Just a question, on Legality

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Huggyd

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Sorry newbie question.

Location: Ontario, Canada
Just have my PAL and RPAL NO HUNTING LIC. yet

I live out in the sticks, not to say that there aren't any other houses around, there are.

What if I was just walking down the side of the road on my way to the bush or to ask for permission to hike in someones bush could I get in trouble being seen walking down the street with a gun?
Can you shoot a raccoon without a Hunting Lic. if its on your land??
 
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Have to look in your provincial and local hunting regulations. Ontario is far less open than BC is, so I can't say anything for certain about hunting there.

As you know, only non restricted guns can be taken "out for a walk" so we're going to assume you've got a rifle with you. In that case, unloaded non restricted guns can be carried openly just about anywhere in canada, legally. Hence the use of gun racks in trucks in towns. HOWEVER it depends on your area if you'll have a swat team called on you. In most of the larger towns/cities you will be arrested, called a criminal, charged with unsafe storage, probably a bunch of other BS charges, and then called upon to hire a lawyer to defeat it in court. Before the ruling the crown will drop charges, leaving you vindicated, but out the hassle and court fees.

So, legally you can walk down the road, around town or on crown land with an unloaded gun. I wouldn't carry it to the door of whomever you're asking for permission, as I personally would be suspicious of a random unknown dude with a gun at my front door.

Search for Ontario hunting regulations and see what they say. Read them front to back as they like to have seemingly unrelated sections all over the place in the regs that do in fact have an impact on what you can do.

Just remember - know the law, have copies of the law on hand, and be prepared to very politely explain the law to the twitchy police officers who didn't know civilians could even own guns.
 
You cannot shoot any cute, cuddly, tasty animals in Ontario without a hunting license (exceptions are made for pest control in agricultural settings...but this does not apply to your question). And walking through the woods killing animals for no reason is a little uncalled for in my books.

As for discharge of a firearm in your area...go to your townships website...they will most likely have the bylaws posted. In my township (Smith-Ennismore), you cannot discharge ANYTHING (no pellet, bows, etc...) except on land zoned as unused or agricultural but this will vary from township.
 
Huggyd said:
Sorry newbie question.
...just for hell of it... and saw a raccoon or squirrels could I shoot it without breaking any laws?
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Walking through the woods shooting everything living that you see is a GREAT story for someone to write about in the paper to have stronger anti-gun laws. Please use your head and try to swing people to our side of the fence, not send them screaming to the papers with pictures of you blowing up everything cute and furry.
 
I didn't mean it to sound like I wanted to walk around the woods shooting at cute, cuddly, tasty animals for no good reason. There are a lot of raccoons in the area they can be a problem but I was wondering more about the being seen walking around with a gun not during any hunting seasons.

-I'm reading over my 1st post and yeah I can see where it sounds like I killing the animals just because their there. sorry... not what I ment
 
I like killing furry lil things that are far from tastey, like gophers and skunks and raccoons given the chance, but here in BC, we have two of those three mentioned and you need a hunting lic. to shoot them, even if it for pest control and sometimes they even have a season where you can not shoot them even though they are listed as no bag limit.
Read the Hunting Regs for your Province and Read then again to see what they say.
Then go to the township web site and look up the regs for discharging firearms where you live.
Just my .02
Rob
 
"...Can you shoot a raccoon without a Hunting Lic..." No. Unless you own the land and the beatie is damaging your property. Raccoons can make a mess but they rarely damage anything.
"...walking down the street with a gun..." You are assumed to be hunting. Hunting licence for whatever is in season is required.
 
I have read the ontario hunting regs and talked with a couple different co's and no mention of having a hunting license to go plinking. As long as targets are set up and you can show that you are not hunting it would be hard for such charges to hold up. I would like someone to post such legislation because I have heard this a couple of times and question its validity. Another question I have is is what about places in ontario that state that the hunting license is not valid for a certain time of year(couple month) what then. Are you not allowed to plink during these months. I don't believe it. I specifically asked a co about the legality of carrying a gun in the bush for a canoe trip and was told that as long as I have it transported properly and alert an officer if asked that I will have no problems. So no mention of a hunting license or time of year or season.
 
mlehtovaara said:
I have read the ontario hunting regs and talked with a couple different co's and no mention of having a hunting license to go plinking. As long as targets are set up and you can show that you are not hunting it would be hard for such charges to hold up. I would like someone to post such legislation because I have heard this a couple of times and question its validity. Another question I have is is what about places in ontario that state that the hunting license is not valid for a certain time of year(couple month) what then. Are you not allowed to plink during these months. I don't believe it. I specifically asked a co about the legality of carrying a gun in the bush for a canoe trip and was told that as long as I have it transported properly and alert an officer if asked that I will have no problems. So no mention of a hunting license or time of year or season.
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Their is no legistalation regarding target shooting in this manner. You're falling into the trap of "Just because the regs dont specifically say what to do, its illegal"

Ive spoken to a CO about this before. His response was much the same as yours; If its obvious your target shooting, its OK. His main concern was safety (as it should be; you're not breaking any hunting laws).

If your in full camo, doused in deer piss in a closed season, you might get in trouble.

Ive also called the CFO Ontario and spoken to them about the firearms portion of this, they, in short, said "Have a good backstop, be sure bullets arent leaving the property, and you're good to go"
 
So if I buy a disc sling (clay's) I can stand in my backyard lanch them off into an open field (with the permission of the person owning the field) on any given day (Sunday being the only excption, if that old rule is still around) and even if the neighbours call the cops they really can't do anything?
I know durning my classes they were saying that you have to turn yourself into a shotting club but i'm not sure if that for restricted or non-restricted or both?
 
Huggyd said:
So if I buy a disc sling (clay's) I can stand in my backyard lanch them off into an open field (with the permission of the person owning the field) on any given day (Sunday being the only excption, if that old rule is still around) and even if the neighbours call the cops they really can't do anything?
I know durning my classes they were saying that you have to turn yourself into a shotting club but i'm not sure if that for restricted or non-restricted or both?
Click to expand...

Yes. You can shoot clays where you have permission. I would be careful their though, because you are shooting into the air, and regardless of how far shot is actually going, police may look at it differently. Not all cops are gun owners, nor understand range etc.

And the "Sunday" rule doesnt exist, at least not in ontario (township bylaws exception).
 
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