Hearing about today’s shooting in Canada got me wondering. How strict are Canadian gun laws in regards to US gun laws?
Very. Handguns are really hard to get or own. But rifles and shotguns, esp in the provinces where many need to hunt, are not too hard.
You can start here: http://guncontrol.ca/overview-gun-control-us-canada-global/
I don’t vouch for the site. I found it in a simple Google search.
IIRC, from old data I checked a while ago - you need to take a hunter safety course and then apply for an FAC (Firearms Acquisition Certificate). The police will certify that you have no reason to be denied - not just criminal record problems, but mental problems, currently/recently in divorce proceedings, etc. are possible grounds to be denied. It can take a while.
With an FAC you are allowed to buy/own a rifle or shotgun. IIRC there are refresher courses regularly to maintain the license, at one time I recall reading that everyone in the house needed a course, not sure if that’s still the case.
Also at one time the government required long guns to be registered also, but the current government rescinded that; they are currently in a dispute with Quebec over whether they can delete the data or whether Quebec is entitled to acquire their provincial registration data.
Thanks to the shootings at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal quite few years ago, magazines larger than 5 cartridges are illegal. (In that case, the guy was disturbed but passed all the checks for an FAC, since he had never sought professional help)
Guns must be stored in a locked cabinet when not in use, and/or with trigger locks. Hunting regulations generally prohibit transporting them loaded, or firing within X meters (500 feet?) of a road. Nevertheless, friends who grew up in Rural Canada, especially prairie farms, say it was not advisable to be out playing in the countryside near woods during deer season. Quite often, when children playing with guns cause injuries, the parent(s) are charged with “improper storage of a firearm”. I assume this could result in all guns being forfeit and losing the right to an FAC?
Pistols are a special case. Very few private security guards are allowed to have them; mostly just some armoured car guards and police. As a private individual, IIRC, you must be a member of a gun club and go through a police screening. Then, the gun must still be locked up, transported unloaded, and to transport you must go direct from house to firing range. The average Joe CANNOT get a permit to carry for self defense or such. The authorities do not want that sort of behaviour.
Possession of a concealed weapon is a crime in Canada.
Nevertheless, there is a significant gang and pistol problem in Canada, mainly because of how easy it is to get guns in the USA and smuggle them into Canada. It’s also not unknown for gun collectors (yes, we have them too) to be targeted for their collections, since each gun is worth a tidy bundle on the open (illegal) market.
It’s instructive that the current attack on Parliament Hill was done with either a long gun or a shotgun - without the right underworld connections, I imagine it’s difficult to come by a handgun.
In the debate over the long-gun registry years ago, it was pointed out that 84% of gun crimes in Canada were done with illegally acquired weapons, typically illegal US handguns, so requiring registration of rifles would not accomplish anything. (The other 16% were unpredictable “man snaps - murder suicide” so like Ecole Polytechnique, screening would likely not have prevented legal acquisition of the gun). Another point was that the gun registry would tell police if there were weapons in the hosue - but considering the proliferation of illegal guns in criminal situations, police would still have to approach every situation as if there were weapons - so where’s the gain for a billion dollars spent?
^
The Canadian laws sound very similar to the Australian ones, except we also have mandatory registration of all firearms.
There are a few things we do differently up here. First I’ll talk about how guns are classified along with a few examples. Then we get into how to go about getting a non-restricted firearm (generally rifle, shotgun) and how it is transported and stored. Then I’ll talk about the restricted license (handguns, (Short|Scary) Black Rifles) and how to go about obtaining a restricted firearm, and how to transport and store. Then we talk about the confused situation with magazine limits. This will be a long one so sit back and enjoy the ride.
As a general principle, keep this in mind:
Possession of a firearm is a criminal offense in Canada, subject to mandatory minimum jail time and massive fines.
The Firearms Act provides for a system that allows qualified, licensed individuals to break that law temporarily (the valid term of the license) without criminal penalties.
Holders of Possession and Acquisition Licenses (PALs and R-PALS) are subject to continuous (daily) eligibility checks. Failure on an eligibility check (due to criminal conviction, prohibition order, or license expiry) will result in immediate seizure of both the license and any firearms or ammunition in the holders possession.
There are three (four really, but we’ll get to that) classifications for firearms in Canada:
- Prohibited:
[ul]
[li]Handguns with barrels shorter than 105mm (~4.2")[/li][li]Handguns in calibers on .25 or .32 except where prescribed as restricted (generally Olympic Class competition target pistols).[/li][li]Fully automatic firearms[/li][li]Firearms permanently converted from fully automatic to semiautomatic[/li][li]Firearms prescribed as prohibited (mostly because they look scary – no really, they prohibited many because of the aesthetics).[/li]Snub-nosed revolvers, short compact pistols, AK-47s (even in Semi-auto), certain .50BMG rifles, are a few examples.
[/ul] - Restricted:
[ul]
[li]Handguns that are not prohibited[/li][li]Center fire semiautomatic firearms which are not prohibited with barrel length of less than 470mm (~18-18.5")[/li][li]Any other firearm designed or adapted to fire with an overall length of less than 660mm (~26.4")[/li][li]Any firearm prescribed as restricted (AR-15’s and variants)[/li][/ul] - Non-restricted:
[ul]
[li]Any firearm that is not prescribed as Prohibited or Restricted, typically long guns with full length barrels, e.g. Rifles and Shotguns. [/li][/ul]
The prohibited class of firearms is further broken down into various compartments, some of which can be “grandfathered” for possession. That is, if you owned firearms with specific characteristics before that prohibitions came into effect, you can continue to own and purchase and trade such items (but not currently use!) so long as you keep your license current and maintain continuous ownership of at least one item of that particular classification. You may also pass those items down via inheritance to prescribed relatives. Note that your grandfathered status evaporates the moment you no longer own one of that class of item, or your license lapses.
Other prohibited items have no such protection and are subject to forfeiture and destruction. Continued possession of these is cause for loss of license, fines, and jail time. A number of rifles have been recently reclassified this way by the RCMP firearms lab and are currently designated as prohibited. However the government has stepped in and declared an amnesty allowing for continued possession of these firearms while they try to sort things out. The government is not a big fan of having tens of thousands of its core constituency turned into paperwork criminals overnight.
So you want to own a firearm in Canada. Let’s start with the basics – non-restricted firearms: You must pass a written and practical exam with, IIRC, 80% correct. Typically these tests are administered at the end of a two day course on firearms regulations, safety, and basic handling. (You can challenge the exams but there is legislation in the works that will mandate attendance of the course before the exam). At no time during the course or test will you fire the firearm(s). The exam fee are ~$80 and the course will run about $200.
Having passed said exams you then apply for your Non-Restricted Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL). You must answer all manner of invasive questions and submit references who will be interviewed. Your current and recent intimate partners will be interviewed. You will disclose any recent (within 2-5 years) job loss, break-ups, episodes of depression, and any criminal (misdemeanor and felony) background. Anything not totally clean will cause delays or denial of license. You will be waiting a minimum of 60 days for approval. Six months is common and years is not unheard of. Licenses must be renewed every 5 years. Possession without a license carries jail time, massive fines, and multi-year firearms prohibition.
Assuming you get your license, you may purchase any non-restricted firearm and take it home or to the range immediately. Transportation (where you are in control of the firearm) requires it to be unloaded. Storage (or leaving it unattended during transport) requires that it be unloaded and disabled (either remove the bolt, or put a trigger lock on it). You can store it unloaded in a locked cabinet without a trigger lock or unloaded without trigger lock in a firearms safe stored with its ammo.
Restricted firearms require a Restricted Possession and Acquisition License (R-PAL). This is a separate exam and a more in-depth background check. When you get your license you cannot just go buy a pistol and take it home. You can purchase a restricted firearm but you will not be able to take it home until you fulfill a number of conditions.
You must declare the purpose for owning the firearm, the two legitimate ones being Target Practice or Collection. If you ever want to shoot the thing, you had better choose target practice. You must then demonstrate intent - join a range or club and get proof of membership (this will cost anywhere from $20 (commercial range, with drop in fees) to $100 to much more ($1000s) depending on where you live). You must next obtain an Authorization To Transport [ATT] (either your long term or a short term, again depending on your jurisdiction).
In Ontario you would join a club, attend a number of supervised probationary shoots under supervision, take a transportation course, be vetted by the club executive who will apply on your behalf for a long-term ATT under the auspices of that club. You may be able to obtain a short-term ATT to bring your new gun home but it won’t go to the club until you have a long-term ATT.
In British Columbia, you join the club, go through their intro, and get a card (No ATT course, probationary shoots or club executive nonsense) . Apply for your own ATT and having obtained that, you can get your short-term ATT to bring the gun home.
The ATT is a piece of paper you must possess to have a firearm in your possession away from its place of storage. It prescribes which firearms (generally those registered to you), on what route (reasonably direct between origin and destination), during what times (typically any time for the duration of the Authorization, but some are restricted to certain times), and to which locations you may transport your restricted firearms (long term ATTs are to and from designated shooting ranges, some will have to/from gunsmiths and border crossings as well; short term are for moving house, original possession to get it home from the store or post office, etc.).
So you have the restricted firearm at home and you want to go shoot it, lets pack up everything and head out to the back wood… no wait. You can only shoot restricted firearms at approved shooting ranges. You have your ATT and the gun, but do you have the Registration Certificate? If you are transporting a restricted firearm to the range you must have the firearm (unloaded, disabled by lock, cased and locked again) and the ATT and the registration certificate to be legal. The registration certificate is typically mailed out to you 2-3 weeks after you take possession. Failure to have in your possession both the ATT certificate and the registration certificate is an offense punishable by jail time and massive fine. You will also lose your guns. All of them.
Transportation of restricted firearms is stricter than non-restricted. Restricted firearms must be transported unloaded, in a disabled state (via secure locking device), in a rigid, opaque, locked container. You must have in your possession your ATT and the Registration Certificate for any restricted firearm present. Restricted firearms are stored unloaded, and disabled by a secure locking device in a locked cabinet or unloaded in a firearms safe.
By the way, if you want to hunt with your non-restricteds, that is another course and certification. You won’t be hunting with your restricteds.
So that is the very basics… assuming your head hasn’t exploded over the fiddly bits of paper we need to manage, let’s move on to magazine restrictions or irrationality. Note that the following is for the firearms regulations, and not hunting which has its own upper limits.
First, the simple: Magazines designed for use in handguns are restricted to a maximum capacity of 10 rounds in the designed caliber. (Note that wording - designed for use/designed caliber).
Next: Magazines designed for use in semiautomatic center-fire rifles and shotguns are restricted to a maximum capacity of 5 rounds of the designed caliber.
And: Magazines designed for use in rim-fire rifles are not restricted as to capacity
Finally: Manually operated long guns are not restricted as to capacity.
Obviously there are some conflicting bits and pieces that allow gun owners to skirt the spirit of the law whilst remaining completely legal. The RCMP has issued a number of clarifying statements as to which of these has priority in any given situation. Here’s a couple of examples:
A CZ-75 in 9x19 can take a magazine from a CZ-75 in .40S&W and reliably feed from it. You can fit 12-14 rounds of 9x19 in that magazine. Thus you can exceed the 10 round limit legally because the magazine is intended for .40S&W. Various other pistol families have similar compatabilities.
The BX-25 magazine holds 25 rounds of .22lr ammo and is designed for use in the Ruger 10/22 rifle. Unfortunately it is also compatible with the charger pistol and thus must be pinned to 10 rounds (only 10 rounds are legal in pistols, except see above).
The AIA M10 rifle is a .308Win bolt action rifle based on the Lee-Enfield design. It has a native magazine capacity of 10 rounds. (No limits on bolt action rifles). The magazine isn’t perfect but will seat and feed in a Springfield M1A, a semi-auto center fire rifle. Thus a center fire rifle may have magazines that allow for 10 rounds. (This one is a big one as neither rifle is restricted in Canada)
Likewise, the LAR-15 pistol magazine is identical (except for markings) to a 10 round AR-15 magazine, thus we can shoot 10 rounds out of a pistol magazine in our AR-15 rifles.
The .50 Beowolf cartridge has a small following in Canada. There are .50beo uppers available and 5 round magazines . The magazines are very popular as they will contain 14 rounds of .223 and of course they are designed to fit standard AR lowers.
Oh, and if you do decide to play the game, make sure you have the RCMP memos printed out and in your range bags because even the cops on the street don’t all have a handle on all the regulations regarding which firearms are restricted and non-restricted, what the difference in transportation and storage requirements are for each class, and which magazines are legal.
TL;DR:
The time and money cost to get into the game legally is a bit of a barrier. Shorter guns and guns that were scary looking in mid-late 1990’s are Restricted or Prohibited. Restricted guns are a paperwork nightmare and range toys only – don’t make any paperwork errors.
The laws are poorly written and self-inconsistent, and generally more restrictive than that of the US.
Cheers,
-DF
One major difference is that all of our gun laws (except those relating to hunting) are federal. Our federal government has criminal law power, and the provinces don’t. The gun control laws are part of the federal Criminal Code and the federal Firearms Act.
The report I saw had an eye witness, a truck driver, stating that the weapon was “a double barrelled shotgun”.
Thank you, DF.
…and that is why I have not bothered to own a gun since paperwork became mandatory.
DF’s explanation may sound like NRA paranoia but it is too true. The paperwork is such that you really have to want to own a gun. As a result, it has created a divide between mainly rural hunters and farmers who see a gun as a varmit control tool, vs. city dwellers who see them only from the same paranoid view as law enforcement personnel.
Here’s an RCMP page for the firearms program, including how gun owners may visit Canada with firearms:
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/index-eng.htm
IANAE. I am reading about the laws and regulations.
Dancer_Flight, thanks for all your info and details above!
Here is Part III of the Criminal Code,
PART III - FIREARMS AND OTHER WEAPONS:
Note that:
105mm = 4.133 inches, and
470mm = 18.503 inches