Just curious if anyone new the reason why the FN FAL was outlawed in canada? I'm only 25 and missed all that goings on. I realize I has "capabilty" to go full auto, but as far as that goes so does the M14. Anyway just curious, thanks
Good luck getting the RCMP to go there though - they have lost sight of the fact that the prohib list exists to protect the public from full auto and easily convertible (ie: 10 minutes in the garage with your cordless drill) to full auto guns NOT guns that are simply scary looking...
I didn't think it was restricted until 1983 or so. It seems to me that I bought one at Levers in the late '70s and sold it in the early '80s when there was word it was going to be restricted. I could be mistaken, tho, its getting to be a long time ago!
I'm sorry, but every answer above is nonsense, plain and simple (with the possible exception of "because it's a hot little rifle").
The prohibited list never had anything with "easily convertible to full auto" guns. It was ALWAYS 100% about guns that looked scary. That is why, officially, guns were graded on a point scale. Any gun receiving 50 points was prohibited, and the presence of a pistol grip earned 49.
The FAL (and all variants) became prohibited on January 1, 1995, the same day as the AK-47, HK 91, Galil, Sig PE57, Beretta BM-59, AR-18, Daewoo K1, FN-FNC and a bunch of other rifles. The FAL was not singled out in any way, not for its capabilities, not for any eccentricities of its trigger system, not for its availability. Essentially, every centrefire semi-auto rifle with a pistol grip, except the AR-15. became prohibited. The Liberal government was trying to remove non-sporting "assault rifles" from civilian hands, and the FN-FAL fell into that category.
Because they want to ban all guns, by breaking them up into arbitrary categories and banning one category at a time. They all go in the smelter, the order is unimportant.
Oh god another "can someone explain why the ### is restricted/prohibited" NO! Unless you speak/understand the language of MORON then it cannot be explained or understood.