More on Canada and Firearms

My recent post about Canada's firearms laws -- spawned by a current events news story -- got a fair amount of feedback. There were some links from others as well as an irate Canuck. I wanted to explain a bit more in detail the issues.

BARRIER 1: THE GCA 1968

If you review the ATF data on “unlicensed persons” you’ll find it is totally legit to ship yourself a firearm. For example, you can mail yourself a rifle to go hunting with in another state, no problem.

In theory an unlicensed person can do the same thing with a handgun. However, handguns cannot be shipped via the US mail. You have to go via contract carrier, which generally means UPS or FEDEX for most of us. Then you are bound by their corporate policies which are more restrictive than federal law. I investigated it recently and UPS (at least the branch in Alaska) would only ship to an FFL. The problem with this is that the FFL cannot transfer it to you unless you’re a resident of that state. So an Alaskan driving to Haines (via Canada) then hopping on the ferry to WA can’t mail a gun to Seattle and pick it up at an FFL there unless they establish residency in WA.

Fedex will ship guns to “licensed collectors” as well as FFLs. That includes your FFL03, even if the firearms aren’t C&Rs. Remember ,it is corporate policy, not federal law. FEDEX was willing to “hold shipment” upon arrival in Washington for a few days then let me pick them up in person as long as I showed my C&R license. They weren’t willing to hold it for long enough for the ferry trip though, and they wouldn’t agree to a pre-extension of the hold time in advance.

There is also an FFL in Haines. So I could have shipped my handgun(s) from Southcentral to Haines via UPS/FEDEX. The FFL could then transfer them to me as we’re still in Alaska. However, people have had issues with the NICS check in Haines not going through right away which triggers the 3-day waiting period. So unless you’re waiting for your ferry for three extra days in scenic Haines (it really is very pretty…) you could be left in the situation of needing to catch the boat before the clock runs out.

BARRIER 2: CANADA

Canada's website makes the process sound reasonable. It is not.

First, any handgun is restricted or prohibited. One of the criteria for prohibited is a short barrel. So, a S&W M&P compact — totally legal in Kalifornia — is verboten in Canada. Prohibited means there is no way you’re getting it into the country.

Restricted guns require an Authorization to Transport. This requires you to either show up to the Customs point or office to pick up the paperwork weeks/months in advance, precoordinate via phone with the Chief Firearms Officer, or show up at hte border, declare them, and hope that they can get the CFO on the phone for an ad-hoc teleconference (and if they can’t, you’re stuck).

I tried 2-3 months in advance to coordinate with the CFO to bring restricted firearms through. The problem is the only phone number they give you leads you to a 1-800 number style answering machine. They are pretty good about calling you back but they are terrible about sending you the paperwork you need to complete and send in. I got the feeling that the program was underfunded and not a priority; given that some of the provinces don’t even bother enforcing the laws I can see why (and thus they only apply to Americans I suppose). Yukon Territory doesn’t even have its own CFO; it has to share with BC.

I ended up just hand carrying and declaring my excess quality ammo and not bringing any firearms through. Maybe if you started the process six months out you could get it done, and it might help if you’re willing to drive out into the middle of hte wilderness to talk to the border people in person, or if you can afford to delay for a few days on the border for your ATT to go through. Of course, there is a stretch of “no-man’s land” in between the US and Canadian checkpoints a few KM in length so you’d have to leave the US and enter Canada to even talk to their border agents.

There are only a few ways to get handguns from Southcentral Alaska to the lower 48.

• Fly with them in your luggage.
• Hand carry through Canada with an Authorization to Transport; no "prohibited" weapons need apply. Start coordination EARLY (a year out would not be unreasonable).
• Ship them via contract carrier to an FFL in another state. Change your residency to the other state so the FFL can transfer them back to you.
• Sell them and buy new ones in your new state (if you are switching residency and not just visiting).
• Ship them to yourself -- not an FFL. Based on my research, this can pretty much only be done with FEDEX. FEDEX will only help you out if you hold a FFL03. No, they don't care that the guns you're shipping aren't curios and relics. They also don't have to ship them to the address on your C&R. Nobody said the corporate policy made sense.
• Ship them to an FFL in Haines, Alaska and pick them up before you get on the ferry. Plan an extra 3 days in Haines on the off chance that NICS is down and your check doesn't go through instantly.
• Book passage on the cross-gulf ferry. They just started running those again regularly this summer. However, due to demand, they booked up right away and are hard to get spots on.
• Leave them in AK (or sell them) and buy a C&R defensive sidearm in the place you're visiting. I actually was thinking hard about just picking up a CZ-82.

The thing that frustrates me is that these laws are so easily circumvented. One of my family members just asked, "Why can't you just ship them to an FFL, I'll pick them up, and then give them back to you?" They had just described a straw transfer which is a felony for them and for me, but even people who don't know much about the subject can rapidly come up with ways to pierce the web of laws we've set up. I also knew several coworkers who said they'd just "smuggled" guns through the Canadian border and hadn't gotten caught.

I'm pretty sure that a hardenened con could find a way to get around either their laws or our laws. The law abiding citizen though is left with few options and a lot of pain-in-the-neck. These laws are a joke. They are both onerous and ineffective infringements, which is what irritates me so much.