Coming out of the gun closet part III

Not your average collection...

Ways to buy a gun

In part 2, I talked about buying a gun from the store, which is a great way to see how a gun fits you. The other way is to go to the range and ask people to let you hold their guns (If done politely chances are that many will let you shoot it as well). It’s important to realize that any gun you buy fits you. It doe not matter how good the reviews are, or which police/army/big game guide uses which gun, what really matters is how it fits your hand and body shape. Almost every modern handgun and long gun are excellent guns and you are really choosing on fit and details like “ambi-safety”, decockers, left hand/right hand, etc.

 How not to buy a gun

• When purchasing your first gun, avoid anything with the word magnum, Casull or Lapu in it, these guns are expensive to feed and requires good technique to hit the target repeatable.
• Not everything a gun store clerk tells you is true! Chances are that the gun he is telling you will never be available again, will be on the shelves next month.
•  Don’t be talked into buying a particular gun, because someone claimed that anything less is placing your life and your family in danger.
• Do not buy a gun based on what you saw in a movie and please don’t base your firearms handling on them either!!

Suggestions for a first gun
It really depends on your budget which gun(s) to buy first. If you have lots of money then your options are much wider than what I am suggesting. Keep in mind the gun is just the beginning of the shooting hobby, you will need carrying case, trigger locks, gun cabinet/safe, lots and lots of ammunition, gun club membership, possibly optics, safety glasses, ear protection and of course a cleaning kit. Ammunition is by far the most expensive ongoing cost of shooting which why serious shooters reload their own (covered in a later post).

My Dlask 10/22

.22cal rimfire

Your first gun should be a .22cal, this will allow you to practice and learn at very reasonable costs and they are just plain fun. For a rifle I recommend the Ruger 10/22. This rifle is very common, has a huge amount of aftermarket parts and modifications. For a pistol it gets a bit harder. There are several routes to go. First is the dedicated .22cal target pistol like the Buckmark. These are accurate and reliable, but all of this type of firearm are finicky to take apart.

The other option is a centrefire pistol with a .22calconversion kit. You can get aftermarket kits for the Glock and CZ line. Sig offers their classic .22 models which is a fullsize frame fitted with a .22cal slide and magazine. You buy the 9mm/.40cal slide and mags later.

If you love the 1911 model, there are dedicated guns made by GSG that are in .22cal.

Sig 226 with conversion kit on and 9mm slide below it

Centrefire choices

 If your first gun must be a centrefire I recommend rifles in .223Remington or 7.62x39. The Warsaw Pact guns like the SKS are the cheapest centrefire to shoot and lots of fun. Just keep in mind that most 7.62x39 ammo is corrosive and you must clean the gun as soon as you get back!

Norinco SKS with Tapco stock

Rifles in .223 offer very good accuracy with little recoil for a reasonable cost. You can get this calibre in either a bolt action or semi-auto, keep in mind most of the semi-autos in this calibre are restricted and can only be used at the range.

Norinco CAR

For a centrefire pistol I recommend 9mm to start, my preference is the SW M&P, but the Glock 17, CZ models, Ruger SR-9 and the Sig 226 are all fine choices. In fact you really can’t go wrong on any modern pistol. I like the 1911 models as well, very accurate guns, but most are in .45acp which is not cheap to shoot. Also being single action they require excellent muzzle control and trigger finger discipline.

SW M&P with weapons light and Blackhawk Serpa holster

Where to buy?

 So you have figured out what you want and how much to spend (your spouse may have different ideas here!) but none of the local stores have what you want! Relax there is another couple of ways which I will explain;

Exchange Forums

Many popular gun forums such as Canadiangunnutz, Canadiangunslingers and HuntingBC have exchange forums where you can buy and sell guns, gun parts and shooting/hunting related stuff. While the forum cannot guarantee that everyone is perfectly honest and will not refund you any lost money, what they have done is to create a “Trader rating”. This means that buyers and sellers can rate people on the transaction and this will give you an indication on how much to trust someone. As you buy and sell on the forum you too will get a trader rating.

Retail outlets websites

Most successful gun stores operate websites that allow you to buy guns and gun stuff online. This is a great way to comparison shop and to get the best price. Keep in mind shipping costs and taxes when calculating the final price. Here are few; Reliable, Epps, Candaammo, Questar, Marstar

US gun online stores

When you surf the web you will find great deals in the US, however many items including parts for AR-15 type rifles, scopes, and other certain parts are barred from export under the ITAR rules. Basically if it’s used by a modern military it’s likely to be blocked from export. Parts for rimfires and hunting rifles are likely cleared for export, however keep in mind shipping, duty and taxes payable upon crossing the border.

Ebay

While Ebay does sell some gun parts, Ebay is anti-firearm and won’t allow the selling of guns. When you do order from the US Ebay keep in mind many sellers won’t ship across the border. It is a good place to get odd bits like grips, holsters and such. Paypal is very anti-firearm and will give you grief if they find out the item is gun related.

Craigslist

 While an excellent place to sell baby clothes and such, I would very much discourage you from selling gun stuff on Craigslist. There are too many non-nice people that cruise there. If you must sell there, do not let people come to your door, offer to meet them somewhere public, this can be awkward with a firearm and hence one of the reasons I don’t support it for firearm related stuff.

Gun shows

I find gun shows a great place to buy gun related stuff, but find the guns often overpriced, do your homework before shopping at a gun show.

The CFC and buying guns online

There some legal steps to go through to buy a gun online. Once you contact the seller and make the agreement to buy, you must give the seller your name, address and PAL number. The seller will contact the CFC and initiate the transfer. The CFC will give the seller a transfer number and then contact you. You then call the CFC to confirm the transfer giving them the number.

 Update
There is no requirement to call the CFC for a Non-restricted firearm, you can call the CFC to confirm the PAL number of the buyer, but people report the CFC asking for more information than required. It is your responsibility to ensure that the buyer has a PAL. Easy to do person to person, but harder online. some ask for a scan. be careful here as when someone gets a scan of your PAL, they can use that to buy guns as well. If you do send a scan, perhaps watermark it with a date saying from then to then.

Mailing a gun

Guns can be mailed in Canada using the most secure mail available which requires a signature at the door. The CFC gets around the Firearms Act by claiming the gun is not really a gun when in the mail system (sigh), but it’s not in our interest to rock the boat here, but shows you how bad the Firearms Act is written.

In Part IV of the series I will deal with joining a gun club, cleaning a gun among other things.

Part I

PartII

Coming out of the gun closet part 2

Me attempting to look good in an IPSC competition


Sorry for the lag between posts, kids, work, life and video games keep getting in the way! This is the 2nd post in this series, a link to the preceding post is at the bottom of the post.

Do you need a licence and how do you get one?



Short answer is yes, long answer is that if the gun you have is not considered a firearm then no you do not. These would be pellet guns with a muzzle velocity below 500 feet per second (FPS) and antique guns. Police Officers on duty do not need a licence to carry their issue firearms or taking possession of a firearm while carrying out their duties. It comes to a shock to them that they can’t stroll into a gun store and buy a gun or ammo without the licence. As the executor of a will you can take possession of firearms as part of the estate, see more here.

The current gun licence is commonly referred to as a “PAL” which means Possession and Acquisition Licence. The old licences were called FAC’s and there is also the POL which stands for Possession Only Licence. These are being phased out.

The PAL is a Licence for the Individual. It allows them with restrictions to buy, sell and own guns. It is distinct from the gun registry. To get a PAL you will need to take a course and complete an exam. At which point your application is referred to the RCMP who will investigate you to determine if you have any criminal record or probations. You will need to seek permission from your spouse or guardians (if 16 or less years of age), supply character references. Quebec has Law 9 which is a far more invasive review (and possibly unconstitutional)

Once you have passed successfully through all stages of the review you become the proud holder of a PAL. Make careful note of the expiry date, if you let expire and have guns, you are now a criminal.


What is gun registration and does it work?



The first gun registry in Canada was invoked in 1934 and required you to register your handgun. This was to keep guns out of the hands of undesirables such as union members who were seen as potential communists. The current combined long gun and handgun registry created in 1998 and came into force in 2002 covers both long guns (rifles, shotguns) and handguns. The reason for the implementation of the long gun registry is unclear, proponents claim it helps them keep guns out of the hands of criminals, opponents of the registry claiming the real reason is the eventual confiscation of all firearms. I favour the latter theory as history shows us once the government know what, where and who has them, they will eventually come for them. The former theory is flawed as criminals don’t register guns and handgun crime is rising despite 77 years of a handgun registry. For more on the failures of the registry see my other blog “Epic failures of the gun registry”

How it works
Within the database firearms are identified by what is called a Firearm Reference Table (FRT) Number. Each model of gun known to be in Canada is given a FRT number, without out this number a gun can’t be registered, so if they “withdraw” the FRT number from the database, then the model of gun disappears and the clerks at the CFC can’t find it, convenient way to get rid of unwanted types of guns right?

If I go to a store and say I want to buy a Non-restricted Ruger 10/22 carbine, the store clerk takes my PAL, phones the CFC and requests that a Ruger 10/22 carbine Serial XXXXXX currently registered to the store, be transferred to myself, the CFC checks my record and sees that my PAL is valid and there are no prohibitions on my file. If so they then authorize the store to sell me the rifle, and give them a transfer number. I can then take the gun home, in a couple of weeks (in BC, the CFO office is fairly quick and the ladies are quite nice, Ontario and Quebec not so much) I will get a registration certificate in the mail. I must carry a copy of it with me when using/transporting the gun.
Now if I wanted to buy a restricted rifle or pistol, it gets more complicated, I select the gun and pay the money, the store calls the CFC, they start the transfer process, generally it will take a couple of days to a couple of weeks, when the transfer is complete I can pick up the gun and take home. I will need a Temporary “Authorization to Transport” (ATT), once I get the registration papers, I can then use my long term ATT to transport the gun (more on ATT’s later) anywhere that I am authorized. This process varies between Provinces.



What types of guns can you own?


My Dlask 10/22 target rifle

A non-restricted PAL will allow you to own any non-restricted rifle or shotgun, a restricted PAL will allow to own handguns and restricted firearms such as the AR-15. All handguns except for antiques are either restricted or Prohibited (either by barrel length or calibre). Rifles & shotguns are restricted either by barrel length or by name ( Such as the AR-15 and variants)
Prohibited firearms include pistols with a barrel length of less than 106mm, calibres of .25 & ,32cal. Rifles are generally prohibited by name (FAL, AK-47 and variants) Only individuals that are grandfathers or have certain special licences can posses these. If you let your PAL expire, before getting the new one, you will lose your grandfathered status. If you didn’t bother to convert to the PAL system from the FAC and you own one of these you are screwed.


A Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun (no you can't have one, it's prohibited)

Automatic firearms such as sub-machine guns, automatic rifles, pistols, light and medium machine guns are prohibited firearms, only a select few individuals are grandfathered for these and a number of businesses have licence to posses them, generally for the movie industry. To note I am not aware of any homicide ever committed with a registered automatic firearm. They are just to valuable and expensive.
Lastly antique guns such as early Webely MkII revolvers and old muskets are not considered firearms and do not require a PAL .

Replica guns are prohibited, but the law defining such has been murky, any device designed to look like a firearm that can shoot a projectile such as Airsoft guns are not replicas and are not banned. For more information go to Airsoft Canada.

More to come in “Coming out of the gun closest part III”

Older posts in this series
“Coming out of the gun closest part I”