Crimson Trace laser grips - Can I bring them from the US?
- Thread starter ABChop
- Start date
First find out if you can take them out of the U.S., and to do that you need to ask the U.S. authorities. Their export controls on some gun parts and accessories are more restrictive than some Canadian regulations on importing. Since those grips are both a gun part and a sighting device, they are certainly something that the U.S. regulations will affect. E.g. there are U.S. regulations that require the manufacturer of some items to have get a license for export which many makers of parts and accessories just don't do because it's too expensive while they can sell in their domestic market as many as they can produce. If that is the case, any U.S. retailer who sells them is forbidden to export them. (If you can find a Canadian retailer selling them, that is a good indication that the manufacturer has gotten them licensed for export.) Good luck.
Dexter Morgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I really scratch my head when I keep reading posts about needing to get past US Border Security when leaving the USA.
I have been back and forth many hundreds of times. Security is handled 100% by the country you are entering. Not the one you are exiting.
I have never seen anything remotely resembling any type of security by the country you are exiting. Entering USA, deal with US Border Patrol. Entering Canada, deal with Canadian Border Service.
Where/when has anyone ever done it differently. I would really like to know.
I have been back and forth many hundreds of times. Security is handled 100% by the country you are entering. Not the one you are exiting.
I have never seen anything remotely resembling any type of security by the country you are exiting. Entering USA, deal with US Border Patrol. Entering Canada, deal with Canadian Border Service.
Where/when has anyone ever done it differently. I would really like to know.
Casablanca! Victor Lazlo need Letters of Transit before he could leave Vichy-controlled Morocco.
Dexter Morgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
" Wow. That is really, really, really, incredibly wrong. Heard of ITAR? "
No I haven't. That's why I'm asking.
When and where exactly were you stopped by US Border Patrol when driving into Canada? I would really like to know.
I have driven back and forth many hundreds of times, and this has never been my experience. I have been waved through, and I have been shaken down. But it has ALWAYS been handled by the country I was entering.
No I haven't. That's why I'm asking.
When and where exactly were you stopped by US Border Patrol when driving into Canada? I would really like to know.
I have driven back and forth many hundreds of times, and this has never been my experience. I have been waved through, and I have been shaken down. But it has ALWAYS been handled by the country I was entering.
In order for someone to export a firearm part, even a firing pin, spring or screw, three things must be in order:
1. The manufacturer must be registered with the US Dept of State;
2. The Exporter must have an Export Permit (issued by the US DOS); and
3. The shipment itself must have an Export License.
IF the Exporter has a permit, the requirement for the shipment to have an Export License is waived if the wholesale cost of the shipment is less than $100.00. The exporter still needs the permit and the manufacturer still needs to be registered.
If the parts are for a shotgun, the US Dept of Commerce governs the deal but the restrictions are still there.
These restrictions are due to the US ITAR regulations. They make no distinction between large companies or individuals or large shipments or just a single screw.
Whether you can or cannot 'get away with it' is not for discussion here on CGN (at least that's my understanding). Discussing how to get around the law is the same as discussing how to break the law - something rightly frowned upon here. If you are caught by US authorities trying to export firearms, firearm parts or ammo or components, you will be in deep s**t.
So the short answer is NO YOU CANNOT bring Crimson Trace or any other stocks or any other firearm part, no matter how small or insignificant, because of US ITAR regulations.
I travel back & forth from Canada to the U.S. & I have been stopped several times on the U.S side of the border by U.S Border Services. They always setup on their side of the crossing & check every vehicle leaving the U.S. This is crossing from New York State into Ontario(Hill Island & Ogdensburg). They always notice my Cabelas bags & ask what I bought. I have made myself aware of U.S export laws & have never had a problem. I can't speak for other provinces.
George
Read here.
Then have a look at the bazillion posts by people warning that they've gotten searched by American authorities coming out of the States.
Our local border crossing at Roosville, BC, the USA Customs and Immigration have a boothe set up, just like going into the US and it is for stopping people leaving the US. They built it a couple of years ago and prior to that they would just set up a road block befor the Canadian Customs. They ask if you have any firearms, ammo, parts etc. Right now they randomly man it, but we have been told that by the end of the year, it will be manned at a capacity of 75% +. They hit it hard on long weekends, holidays and when there are any gun shows in the local area.
A friend of mine got busted there about 3 Xmas ago for bringing a box of 30-30 shells back!
A friend of mine got busted there about 3 Xmas ago for bringing a box of 30-30 shells back!
You would need an export permit because the law of the country from which they are going to be exported - i.e. the U.S.A. - says so. If they are shipping grips to Canada, they got an export permit. If you want to export some (or get someone to export some to you) then you (or the person/company you get to send them) will need an export permit.
If you can afford the price asked by a Canadian dealer who is already stocking them, it will probably be better to buy from them. They will be making a profit on you, of course, but you are sharing that cost with other Canadian buyers. By the time you find out how to import them yourself and put a value on your time and effort expended you might not save anything.
There are export regulations and they are enforced. They don't check everybody, everywhere, so it hasn't happened to you yet. If you keep going back and forth, you might get checked by U.S. enforcement when leaving their country. Maybe next time, maybe not for hundreds more times, maybe never. But if you are checked, and you are found to be in possession of something that is subject to export controls and you don't have the proper permits for it, you will be getting off lightly if they just confiscate it without compensation. They will probably explain everything more fully while you are in custody.
Here's something to try, just for fun, when you have a whole bunch of time to waste: cross the border when there's a decent sized gun show on the US side. Park your car at the gun show (for God's sake, don't buy anything at the gun show) spend a few hours at the show. Drive back across the border. Then come here and post how much fun you had explaining that you didn't buy anything at the gun show when customs (ICE) pulls you out of line up and ATF starts questioning you, while the nice folks from ICE are emptying your car of 'suspicious items' like seats and steering wheels. Don't forget to add how much fun you had trying to reassemble your car.
I have been stopped by the American boarder guards as I was LEAVING the USA!!! As I was about to proceed across the bridge to the Canadian customs, the American boarder guard walked out into the road and stopped me!! He made me U-turn back into USA customs! The reason? Random! So yes they can, will and do stop you on your way back onto Canada.
