I'm disgustingly optimistic in life in general. Not stopping me from getting my rpal. Worst case scenario a family member loans (not entirely sure the paperwork) me a pistol until the laws change.
Your "worst case scenario" is actually entirely plausible, assuming you have a relative with multiple handguns and no aversion to lending them, possibly long term. Even if a strong Conservative majority makes it a priority, it is going to take some time legislatively speaking, to make the rescind of C21 a reality. Why not borrow a handgun from said relative in the interim? There will be no problem with the CFO if you are Alberta, however I cannot speak to other provinces.. A loan shoud be as simple as the owner calling the CFO with all of the borrower's information (RPAL #, Full Name, DOB, Address to be stored at, Cell Number, etc). The Borrower will probably have to call in to arrange an ATT to move the handgun from one residence to the other. Last I familiarized myself with the rules, there was no paperwork involved. Just a call to the CFO to arrange everything so that their records are up to date. Same when it comes time to end the loan. The CFO will have to be contacted to put the firearm back at its home address aand to obtain an ATT to bring the firearm from one residence to the next.
Frankly, I am surprised that more people have not gone the borrowing route. My family are all RPAL holders and 40 of my restricted firearms (half handguns and half PCCs or 5.56mm carbines) are now Registered to my Son. Those guns were all mine at one point, but we had to do what we did to avoid the implications of a permanent ban on handgun transfers with my Son's projected life-span being much longer than my own. I still want to use what used to be mine however, so we have an arrangement with the CFO (based on my written submission), to borrow amongst family members. Everyone is effectively allowed to borrow from each other, because the Restricted firearms, although owned by 3 different family members, are all stored within the same family vault. So they are taken and return to the same residence, regardless of who is in actual possession. There is a note from the CFO on our e-file authorizing the borrowing of restricted firarms belonging to the 3 family members so that we are covered if traffic-stopped for any reason. It is the best arrangement possible, in an otherwise impossible situation.
Our gun laws have become incrementally insane, revved up to setting 11 under the current regime. The hoops that they make us jump through like circus animals are offensive and inanely time-consuming. We'd be better off with 1/3 of the legislation/regulation at the Federal Level (international smuggling, Trans-provincial gang and gun crime, etc), and the remainder delegated down to the Provinces to legislate and regulate as they see fit according to their culture, history, and desired role of firearms within the provincial makeup.
