Finally - I got a response from the govt as to why AR15s are restricted!

greentips said:
AR15 is the fastest growing hunting rifle in North America. We need to educate the politicians, as well as other hunters.
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Good advice but make sure that you first join the NFA (and DCRA if you're interested in long range shooting)!
Only NFA and DCRA stood for gun owners rights when black rifle were prohibited or restricted in the 1990s.

"We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately" -Benjamin Franklin (attributed)

Alex
 
I talked with DCRA- they recommended CSSA as the lobby body. Also suggested I join ORA, because of where I'm located (GTA).
 
got_ebr_ar15_and_ak47_mousepad-p144248867638207459eng3t_325.jpg
 
The office of my MP got back to me

The admin assistant's message was that he was in agreement that regulations around the AR platform should be reviewed and he would fwd his comments to Mr Toews.
 
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nntw said:
The admin assistant's message was that he was in agreement that regulations around the AR platform should be reviewed and he would fwd his comments to Mr Toews.
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The MP's office also recommended I join a lobby group-eg CSSA. SHE said there was actually a pretty big pro-gun support base here in Etobicoke. And it was quite nice to talk to her about gun issues - she certainly didn't seem the stereotypical "anti".
 
One thing that did pop up in my head was how easy it is to change the barrel length. Think of all those guys with ARs that have more than one upper and since the lower receiver is the one with the serial number. I would love the AR to be non-restricted, but I was wondering if anyone else thought of this as well.
 
mr_nuts31 said:
One thing that did pop up in my head was how easy it is to change the barrel length. Think of all those guys with ARs that have more than one upper and since the lower receiver is the one with the serial number. I would love the AR to be non-restricted, but I was wondering if anyone else thought of this as well.
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I believe there is provision for this with other firearms. You change the barrel on a rifle to make it restricted, you then have a certain amount of time to register it as restricted. And you can also go the other way- rebarrelling M1 carbines or Bushmaster ACR's for example. Rebarreling prohibited pistols to make them restricted (although as I understand it, and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, the prohibited barrel is either retained by someone or a gunshop with prohib licence, or destroyed).

From my perspective, the OAL and barrel length criteria that make a rifle restricted are different that the issue of making the whole AR family or platform restricted. One possible way to deal with this would be to make the short barrels or upper receiver assembly the restricted item. People who have or choose to have short barreled ARs would be no worse off than than they already are, and those whose rifle meet the OAL length and 18.5" criteria could use them as 'regular' long guns.

And I would point out that there are regulations on barrel length in the US as well. Per wikipedia.org:

Short-barreled rifle (SBR) is a legal designation in the United States, referring to a shoulder-fired, rifled firearm with a barrel length of less than 16 inches (40.6 cm) or overall length of less than 26 inches (66.0 cm). In the United States, an SBR is an item regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) as an NFA firearm. In the absence of local laws prohibiting ownership, American civilians may own an SBR provided it is registered with the BATFE, and a $200 tax is paid prior to taking possession of or creating the firearm.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-barreled_rifle

So let's not pretend that our freedom-loving neighbours to the south can do everything they want either. There are hoops they have to jump through and regulations they have to obey too.
 
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I guess in light of recent comments by Mr Harper I now know where the federal govt stands on 'de-restricting' the AR15....
 
nntw said:
(although as I understand it, and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, the prohibited barrel is either retained by someone or a gunshop with prohib licence, or destroyed).
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FYI, a short handgun barrel is considered a prohibited device in Canada, same as supressors and variouse other "evil" things...
CC said:
“prohibited device” means
(b) a handgun barrel that is equal to or less than 105 mm in length, but does not include any such handgun barrel that is prescribed, where the handgun barrel is for use in international sporting competitions governed by the rules of the International Shooting Union,
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One heck of a deer rifle.

If fear you might be right. I really wish I could take an R-25 hunting, I met a guy from Montana last year that told me he had a specially customed R-25 in .338 Federal. It would be truly a dream to hunt with that rifle. I love the camo patterns too.

As far as I'm concerned the ARs should be seen as just another deer rifle and a beautiful deer rifle at that.

[URL="http://3.bp.########.com/_UyiffDFtfIU/TP0aYnQSi7I/AAAAAAAADKE/mb_B8bo0Dy8/s1600/r25b.jpg"]http://3.bp.########.com/_UyiffDFtfIU/TP0aYnQSi7I/AAAAAAAADKE/mb_B8bo0Dy8/s1600/r25b.jpg[/URL]
 
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Mirk said:
FYI, a short handgun barrel is considered a prohibited device in Canada, same as supressors and variouse other "evil" things...
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so, is a gunshop/individual that already HAS prohibited items (whether store stock or personally owned) allowed to retain a prohib barrel that's removed from a firearm, or does it immediately have to be destroyed? not that this is really the central point of my thread....
 
Maybe. It depends on the licence. Some can, some can't. If they can, there may be a limit on how many they can be holding.
 
I am not perfectly sure how the licensing works, but certain businesses can be licensed to poses prohibited devices and firearms and would thus be allowed to keep them. Not sure what value a prohib barrel would retain in Canada though...
 
I think if there was ever a rifle that could be said to have a wide and well established use for both sportsmen and marksmen it would be the AR-15.
If there was ever a gun to be the perfect poster boy to be reclassified from restricted to not restricted it would be this one.
Realistically, what is there that we can do to start to get some momentum behind this?
 
I would love for the AR15 to become non-restricted, but I don't think it will happen.

I am a bureaucrat (don't hate - I'm not federal and I work with highways) who has to deal with political nonsense every day. I can't see any party standing behind this position because it will cost far more votes and support than it will generate.

No party will support this idea, because the political visibility of changing the classification of this rifle is just too juicy for the opposition to not use against them, and the stance would ultimately cost them votes and support. Show a photo of an AR15 to an average joe turkey and you can be sure their immediate reaction will be that it is bad and evil. That is all it takes and all that matters - you think the average joe turkey is going to educate him/herself about how the looks of a rifle doesn't make it any more or less dangerous as their grandfathers old hunting rifle? Their initial reaction is what counts in the world of politics.

Unfortunately, I think your ultimate solution here is time. Eventually the ar-15 will become dated, and new better rifles will take its place. When that happens, it will be hard for the politicians and policy writers to keep up. Hopefully these new rifles will become more established and therefore more difficult to restrict without the risk of backlash and lawsuits.

It is all about optics - I think the Tavor is a good example - I think it looks like a futuristic death machine and perhaps more evil than the AR15. If there was more of them around, and the public knew you could drive around with one in your car, you can be sure there would be a lot more pressure to restrict it or ban it. But since there is no visibility on the Tavor, and therefore no votes to be made, nobody seems to care.

Keep in mind the responses to the majority of the letters you write are being drafted by some low-level bureaucrat. Basically what [the bureaucrat] does is write a simple fluff letter with no content and no commitment (for the politician's signature). 99% of the time the bureaucrat doesn't even know the opinion of the politician they are writing the letter for. We call them PFO's - which stands for "Please F*** off."

Sorry I usually just lurk - but felt like writing something tonight. I want things changed just as much as anyone, but being in the system and knowing its limits, I can't see it happening. I wanted an AR15 but I settled for a SU16 with pistol grip and LAR mags.
 
I would love to use my 20'' barrel AR for deer hunting, its one of the lightest rifles i own . Its legal to hunt deer with a .223 in BC , A 68 grain SP from a 20'' barrel can put a deer down very well without the loss of much meat . Would make a great BC Blacktail bush gun.
 
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