Four final comments from me on this thread, and then I'm done:
1. Personal credentials to talk: No, I am not 'new' and 'lacking knowledge', thank you very much.
FWIW, I've been in the firearms law business since before Bill C-68. When Bill C-68 was first proposed, I was one of the founding members of one of the first provincial firearms owners groups organized to fight it: the Saskatchewan Responsible Firearms Owners.
Actually, I was the one who convinced the group to use the word "Responsible" in our name, to force the news media and also our anti-gun opponents to link 'firearms owner' with 'responsible'. Until then, the antis had been waging a quite successful all-out propaganda campaign to paint all firearms owners as rabid, wild-eyed mentally unbalanced gun nuts. Forcing the anti-gunners like Wendy Cukier and Allan Rock to call us 'responsible' did two things: it put a crimp in their propaganda effort and it made them practically choke with rage whenever they had to force the word out.
During the C-68 fight, I helped author many of the papers put out by the firearms groups, especially on issues of rights and constitutional points. My brother and I also put together an estimate for SRFO of the probable cost of the proposed Long Gun Registry to counter the Liberal government's claim that the program would only cost $17M ($15M of which would be recovered from fees). Our estimate of the LGR cost was a minimum of $250M and more probably close to $1B. Even many of our fellow lobbyists raised an eyebrow at those figures. In the end, we were not too high but about $1B too low; but SRFO came closer to the true cost than anyone else in Canada. Oh yes, and I testified about the Bill in front of the House of Commons committee.
So when it comes to firearms law, I have been at the game for a very looong time.
2. Re the LAR-15 mag:
In my first post I said I hadn't had a chance to examine the LAR-15 or AIA magazines personally, but gave a general warning about what should be on any mag if you wanted to use it. Whereupon a couple people became very huffy about that advice.
In my second post, after you commented that the LAR-15 mag was marked, I said: "If the LAR magazines are very clearly marked as being for a LAR, and you have documentation available to carry with you that will make it clear to the stupidest schmuck that the LAR is a pistol and therefore the magazine is legal, then great: that covers my point nicely."
After which, you posted the above comment.
Since then, I have had a chance to look at a LAR-15 mag, and it is very clearly marked - in what appears to be a roll-on ink label - "Model LAR-15 Pistol Magazine ... Capacity 10 Rounds". So, yes, I agree, it is very nicely marked, and if you carry the RCMP documentation about pistol mags with you, then you should with reasonable luck avoid any difficulties.
I would add one caveat to that: if time and contact with gun oils and cleaning solvents causes that inked label to become illegible, then you had better consider that magazine spent and replace it.
3. I have not had any luck finding either an AIA magazine or a picture of one, so I can't comment about its markings. However, I will reiterate my original warning that, if you want to use an over-capacity mag in your semi-auto rifle, it had better be clearly stamped as a pistol or bolt-action rifle mag. And even then, depending on what police officer / Crown prosecutor you are dealing with, you may still have more problems than you care to believe possible.
4. Pepper spray
Why do I still stand by my first warning, and reiterate it in paragraph 3? Because of 20 years of professional experience with the treatment of pepper spray by police and prosecutors.
As you are all weapon aficionados and obviously thoroughly familiar with the weapons sections of the Criminal Code and Firearms Act, the accompanying regulations, and the resulting case law, I assume you know that there are two kinds of pepper spray under Canadian law: evil pepper spray and good pepper spray.
Evil pepper spray is intended for use against humans. It is a 'prohibited weapon' under the Criminal Code and is completely 100% illegal for everyone except the police and military.
Good pepper spray is intended for use against animals. It is 100% legal, completely non-restricted, and even children can own it.
How do you tell the difference between the two? If you find yourself on the business end of it, you probably can't. A chemical comparison may not help much either. However, 'good' pepper spray is manufactured solely for personal protection against animals, such as dogs and bears, by manufacturers who not only mark it for this purpose, they also register it as such with the Department of Agriculture under the Pest Control Products law and regulations. As such, 'good' pepper spray is assigned a serial number by the government under the PCP regulations, and the manufacturer marks this PCP# on the can. The pepper spray is then officially classified in law as an 'agricultural chemical' and is legal for commercial sale in farm supply, camping and sporting goods stores across the nation.
How long has this distinction in pepper sprays been 'well known' and 'well established' in Canadian law? Over 20 years.
So if you decide to go jogging or walking with a can of PCP#-marked 'dog spray' in your pocket for protection against 'stray dogs', you shouldn't have ANY trouble at all, right?
Right ... unless you run into a police officer who doesn't like you. In that case, your chances of being arrested and charged for 'possession of a prohibited weapon, to wit pepper spray' are ... rather high.
And you know something? You can point out the PCP number on the can, wave the regulations at the officer, and the JP at the station. But I will almost guarantee that if you are arrested on Friday night, you will still sit in jail until court Monday before finally being released on conditions pending trial, because you have been arrested on 'serious weapons charges.' And you will probably find your name in the Monday evening newspaper under that heading: 'Local man arrested on serious weapons charge'. And, if you are very unlucky, even after pointing out the PCP# and the regulations to the prosecutor, you may still have to actually go to trial to clear yourself.
How do I know this? Because in the last 20 years, this has happened to several hundred people in my province. The ones I represented, were acquitted. Those who had other lawyers or no lawyers ... may not have been so lucky. Multiply that across Canada, and the number of people arrested and charged for possessing a 'prohibited weapon' that was completely legal is probably in the thousands.
So don't tell me it can't happen with your legal 10-round magazine in your rifle.
