Guns in Canada

[Bruzee]

I'm headed out for vacation tomorrow morning, and eventually ending up in Vancouver BC for a few days. My question is this... What is Canada's policy on off duty police officers carrying handguns while in Canada? If they do not recognize police officers from another country, can I unload it and store it in a locked box in my trunk without hassle? I would hate to not have a gun with me on my entire trip because I am going to Vancouver for three days! Any advice is appreciated.

[Homebrewer]

You could get a safe deposit box at a bank in Seattle. Sorry, I don't know their gun laws but I know they are very strict.

[Mtmouse]

No guns aloud. I can't even carry mine while off duty.

[Bruzee]

Originally Posted by Mtmouse

No guns aloud. I can't even carry mine while off duty.

No kidding.... wow. I guess I'll be renting a security box while in Seattle.

[Old Sailor]

And if you use your ID, be ready for some cross questioning from our Customs people, not bad questions, more nosey than anything. From what I've heard from Booker.

[DonnieW]

You can indeed come across with guns - BUT!!! It is entirely at the discretion of the customs officer. Even though Customs says you cannot bring a weapon for "self-protection", your mileage may vary. You need to do a non-resident declaration. You will be subject to a MANDATORY criminal record check. We go through this every year when our friends come up to hunt - so far no problems. That said, your handgun must fall within Canadian restrictions - and should be declared for use at a range. 5/10 ammo capacity also applies. Also, and this is a big ALSO, you cannot CC it. My advice is to contact a few gun clubs in the states near the border and prepare ahead of time to lock it up there. Its cheap and straight-forward. Should you still want to run through the border with your gun, you'll need to secure it in the vehicle. With my experience, its best to leave it the trunk, which is what I do when travelling to the states (and obviously back through the Canadian border).

[RGD]

Short story -

Back in 2001 the family and I went on vacation which included stopping and spending the night in Niagara Falls. When loading up the truck I took my 9mm and placed inside my shooting bag and put it in the house. Problem was that it looks like my camera case - and so my kids loaded it back into the truck. Later on when stopping to eat I noticed it in the truck, no biggie I thought - right up until I saw the big ole signs at the border about guns.
Pulled into a shopping lot and had the wife take the youngest daughter inside to buy drinks - cause she is like a little Ms. Walter Cronkite - while my other daughter and I proceeded to hide the gun up and inside the cushion of the rear seat.

Got the usual grilling at the crossing. She asked if I owned any guns - I said yes. She asked did I have any of them with me - I lied. She leaned out the window for a closer grilling. She asked if she could inspect the truck - I said yes. She asked why I didn't have them with me - I said I had my family with me and we were just on vacation - she made me roll all the windows down - to see two bright smiling faces in the rear seat. She let me go on through. My wife was about ready to piss herself.

I don't recommend this course - just lock it up somewhere and save the hassle and headaches.


Ron

[ZedR2]

I would say that if you want to have a nice trip leave the gun at home , you won't find a use for it up here anyways unless you apply for a concealed weapon permit and that will take months and the gun will be impounded anyway !

Even if you bring it with you while at the border when asked about 'guns' and you say yes you will be pulled over and most likely will spend a good 3 hours with customs until they figure it all out , in the end if it's a hand gun it will be impounded and you will be able to pick it up on your way back to the US ...
Hunting is one thing but when it comes to hand guns it's a totally different story here trust me !

I am a hot rod guy and have lots of family and friends on the US side and a friend of mine who I invited to one of our car shows up here had a big problem and it wasn't even a real gun , as a floor shifter he had a Smith & Wesson Pistol and to put it into park you had to pull the trigger and slide the pistol forward , well when at the border customs asked if he had any guns , he said no , they seen the highly polished pistol in the car and to make a long story short his car ( 37 Ford Coupe ) was impounded for almost a week before they sorted it out and he got it back all because he said no to guns ..

So , f you want to have a good time while here leave the gun home IMO !

[InBetweenTheLines]

I agree, leave it at the border, Canada is a nice safe place and unlike the U.S. has very little crime in the way of violence with guns. I have a CC permit and really just have my .45 in the car, pain to carry it around all the time. Unless your a Fed and on Federal business they won't let you carry a weapon up there. Wonder why Canada, which is a big hunting spot and most Canadians own shotguns and rifles, has such a small crime rate? Detroit was in the top 3 murder spots of the U.S. last year, while Windsor (with a population of 350,000) just across the river had only one murder??? Fishing and hunting all year must just make everyone a lot happier

[DonnieW]

Originally Posted by InBetweenTheLines

...Fishing and hunting all year must just make everyone a lot happier

Its the Cubans my friend.