an American gunowner in Canada

[roscoe]

I may be working in Canada for a couple of years and I would love to hear from anyone who knows just what I can bring north of the border. I understand that non-semi long guns are OK for people on short trips (with a hunting license), but that's all I know.

I assume no semi rifles and no handguns. My thought was to get a .44 Trapper as the house and camping gun and keep it in one of those Mossberg clamps bolted to a wall. Is it a pain to register this in Canada. Can I bring it camping? Car carry? Do I need to prove that it is locked up?

I am treating this as a good excuse to get the Trapper, which I have wanted. I was thinking .44 specials in the house, heavier magnum loads while camping, plus a few boxes of CorBon .44 SLAPI (Saboted Light Armor Piercing Incinciary) rounds in case I have to fight a rear guard action against the UN invading the US from the north.

Anyone have the skinny on Canadian gun law as applied to Americans?

 

[357wheelgunner]

I called the US border patrol and asked them if I could bring my Rem870 with a rifle sighted slug barrel across the border, for "bear" defense and trap shooting of course (the best excuse I could think of). They were extremely unhelpful, and the only answer I could get was "leave your guns in TN, you don't need them in Canada anyway". My wife's family lives in Canada, and we don't visit them much because of BS like this.

Canada is a Socialist nation anyway, and that is only one step away from communism. Forget Canada......

 

[Standing Wolf]

I remember Canadian vacations from years ago with great fondness.

 

[bg]

I agree with SW. Canada does have some very nasty politics and many
liberal bleeding hearts, but the land there sure looks beautiful, at least
from pics I have seen, and I know there are pro firearms/pro freedom
folks there. To be honest, I'd really like to see Canada on a summer
vacation. However since there is an anti-gun front running it these days,
I'll keep my money and myself here in the states.

 

[Zundfolge]

...I may be working in Canada for a couple of years...

Doesn't sound to me like he's asking about taking a couple of guns along for a weekend trip ... sounds like he'll be living up there for a while.


If you're going to be up there for a couple of years, you need to find out if you will be allowed to purchase a firearm as a resident alien.

Canadian gun laws are in some ways stricter then here in the states, but in some way less strict ... IIRC you can still buy Norinco AKs up there ... along with SBRs without a 200 tax stamp (but you can't buy a Kahr MK...go figure).

Anyway, if you're going to live there for a couple of years I'd just buy a gun or two when you move there and sell them before you move back and just avoid the whole "transporting a gun across international borders" hassle all together.

 

[roscoe]

Yeah, this is not about where to spend my hard-earned American greenbacks. In fact, I will be taking be taking Canuck bucks back.

SOMEBODY around here must know about Canadian gun laws - having been hunting up there or something.

 

[bg]

Will these help ?
http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/default_e.asp
http://panda.com/canadaguns/

 

[Cosmoline]

They will tolerate long guns on the Al-Can, but if you're going to be spending much time there I wouldn't advise having any firearms at all. They view armed Americans as Public Enemy No. 1. You're better off ignoring them completely and coming to Alaska instead.

 

[Firethorn]

I'd recommend contacting the Canadian border authorities. The American border patrol is more concerned with people entering the states.

 

[M16]

I went on a bear hunting trip to Canada last year. I downloaded the forms from the Canadian firearms centre and had them filled out when I got there. When I got to customs I handed them the form and the money and was on my way. They didn't even look at the guns. This was British Columbia so other provinces may be different.

 

[newguy123]

Hi I'm Kyle from Alberta. I own long guns and handguns so I know what's going on. As far as the move, Can we trade places? Well in order for you to stay here for an extended time with your guns your going to need a PAL (possesion and aqusition licence). This licence will require you to take a firearms safety course then apply to the government for a licence. It usually takes between one and two months to get that. Once you have that you can own and bring guns into Canada.

As for the guns you can bring. Any handgun with a barrel under 105mm(about 4.25inches) is prohibited and you won't be able to have it in Canada. There are people who owned them before the ban that can own them here though. But you won't be able to. Also any handgun that is 25 or 32cal is prohibited regardless of size.

For long guns basically everything will be legal. There are some guns like AKs and some varients of the ar15 and m16 and such that are prohibited and you won't be able to own them here. For a list of all the prohibited long guns you can go to there http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/info_for-renseignement/factsheets/r&p_e.asp
That will tell you about what restricted and prohibited guns are in Canada.

Also for long guns and handguns there are magazine capacity limits. For handguns you can have no more than 10 rounds in a magazine and all legal mags here have to be pinned off to allow no more than 10 rounds. So you will have to pin your mags or buy new ones here. I would suggest leaving your standard capacity ones there for when you go back. For long guns that are semiautomatic you can only have 5 round mags that again have to be pinned. So again you could bring your mags but your gonna wreck them by pinning them so best to buy new ones here that are already pinned. Any long gun that is pump or bolt action has no limit on magazine size as well as any rifle that is rimfire.

So now that you kind of know what you can bring in and that you need a licence to do that there is one more thing. For hand guns and certain rifles that are considered restricted you need an ATT to transport them. The Authorization to Transport is issued by the chief firearms officer of each province so you get that from them. When you have a restricted firearm it must be stored with a trigger lock on and in a locked case. Long guns that are non restricted have to be locked up but no trigger locked. When transporting a restricted gun the ATT is required and the gun, like in storage, must be trigger locked and in a locked case. Also when transporting a restricted firearm you must take the most appropriate straight route to the range. Non restricted guns like most rifles and shotguns can be transported without any lock as long as they are unloaded and out of sight in a locked vehicle if you must leave it.

Now you can shoot any non restricted firearms as long as you are in a place that allows it such as out in the country or at the range. Usually no shooting of rifles and such in town. Handguns and restricted rifles on the other hand CAN ONLY be shot at an approved range. Basically any range where you need some type of membership is approved.

There is no type of LEGAL car carry or home defense allowed here under law unless you have a shotty out for the coyotes in the country. There are some loopholes like I can where my handgun in the house as long as it's unloaded at the time and I lock it up when I leave.

Now also any gun that you can bring into Canada with you licence is going to have to be registered as well. This includes EVERY gun.

All these laws are just fricken rediculous but because I'm only 19 I'm stuck with having to do all of it because I couldn't buy up all my guns before the laws came into effect. We are told they make everyone safer. I believe the only way we will be safer and my gun will be protected from theft is if I'm wearing it on my hip.

Oh and to buy ammo here you need a firearms licence as well so even if you visit with a gun you can't buy ammo here. Oh and I don't know anything about bringing a gun in for a short time but I believe you don't need a licence for that. I also spell license weird because that is how the dumbass government spells it.

Hope this massive read will help you out and enlighten you to the dumb and wastefull laws of our once free land.

 

[jnojr]

For long guns that are semiautomatic you can only have 5 round mags that again have to be pinned.

What about Garands? Could you have a Garand with 5-round en bloc clips? Or is there a problem simply because you might be able to use 8 round clips (shudder... oh, the horror... eight rounds! Why, how could anyone resist going on a killing spree? )

 

[dloken]

I believe the Garand and maybe the SKS are exempt from the 5 round limit.

Rimfire rifles have no limit on magazine capacity as far as I know. Stock up on hotlips magazines before you go. =d

 

[roscoe]

Thanks for the help everybody. bg, those links really helped, and newguy123, thanks for all the info as well.

Since I just want to bring one 'do-it-all' lever action rifle, which is apparently not considered a restricted weapon, hopefully there will not be too much of a problem. I will definitely want to get a PAL since I plan on doing plenty of target shooting and will want to purchase ammo.

The job will be in BC, so maybe it will be a bit easier there.

newguy123, what can you tell me about the laws regarding storage of a non-restricted rifle?

 

[geegee]

The job will be in BC, so maybe it will be a bit easier there.

I spent a summer in B.C. one year, digging up gravel under the train tracks for the railroad. Beautiful country, but I'm quite certain your time up there will be easier than mine!

 

[newguy123]

Well the sks-d has to be pinned to 5 rounds of course. The one with a built in mag has to be pinned to hold only 5 rounds. I believe but am not totally sure that the garand with an 8 round mag is exempt and supposedly the government did this so they wouldn't piss too many people off. They sure do piss me off.

As for storage, a non restricted such as a lever action. The only requirement is that when in storage it has to be locked so it won't work or disabled by taking it apart. So if you had a shotty you could either lock it in a case, put a trigger lock on or take it apart. The law says nothing about where you can put it such as that it doesn't have to be out of sight.

Now there is some type of loophole. The government doesn't have any laws or regulations for a firearm when it's not in storage or transportation. An example would be when you are home. So for defense you could have any type of gun you can legally own out and about in the house as long as your home. I do this with my revolver all the time by wearing it around the house. The only drawback is that you can only load a firearm here where it is legal to do so. So for a restricted gun you would only be allowed to do that at the range. For a non restricted as long as the town didn't have a bylaw about discharge or you are in the country then you could have a loaded gun around the house when you are home. Also if you are not home and someone else has access to the gun and they are not licenced then I'm not sure who but someone would get charged with being in possesion without a license.
Hopefully that helps some more.

Also I would like to point out that I in NO way agree with any of these laws but only follow MOST of them because I don't want to sit in jail and have my guns taken away. If they go any further there may be a fight though. I believe the only form of gun control needed is between the operator's eyes.

Oh and I'm in Alberta and I believe the chief firearms officer here looks after BC too and they are the best in the country. They are government but they make it as easy as they can for us.

 

[utahminirevolver]

Good luck, Roscoe, in your sojourn up here.
As Standing Wolf, bg, and others hinted, Canada for some reason leans toward the left and thinks it's middle-of-the-road.
I don't know what current red tape is for Americans bringing guns into the country, but I imagine it's formidable.
I'm a dual citizen and have never attempted to take any firearm across the border either way. I've had a Trapper in .44 Magnum/Special for many years now in Canada and sometimes take it up north when hiking in the bush. I also have my pepper spray, alertness, etc.-what Id have walking in the city too, except for the carbine. Of course it can't be referred to as 'pepper spray' to any government official; rather it's Dog or Bear Repellant. I'm unaware of any ban on semi-autos. Handguns are allowed, but with even more restrictions. I just take mine to the local shooting club range. You should join one of those, they can tell you about all the rules and regulations from a sympathetic point of view, as opposed to the quite possibly unhelpful stuff some bureaucrat may spout (he or she will likely be anti-gun, and possibly also an anti-American bigot).
But in spite of these shortcomings, Canada is a beautiful country and the people are generally very nice.