

None of this applys to title 1 firearms of any sort( non-nfa) which are basically any non-machine gun or sliencer. Once purchased and the Criminal background check passed they are supposed to destroy the records within 6 months, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha. Further in many states you can freely trade,sell, give, without any checks (ID only, age verification). Further its still legal for virtually anyone to build a personal firearm without serial number as long as you dont sell. 1000’s of 80% complete AR recievers are sold each year, and then completed at home with a drill and a parts kit.

Anyway thanks again.

Francis Marion

Didius,

NZ sounds very similar to our system. Was thinking of your chap who shot the burglar – we now have a type of insurance you can buy here in case you are ever up against these types of charges or anything else related to a firearms offence. It’s 95 bucks CAD a year and covers your legal costs, lost wages etc up to about 500K per year if my memory serves me. Apparently justice is obtainable here – it’s just expensive is all.

@ Ottomatic,

Our c

Francis Marion

Didius,

NZ sounds very similar to our system. Was thinking of your chap who shot the burglar – we now have a type of insurance you can buy here in case you are ever up against these types of charges or anything else related to a firearms offence. It’s 95 bucks CAD a year and covers your legal costs, lost wages etc up to about 500K per year if my memory serves me. Apparently justice is obtainable here – it’s just expensive is all.

@ Ottomatic,

“Once purchased and the Criminal background check passed they are supposed to destroy the records within 6 months, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha”

Ya. I had the same response when I started reading about your regulations.

US regs are tough to follow from our standpoint. They are so different from one jurisdiction to the next they are difficult to wrap your head around. This is a good thing mind you as under a decentralized system there are fewer opportunities for abuse. Our system is mandated federally. The rules are consistent across the country and easy to follow but the potential for abuse is huge.

Our classification system is a little different. Full autos fall under the prohibited class and still exist but can only be traded amongst those who were ‘grandfathered’ into ownership before the law was passed banning them. Once these grandfathered owners die they will be destroyed. Silencers are a big no no here and are considered a prohibited ‘device’ – owning one will get you a visit to the local pen.

As far as short shotguns (and other long guns that are not centre fire semi auto) are concerned the rules are a little strange. Shottys with barrels over 18.5″ may not be shortened to less than said length and are considered non restricted. However, a manufacturer may make them with a shorter barrel (say 12 inches) so long as the over all length of the firearm is greater than 26″. Ie; the barrel on the Grizzly pictured above is about 10″ but the firearms is considered non restricted. If it had come from the factory with a 20″ barrel and had been cut to that length it would then be considered a prohibited firearm. Clear as mud?

Warren
Warren

If the gun violence of Philadelphia, DC, Detroit and LA are taken out of the stats the US has one of the lowest gun violence rates in the world.

Rise Up

Francis Marion says: Rise Up, I’m pretty sure it was an AR followed by a Chinese Type 97 but I’d have to go back and watch it again to be sure. Good memory but sorta short and I’d already watched it twice before I posted it so I’m sorta done with it. You can let me know if I’m mistaken. I often am.
———————————–
Actually it looks like a Socom 16…freeze the video at the 18 sec mark and you’ll see the distinctive safety just forward of the trigger guard (Ruger Mini-14 and 30 are the same).

So we’re both wrong, I think.

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