OK, now I'm confused. Was he in Canadian or U.S. military service?
I met several Canadians who joined the U.S. Army so they could go to Vietnam both in the states and in Vietnam. If I recall correctly, Canada along with Poland were appointed by the UN to oversee things in Vietnam. Canadian forces in Vietnam were observers and not combat troops. I'm not sure what weapons they carried there.
There seems a lot of speculation about this M16 and here are the rules in place at the time.
The GCA of 68 outlined what could be brought back as war trophies. The requirements were:
1. It had to be a weapon used by the enemy.
2. If it was full auto it had to be dewatted usually by filling the chamber with weld permanently connecting the barrel and receiver.
3. No US manufactured weapons were allowed no matter what it was.
4. You were supposed to get a war trophy certificate from the MPs before you left. However, I saw a guy bring back an SKS (it was in a case and he handed it to the stewardess to stow during the flight back) and he didn't have paperwork. It took him about 5 minutes with Customs at McChord AFB.
5. About the only weapons you could bring back in shooting condition were Nagants (rifles and revolvers), SKSs, Tokarevs, and the big prize was a Makorov (I only saw 2 or 3 that were already in some GI's hands).
A friend of mine who did a couple of tours with the Marines had a PPSH, AK47, and SKS on his wall at home. He showed me the paperwork he had for all these.
I got there in 1968 and you could easily find a handgun if you wanted one. Just about everything from 22 to 45 caliber were available. Logistics dictated that you needed to find something that fired 38 special or 45 ACP. They weren't too particular about what you brought to Vietnam but paid attention to what you brought back. When I left in 1969 they took you in a room tables that were partitioned off. At the door was a "no questions asked" box where you could dump anything illegal you had before the inspection. You dumped everything out and the MPs went through it all. There were a few guys carted away by the MPs for drugs, weapons, and I don't know for what else.
Many things got smuggled back in a variety of ways. I know they limited Iraq War I vets to nothing and bayonets, helmets, and binoculars were seized which is ridiculous.
I do not think the founding fathers could have conceived that a soldier could not legally own his issued rifle while the USA still adhered to the Bill of Rights.
I don't agree with this. There is no requirement in the Constitution requiring the goverment to supply you with a weapon but the right to own one. The goverment giving you weapons would be an extension of the nanny welfare state.
a similar version
That I agree with.
If that's a M16 your friend has it's illegal in the US or Canada unless there's some paperwork already with it.
