Please Remove

[lsv]

My wife's was about 45 days on the nose, but mine took 9~ months. The officer that phoned me said the person responsible for my application had retired. I mentioned my congratulations for the person who retired, but the officer seemed a bit irritated he had to deal with my application - but he was very professional.

I was asked a few questions like address, intent (target shooting), a few weeks later it was in my mailbox.

I was sort of in the same place as OP, I gave up after some time and got a call out of the blue.

Either way, I'm happy for the privilege and have gone to my range several times since, making some friends and safely appreciating the sport.

It's crummy, but 10/10 would wait again.

900 days though, youch! It's too bad they didn't tell you why it took so long

[Light Infantry]

900 days. Imagine if you pulled that in a non-government job.

Customers lose their minds if you are 9 days late, let alone 900.

[Magellann]

I don't think that I could have been that patient. 90 days is more than enough time.

[rommelrommel]

I think someone there lost track of files because I've heard this exact story more than a few times out of BC. A friend of mine was well over a year and a call to his MP got it approved the next morning.

[VanIsleCam]

Had a similar issue with BC as well although it wasn't 900 days. But the explanation I got was that the reviewer went on an extended vacation / medical leave and no one had transferred the files. It took a number of calls in to find this out. I started a log of my calls and took notes with the responses.

[OkayShooter]

Yeah I got my PAL in under 30 days in 2003?

I wouldn't wait 90 days.

[silverfoxdj]

Unless there was a spousal incident I don't see why it was so long

[TurboTapin]

That's insane. Both my applications (Pal and then Rpal later on) took about 2 months each. I remember being upset it took that long and was calling weekly.

[bush]

70 % of licences and renewals are approved at the Central Processing Center in Miramichi. If you have ANY criminal history (regardless of convictions) the process stops. If you have a FIP (firearms interest police these last 5 years) the process stops. If you answer "yes" to any personal history question the process stops. Its a federal program but delivered at the provincial level. At this point, your application gets sent back to the provincial CFO office for investigation. It gets assigned to a Firearms Officer for investigation. Depending on the province and workload you never know how long the process will take. I know that Ontario is unique in that the Canadian Firearms Program in the it is delivered by a police agency, the OPP. In Ontario you have "Firearms Officers" , civilians and "Area Firearms Officers", who are sworn police officers functioning in a regulatory role. People always seem to think that Dudley Doright is the CFO but that is not the case. I am unaware of any sworn RCMP member functioning as a "Firearms Officer". My personal experience is that Ontario seems to be functioning more effectively that the other provinces. As each province has its own Chief Firearms Office the rules seem to change a bit from province to province which probably add to the time it takes for approval.

[rubberdonuts]

18 months for my brother. Crazy I tell ya.