Antique pistol use

sdwatt said:
It seems the law is on our side, mostly, but we are still not trying to exercise our rights as we fear the liberal retaliation. SO, liberals still win?
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Basically..... We hide our antiques like criminals and try to avoid being seen with them even though it is 100% legal. Personally I try to educate people a little about them. I've met up with the odd hiker while shooting my antique revolvers in the bush before. I found that chatting with them a little really helps and I've had people genuinely interested ask to look and handle my handguns. Have a nice chat, don't act like an idiot and all seems to go just fine.....
 
use of antique handguns

I'm in the process of de-reg'ing a couple of revolvers to 'antique' status simply because I want my wife to be able to inherit them as she is not grandmothered 12(6). She can get the others thru' the 12(7) provision.

It would not be my intention to pack either in the boonies as I have utterly no faith or trust in the average LEO's knowledge of law or the authority of an RCMP letter of exemption cutting me any slack.
You might win in court after a lengthy and expensive court battle, but that will put you on the radar. Canadian gun owners have learned to fear their own gov't and police at a time when careeer criminals have never had it so good.
How many of you get that uneasy feeling when you see a police car behind you and you wonder if he is running your plate number? Having a tail light out could lead to a 'probable grounds' search on some pretext and you are in a lot of doo-doo.
What I am saying is that we have come to a point in time where legal gun owners are considered suspect in that we own guns - period. We are politically incorrect to our fellow citizens.

Case in point - last year the mentally challenged 49 year old son of friends was violently taken down by three armed RCMP members. Why? Because someone had spotted him playing with a plastic 'Star Wars' type pistol outside his trailer park home near a highschool.
When they took him down, he was walking to the store to buy milk, the 'gun' at home. This sparked quite a debate in the local rag. The RCMP claim to have acted within 'policy guidelines'.
This may be so, but that suggests there is something wrong with the guidelines and they need to be re-examined.
A law suit was averted with an 'out-of-court' settlement. The father of the man is a retired LEO.
 
I would see discretion as being different from 'hiding our antiques like criminals'. I am selective about who sees and hears what. I educate as much as I can while being careful about who sees me packing iron where. I always bring my antique letter along and like to have a copy of the law re. antique pistols on my person as well, especially is there is a crazed gunphobe in the area. As far as LEO's are concerned, I prefer to educate them. Some are already aware of our freedom in this area and some are not. Most of the LEO's I've talked with are positive toward antique sixguns and wish they had one too.
 
Win 38-55, You are in a much more populated area than myself. I'm lucky enough to be able to walk almost from my door to hunt and shoot. I am carefull about my antiques but much prefer to use them as they were intended rather than polish them in the basement. If I happen to meet someone while out, I am carefull but very respectfull and polite. Talking to people and educating them makes all the difference in the world.
 
When im in the bush the only thing gona see my antique is a s**t weasel. :p

Thats why i use a flap holster and a shoulder strap ontop of my coat so any hikers walking towards me just see the strap accross my body and cant see the holsters behind me.
i am polite and get off the trail with my dogs on leashs.
never had anyone ever know i had a antique with me.
I could not enjoy the rest of my time in the bush if someone seen or knew i had a antique with me.
people can be nice to your face then turn running to the cops as fast as they can run eh.

Thos who want to show hikers there antiques and explain things thats your own choice but my faith in other people is not that great.
maby back east hikers are diffrent than the ones around here.
 
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I (and most antique folks here) will agree with the position of keep it out of plain sight so that someone on the trail doesn freak out. That doesn't mean concealed carry...that will still get you in a heap of trouble.

The worst thing for all of us is to have someone drawing attention to the fact that they are carrying an antique revolver on the trail - leading to someone complaining to an LEO or even an MLA - leading to a change in the regs f***ing it all up for everyone else.

Not to hammer on anyone in particular (I didn't read the whole thread so I don't know what the initial discusion was) but I agree with Dingus' ways here.
 
I would agree as well. I don't trust hikers as far as I can throw them. Like Dingus said, they can behave real nice to your face and, as soon as they get around the corner, freak out. I need to get to know a person a bit before deciding whether it is even safe to let them know I own guns. If I think there is a chance I might run into a hiker, I don't wear any sixgun (although Dingus' idea of a flap holster is a good one). In the type of remote crown land we tend to frequent, I do not recall meeting a single hiker in 20 years of wilderness camping. In fact, I hate meeting people in the wilderness, so we tend to head deep enough into the wilderness to get beyond any hikers.
 
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