new way to get an antique status letter wtf?

Well I had my first and hopefully my last "thank God I had a RCMP letter" moment today.
I finally decided I was going to ship one of my antiques to a US gunsmith for work. Figuring I was going to do some shopping in the States today, I thought I would just ship it once I crossed the border. Let me tell you right now it was not the most pleasant experience. I had the handgun all packed up in secured gun carrier within a sealed box with instruction to the gunsmith and a copy of my CFC letter.

First stop was on the Canadian side to ask them for one of those green temporary item exportation cards so I don't have to pay taxes on re-importation other than on the smith work. Well the moment I mentioned antique handgun to the boarder guard, it was like I said I had leprosy and it required the immediate attention/backup of another guard who was armed with a PX4. They escorted me watchfully, one of the agents with their hand on their pistol all the way to my truck. Interestingly enough they seemed satisfied just looking at the revolver and both decided it looked pretty old, no need for proof and decided I was just some sort of crazy gun collector and had me on my way.

A few minutes later on the American side the American DHS agent asked if I had any firearms to which of course I honestly replied, yes an "Antique handgun on the way to a gunsmith". Immediately there was a flurry of activity like they caught a criminal mastermind who had fallen into their well crafted trap. This culminated in me being pulled in for inspection by two burly officers who kept asking me the same questions repeatedly assuming that eventually I will say something contradictory. Ultimately they seemed satisfied with the CFC letter but only after they asked me to sit in a 5x6 "waiting room" with bare concrete walls, opaque window that oddly felt like a holding cell. They rummaged through my truck for a seeming eternity that was really only 20 minutes. During the period that I was "waiting” I honestly started to wonder "did I do something wrong?" "are they going to seize my truck?", "my wife is going to kill me if I get arrested". Nonetheless the letter proved to be quite helpful today; it clearly kept me out of real jail.

The worst part of all of this was the feeling of being criminalized by both sets of officers for what I understand to be legal behaviour otherwise.
 
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just to uptade you on my quest to get an antique letter from the RCMP.after all the emails i sent requesting this letter i got today .i think the only reason i got the letter without having to register the piece first was that it was not in my possestion and not even in canada and that the main reason i needed one was to avert the situation that APU got in at the border .i also made sure to tell them i was afraid of getting arrested (detained) at the border and it was needed to prove to CBSA that it was indeed an antique and legal.get what you will from this .but from now on if i need an antique letter for anything i will use the same reasonning in my corespondance with the
CFC (RCMP).
 
Sounds like you had a good time, APU. My experiences in bringing antique guns through Canada Customs have been much more relaxed. In fact, on two different occasions, the border guards turned out to be green with envy. Always nice to have an antique letter or some proof of antique status. I haven't always used a letter, though. On a few occasions going into the US, a photocopy of serial number vs. manufacturing date from a published work, backed up with a URL worked just fine. When going through customs, I have my paper work literally inches from my hand, so that as I am uttering the words 'antique gun', the paperwork is on its way out the window and into the hand of the guard.
 
Win 38-55 said:
In fact, on two different occasions, the border guards turned out to be green with envy. On a few occasions going into the US, a photocopy of serial number vs. manufacturing date from a published work, backed up with a URL worked just fine. When going through customs, I have my paper work literally inches from my hand, so that as I am uttering the words 'antique gun', the paperwork is on its way out the window and into the hand of the guard.
Click to expand...

The one time I took one through, they were very hesitant to let it through (flintlock pistol in need of severe repair), were extremely sceptical of my xerox copy of the appropriate regs and only let it through because they did not think I could make it fire. They did not seem to particularly question the age of the gun. The RCMP would not issue a letter because there was no maker's name on the barrel

cheers mooncoon
 
just came across this , and thought i'd add it to this thread ;


now lets say your walking through the woods with your antique revolver and you meet a police officer , now to a police officer that antique is a restricted weapon .

"Criminal Code, Section 102

a. A restricted firearms can be seized by a police officer if the person in possession cannot "then and there," meaning "immediately," produce a registration certificate or a permit that allows the person to have possession of that firearm. "

now to prevent siezure , is a homemade letter saying this is a antique good enough ?

just a thought

here is a link to some interesting stuff i have been reading that kind of touches on this whole mess .
http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/no_warrant_no_entry.html
 
burnt_servo said:
just came across this , and thought i'd add it to this thread ;


now lets say your walking through the woods with your antique revolver and you meet a police officer , now to a police officer that antique is a restricted weapon .

"Criminal Code, Section 102

a. A restricted firearms can be seized by a police officer if the person in possession cannot "then and there," meaning "immediately," produce a registration certificate or a permit that allows the person to have possession of that firearm. "

now to prevent siezure , is a homemade letter saying this is a antique good enough ?

just a thought

here is a link to some interesting stuff i have been reading that kind of touches on this whole mess .
http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/no_warrant_no_entry.html
Click to expand...



That Link has some good reading in it im printing that up and keeping it.
Glad to see my Motorhome is as good as a home as far as being off limits unless a warrent is produced.
I always thought they could just barge into any set up camp site and start searching what ever they see fit.

I do have RCMP Antique letters for my bush packers just because the person who is most likely to read it will be a RCMP officer so its gona carry abit more bite being from the RCMP CFC.
 
just came across this , and thought i'd add it to this thread ;


now lets say your walking through the woods with your antique revolver and you meet a police officer , now to a police officer that antique is a restricted weapon .

"Criminal Code, Section 102

a. A restricted firearms can be seized by a police officer if the person in possession cannot "then and there," meaning "immediately," produce a registration certificate or a permit that allows the person to have possession of that firearm. "

now to prevent siezure , is a homemade letter saying this is a antique good enough ?

just a thought
Click to expand...

Maybe someone else has the info handy, but the antique regualtions clearly state that a police officer cannot ask for a registration certificate or license to be produced in the case of an antique firearm.
 
I always thought they could just barge into any set up camp site and start searching what ever they see fit.
Click to expand...

IIRC correctly the GRC cannot but the Conservation Service can. It is becoming more uncommon to meet one with out the other in the bush. I also have a vague memory of the CS being able to enter your home with far less formality then the RCMP. I also think that the CS can gain entry to your unattended camp/vehicle in the bush.

On the positive side the CS in these parts seems to treat you as an honest citizen while they investigate as opposed to the deranged crimminal that some other LEO branches assume you to be. Can't remember ever being treated with anything other then respect by the BCS officers I have had the pleasure of meeting. Nice when being law abiding and friendly returns just rewards. Probabley cause most CS officers are hunters themselves and know dam well if you were a bad guy they could catch you with out much effort. Plus I am pretty sure that they use thier toys to check you out long before you know they are around. There is no dark or silence for those guys!
 
Folks:

Not to hijack this, but reading this thread has brought up a question. I have an old black powder muzzel loader (0.641 inch smooth bore) given to me by a friend that got it from his grandfather's cottage when they were cleaning it out some time ago now. He said it was his great grandfather's cottage gun, and it was there prior to the turn of the 20 th century. I've used it as a wall hanger, it's pretty rusted and pitted. It's obviously never been registered, I have always assumed that it was an antique.

There is no apparent makersmarkings on the gun, not even a maker's name, and certainly no serial number. The only marking is a design that looks like the shell symbol of Shell gas, and what looks like a stylized British flag design.

So, if I ever get questioned about it's status, how does one go about determing the age of the piece or proving it's status?

Any ideas welcome.

Niagara Glenn
 
Folks:

Not to hijack this, but reading this thread has brought up a question. I have an old black powder muzzel loader (0.641 inch smooth bore) given to me by a friend that got it from his grandfather's cottage when they were cleaning it out some time ago now. He said it was his great grandfather's cottage gun, and it was there prior to the turn of the 20 th century. I've used it as a wall hanger, it's pretty rusted and pitted. It's obviously never been registered, I have always assumed that it was an antique.

There is no apparent makersmarkings on the gun, not even a maker's name, and certainly no serial number. The only marking is a design that looks like the shell symbol of Shell gas, and what looks like a stylized British flag design.

So, if I ever get questioned about it's status, how does one go about determing the age of the piece or proving it's status?

Any ideas welcome.

Niagara Glenn
Click to expand...

A letter from your friend stating it's history might help. I'd suggest printing out the antique regs and keeping them on hand just in case. I have a shotgun which is clearly antique with no markings which was deregistered by RCMP......
 
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