Bringing a gun through Canada - possible?

[jamz]

This summer or next summer I will be driving from my house in ME to a family house in Ely, MN. All close routes go through Canada at some point, and the most direct way for me might be to have almost the entire journey be in Canda (above all the Great Lakes.)

Needless to say, I've become accustomed to having a gun on or about me when I travel, especially when I'll be travelling possible long distance, isolated roads. I am assuming that there is basically no way to bring a long gun or handgun through Canada even though the final destination will be back in the US, but I'm asking anyway if anyone on THR has experience with this. Is it possible to claim it at border control and claim it out at exit control? (Note: No way in h3ll will I make any attempt to bring one in and out illegally or hidden).

Thanks,

James

 

[The Drew]

Doubtful... Canada doesn't take well to people trying to bring in handguns... You'd be better off just driving through the good old USA...

 

[jamz]

Hmm, I may have answered my own question here:

http://www.cfc-cafc.gc.ca/info_for-renseignement/factsheets/visitin_e.asp

There may yet be hope, as well as a lot of paperwork!

 

[CNYCacher]

If you are really lucky, you will only lose your gun.
Most likely you will go to prison.

What a lot of people don't think about when crossing the border is that when you go through customs, you are already well across the border. It's not like you are standing on the US side asking the canadian guys if it's okay to bring your gun in. By the time you are talking to Canadian customs, you have ALREADY brought the gun into the country! You've already broken the law, and you are going down.

 

[jamz]

You misunderstand, I am asking if there is a way to do it legally. It appears that there is.

-James

 

[another okie]

There was an article in the IPSC journal about a guy who lives in the North who goes to matches in Canada regularly. He said it was basically just a matter of putting up with large quantities of paperwork and proving you were in fact going to a match. (He also mentioned that U.S. Customs hassled him when he returned and tried to charge him duty to import the pistol back into the U.S.)

Rifles are a little easier, but do require paperwork as well.

All this paperwork has to be done well in advance - I mean months and months in advance. You can't just show up and do it.

 

[Agrippa]

I don't think the hassle of paperwork and potential problems is worth it. I flew out to Boise, ID to drive back to Maine with a friend getting out of the service. We took U.S. routes, as we were loaded down with his entire collection.

 

[Glenn Kelley]

paperwork

It will take some paperwork and about50.00 IIRC.You will also need BATF paper to legally take it back into the US I believe.The Canadian paper is the same as a hunter would have to get.Flintlocks are exempt both ways.

Glenn

 

[musher]

Fifty bucks to register it for the year. Long guns (rifles/shotguns) only and no semi-auto centerfire rifles (not sure about semi shotguns) No handguns.

Don't tell them it's for protection against people. If they ask why you have it, target practice or protection against bears are ok reasons.

I've packed an 18" 12 ga (mossberg 500) a number of times, and a marlin 30-30 a few times. Never was too much of a hassle

 

[Shipwreck]

Good luck w/ that. Even w/ the forms, U are probably gonna get hassled. I wouldn't try it, myself...

 

[Glenn Kelley]

Musher

Long guns with 18 inch barrels are considered restricted and fall into the same class as handguns.The only exceptions that I know are for 22s.

One of the biggest practical problems with all these regulations is that not even the people charged with enforcing them can get it right.It would be a shame for you to have trouble over a gun that they let you bring in several times and then some one else decides it's illegal.

Glenn

 

[Manedwolf]

Why not just ship it to yourself at your destination?

Unfortunately, I think even if you were allowed to bring it through, if you actually even brandished it at a threat, you'd have the wrath of the Canadian courts come down on you.

 

[10 Ring Tao]

Looks like you have to weigh the difference in price between shipping them to yourself, and the extra gas it would take to drive through the US with them.

I've been burned "making my existence known" to the po-po, while trying to follow the law and keep myself legal no less. I avoid dealing with them if at all possible, because although they're the ones who enforce the law, the letter of the law is the last thing they actually think about at the time.

 

[choochboost]

Its not that big a deal as long as your firearms aren't in the "prohibited" category. I'll be doing it this summer.