first moose kill by a pretty lady!

Update -today from the CO's office.. regarding shooting from a vehicle
Just recieved this bit of interesting news.For your info.Take note of the term "probably not breaking the law" ....what?

I write to clarify the opinion provided on September 10, 2009, regarding the use of a motor vehicle as a rest for the discharge of a firearm.

After further discussions with the COS and legal counsel the interpretation provided previously may not have been completely accurate. An individual is probably not breaking the law if they lean against a vehicle to steady their shot, provided both feet are on the ground. There is a possibility that the term “in or on” applies to the person and not the firearm.

However, this is not a recommended practice as there is a limited field of vision in an area where there is a high likelihood of other people being present. This activity comprises only a portion of a hunt, and as with every situation, the actions of a Conservation Officer would reflect specific circumstances

Regards,

Stephen MacIver
Fish and Wildlife Branch
Ministry of Environment
(250) 387-9767
 
Direct from the CO's office:RE:shooting from the hood
Direct from the CO's office.

Thank you for your letter dated September 8, 2009, regarding the legalities of using a motor vehicle as a rest to discharge a firearm. Your inquiry has been forwarded to me for response.

As you have mentioned, it is illegal to discharge (the actual regulation from the Firearms Act is below, and extends beyond “discharge”) a firearm “in” or “on” a motor vehicle, this includes leaning against the hood, door, or any other part of the vehicle. Technically, having a firearm in your hand, and your hand or arm is resting “on” a vehicle would constitute having a loaded firearm “on” a vehicle.

The rational for this is safety related; a vehicle has the potential to move (emergency brake fails, etc) and therefore may be unstable, and your field of vision will be limited by the same vehicle you are resting on. When discharging a firearm everything in contact with your body should be solid and you should have a clear field of vision of everything in front of you. Fines and charges for discharging a firearm “on” a vehicle in this manner are issued.

(1) Unless authorized by the regulations or a permit, a person must not discharge, carry or have in the person's possession, in or on a railway car, hand car or other vehicle on a railway, or in or on a motor vehicle, wagon, sleigh, aircraft, bicycle or other conveyance, a firearm containing live ammunition in its breech or in its magazine.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence.

Thank you again for your inquiry,

Stephen MacIver
Senior Wildlife Regulations Officer
Fish and Wildlife Branch
Ministry of Environment
Phone (250) 387-9767
Fax (250) 387-0239
Email: stephen.maciver@gov.bc.ca
__________________
 
impact.ca said:
After further discussions with the COS and legal counsel the interpretation provided previously may not have been completely accurate. An individual is probably not breaking the law if they lean against a vehicle to steady their shot, provided both feet are on the ground. There is a possibility that the term “in or on” applies to the person and not the firearm.
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Exactly what I was thinking...

Aside from provincial hunting regulations, we all know that the current firearms legislation is somewhat subjective ( :rolleyes: ), but I can't find a single reference in the Canada Firearms Act or the Criminal code stating anything regarding discharging a firearm from a vehicle. Stubble, can you find any such reference, or are you just assuming that this is written into federal law? From what I've seen so far, this is purely provincial legislation...
 
An individual is probably not breaking the law if they lean against a vehicle to steady their shot, provided both feet are on the ground.
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It seems to come down to a play on the wording.The second statement made no mention of using the motor vehicle as a rest to shoot off of like the first statement did.That being the case,one thing to note in the video is that the shooter was laying her elbow on top of the atv acting as a rest,she was not simply leaning against the vehicle to steady her shot,as the second statement mentions.

Furthermore,the person only addressed the rule about discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle,he did not address the rule(number 5) dealing with a loaded firearm on a vehicle.Are we to assume that as long as your feet are on the ground all is legal?Rule #5 specifically mentions a sleigh,can you lay on the sleigh with all of your weight as long as both boots are touching the ground?How about a bicycle which is also specifically mentioned,can you sit on the seat and rest on the handle bars as long as both feet are touching the ground?The sleigh and bicycle examples would make it ridiculous to use both feet on the ground as the deciding factor,and I wouldn't bet on a judge interpreting the law by using that criteria..



Aside from provincial hunting regulations, we all know that the current firearms legislation is somewhat subjective ( ), but I can't find a single reference in the Canada Firearms Act or the Criminal code stating anything regarding discharging a firearm from a vehicle. Stubble, can you find any such reference, or are you just assuming that this is written into federal law? From what I've seen so far, this is purely provincial legislation...
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As far as I can see,the federal legislation says nothing about discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle,but it does deal with having a loaded firearm in or on a motor vehicle,or in any location where it is not legal to discharge a firearm.In order to discharge a firearm from a vehicle,it must first be loaded.
 
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I can't even find where it says that. Can you point me in the right direction?

I did find the reference about having a loaded firearm in or on a motor vehicle in the Alberta Wildlife Act, but I couldn't find anything about it in the Canada Firearms Act...
 
I did find the reference about having a loaded firearm in or on a motor vehicle in the Alberta Wildlife Act, but I couldn't find anything about it in the Canada Firearms Act...
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In any case where a motor vehicle is mentioned in the act,it is specified that the firearm must be unloaded.Again a judges interpretation is what counts.

The act also mentions that a firearm must be unloaded in any location where it can't be legally discharged.If the provincial regulation prohibits the discharge of the firearm in a given location or situation,having that firearm loaded is therefore a federal offense.

The bottom line is that in B.C. you may or may not be charged and you may or may not be convicted for shooting off of a motor vehicle.However, I wouldn't want to take the chance,as lawyers are expensive as is time lost to attend court if you are charged and must face a trial,even if you are later found not guilty.

The B.C. rule about having a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle,seems to me to be more likely to result in charges and a conviction.Thinking back to my much younger days,I can remember being at the ,local river fishing and having the RCMP pull up,look in the vehicle as part of a routine check and charge us with open liquor in/on a motor vehicle,because we had a partially empty bottle of rye sitting in the car.In this case,we were not in/on the car,but the bottle of rye was,and that is all that supposedly mattered to the officer.Would a judge interpret the loaded gun in a motor vehicle situation the same way,I wouldn't bet against it.
 
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Ok, thanks. I was just wondering if you had some other information regarding the federal legislation, but it looks like you were referring to the provincial legislation that talks about having a loaded firearm on or in a vehicle.

As with most of our crappy firearms laws, I agree that this is very subjective to a judge's interpretation.
 
As with most of our crappy firearms laws, I agree that this is very subjective to a judge's interpretation.
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Which is why I prefer to avoid such situations in the first place.It's not worth trying to test the limits of the system,even if you win in court,it still costs time and money.

And looking at the wording in the Alberta regulations, about "having a loaded weapon in or on a vehicle whether it is moving or stationary",it might be even harder to win your case in Alberta.The CO that checked our guns while they were laying on my truck made it quite clear that we would have been charged if the guns had been loaded.
 
Great Moose!!

Interesting on the motor vehicle discussion as well.

I hunt out of a boat regularly for birds in SK and was told by our local CO that all forward movement must be stopped before loading and firing.

If a motor is attached to the boat you can not "drift" into the birds. If there is no motor, you are good to go.

Never got it in writing but maybe I should??
 
I think the video is great...Besides the moose and the pretty woman the stop at starbucks was my favorite part!
 
Quite the discussion Eh!. Like the way many of our firearm and hunting laws are written they are subject to much individual interpretation. This has been very interesting, thanks for all the input. I still enjoyed the video.
 
Nice video, Thanks .
Good shooting, pretty Lady .
Good job hauling out the moose , young fella .Tough terrain....been there done that....years ago .
 
great video. my wife go's gopher shooting in alberta with me every
year, and want's to hunt now too. so i guess we are both pretty lucky.
you can send some of that swamp donkey my way anytime!!!!
 
220Swifty said:
My wife proudly let me know yesterday that she was dreaming of shooting coyotes.:D

Problem with getting your wife into hunting is that it gets at least twice as expensive.
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yes but if you can get your girl to go hunting with you.....money should be no object
 
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