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As Handgun Sales Slow to a Crawl, Restricted Rifles Gain Popularity
With the freeze on handgun imports and transfers introduced last year, there has been an uptick in popularity of restricted rifles amongst Canadian restricted-class PAL holders recently, as evidenced by some social media posts and growing offerings from retailers. While most Canadian gun owners think of handguns when they think of the “restricted” class of firearms, there have always been a number of long guns in this category. The Order-in-Council of May 1, 2020 did remove one of the more popular models, the AR-15, used in IPSC 3-gun competitions and widely popular with sport shooters, especially former and current military. However, the legal category for restricted firearms includes any semi-automatic…
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Getting a US “Carry Permit”
Many Canadians travel to the United States for leisure, to study, and to work. In many cases, those travellers have concerns about their personal safety and are aware that some jurisdictions allow for qualified individuals to carry a firearm for self-protection. The idea is usually foreign to Canadians, because self-protection “carry” is not common here. When Canadian gun owners do carry a firearm for protecting their life, it is almost always in the context of travel or work in remote areas where dangerous wildlife such as bears are a serious concern and animal attacks can be deadly. It is for this reason that many government officials working in remote areas…
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Gun Owner Letter Writing Campaign Explodes on Social Media
In response to the draconian measures proposed in Bill C-21 which will ban many types of popular and commonly owned sporting and hunting firearms in Canada, many gun owners and advocates have taken to a mass letter writing campaign and posting about their efforts on social media. The Reddit subreddit “r/canadaguns” has received several posts with photos from its contributors in recent days showing the fruits of their letter writing efforts. The campaign appears to have started nearly three weeks ago with an image post by a user named Mr_Winemaker, showing a bundle of white envelopes grasped in his hand captioned “My stack of letters for the Senate and MPs”.…
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Just Launched: CFSC/CRFSC Courses For Women
Now, women can take a firearms safety course in a comfortable classroom environment with other women at GTAGunSafety.com, as we have today launched a Women-only CFSC/CRFSC course scheduled for later next year. Our first female-only courses will run September 16/17, 2023. Women and girls aged 12-17 can take the 1-day CFSC portion only, or for women aged 18 and over, both the CFSC and restricted CRFSC courses needed to obtain a Canadian firearm licence. In addition, to those who book by March 1, 2023, the promo code GUNSAFEGIRLS will enable registrants to get 20% off the cost of whichever course option they book. Our women’s only course, and the limited…
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Can Americans Bring Guns to Canada?
Yes, absolutely! That’s the short answer. The longer answer is, it depends on the firearms and the reason they’re coming. Temporarily importing firearms into Canada is routinely done by visitors not only from the US, but from all over the world. The usual reasons are to hunt and participate in sport shooting competitions, and the process is fairly straightfoward. Temporarily importing firearms into Canada is routinely done by visitors not only from the US, but from all over the world. First, visitors should do a little bit of research to determine how their firearms may be classified. For most hunters bringing bolt action, pump action, break action and lever action…
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Youth-only Courses Returning to Line Up
We have decided to bring back Youth-only non-restricted (CFSC) courses for the summer of 2023, to encourage more young people to get involved in shooting sports and teach safe, responsible firearm handling to the next generation. Our first such course will be on June 24 at our regular training venue, the Homewood Suites by Hilton – Toronto/Mississauga. The 8+ hour course will cater to youths aged 12-17, offering plenty of patient hands on practical handling and smaller, lighter youth-sized firearms such as the Savage 64FXP, and the Henry .22 lever action. We run our courses in a quiet, comfortable meeting room easily accessed from the lobby of the hotel venue.…
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Saskatchewan Introduces Provincial Firearms Act
The government of Saskatchewan announced new legislation intended to protect “lawful firearms owners” the province said in an announcement on December 1, 2022. Among the new legislation’s powers are a requirement that businesses or individuals “involved in firearms expropriation” be licenced, and a requirement for ballistic testing of seized firearms. Saskatchewan introduced their own Chief Firearms Officer under the Saskatchewan Firearms Office in 2021, ending their use of the RCMP to fulfil the role. The new legislation and its regulations would be administered by that office. While the legislation, tabled as Bill 117, has not yet become law, the novel power to require a licence to expropriate firearms could frustrate…
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Safe Handling Fail: Hot Brass Can Cause Injuries
When hot brass cases fall down your shirt, they can cause you to “flinch” and point the muzzle in an unsafe direction. That happened with life changing consequences to an individual on a shooting range recently. In a video shared by Active Self Protection on their YouTube channel, a lone shooter had a hot brass case bounce and fall down the back of their loose-fitting T-shirt. The result was nearly tragic, as seen in this video (age-restricted video, click “Watch on YouTube” to view). The Canadian Firearm Safety Course (CFSC) discusses this danger in its module on “Safe Handling and Carrying of Non-Restricted Firearms” – though the same danger exists…
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RCMP Introduce Online PAL Applications
This month, the RCMP made it possible for first-time applicants to apply for their Canadian firearm possession and acquisition licence, or PAL, online. Canada’s national police force, which is responsible for administration of the Canadian Firearms Program, launched the MyCFP portal on their website to allow prospective gun licencees to apply for their licence by completing the application, uploading their photographs, and proof of safety course completion, without the need to download, print and mail any paper application forms. Previously, only existing PAL holders could apply to renew their licences online using a simplified form and photo upload feature. The MyCFP portal uses secure MyKey government sign-in credentials, or a…
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This Hunting Season, Bring a Better Map
One of the most valuable resources a hunter can have when in Ontario’s back country – besides their gun and their hunting licence – is a good map. Many of the best WMUs (wildlife management units) are in more remote reaches of the province, and where Google Maps just doesn’t cut it. A suite of products offered by BC-based Backroad Mapbooks provide a complete solution to back country way finding, not only valuable for hunters, but other outdoors enthusiasts as well. From wall maps to map books to GPS maps, they can provide what you need. We looked at their suite of Ontario hunting maps and we very impressed. They…
Certified CFSC/CRFSC Firearms and Hunting Safety Training in Toronto – Niagara – Hamilton, Ontario
