Canada recently ditched its hugely expensive highly ineffective federal gun registry. Oh wait. Not yet. But soon. Maybe. Meanwhile, the bureaucrats governing our neighbors to the north are making a move on ammunition. According to vancounversun.com, the good folks at Natural Resources Canada have cooked-up some “proposed” regulations which will require the nation’s gun owners to lock-up their ammo, as they must their guns. (Canadian ammunition suppliers must clap eyes on customers’ Possession and Acquisition Licence before they can sell them cartridges.) The new ammo-related regs kick-in this summer after a 75-day “consultation” period. [Click here to read the draft of the new law.] But wait! That’s not all!
The proposed regulations also seriously restrict the use of big-game rifles, since the regulations define “small-arms ammunition” as bullets no larger than .50 calibre. But in Canada, calibres larger than .50 – such as the .577 Snider and the .505 Gibbs rounds – are frequently used to hunt bears and other large or dangerous game.
Since these large bullets are not defined as small-arms ammunition in the proposed regulations, [Natural Resources official Jean-Luc] Arpin said, they will fall into a more general category of blasting explosives. As a result, shooters who use large calibres will have to acquire explosives licences – such as those needed for dynamite – to continue hunting with large-bore rifles.
But that’s not all!
Owners of antique firearms – such as those who re-enact historic battles – also will see their hobby hobbled by the proposed rules. Antique, muzzle-loading black powder guns are considered “non-firearms” under Canada’s firearms classification system, meaning their owners are exempt from the onerous registration and licensing requirements to which users of more modern guns must adhere.
But under the proposed regulations, owners of such guns would be unable to legally purchase black powder unless they have a firearms licence.
So the next time someone talks about “common sense” gun laws, remember that the “slippery slope” gun control thing isn’t just a theory. It’s a strategy.