I was leafing through the Criminal Code (it's a rainy day) on the subject of prohibited devices and discovered these gems:
"
S.91(2) Subject to subsection (4), every person commits an offence who possesses....a prohibited device...without being the holder of a licence under which the person may possess it. "
The penalty can be imprisonment for up to five years.
Subsection (4) makes an exception if the person "lawfully disposes of it" or obtains a licence (which of course is impossible.)
"
S.106(1) Every person commits an offence who
(a) after destroying any...prohibited device..or
(b) on becoming aware of the destruction of any...prohibited device...that was in the person's possession before its destruction,
does not with reasonable despatch report the destruction to a peace officer, firearms officer or chief firearms officer.
Once again the penalty can be imprisonment for up to five years.
On the other hand the Regulations, Part 4, 3(4) & (5) permit an otherwise prohibited magazine if it is permanently altered to accept only 10 (in this case) cartridges.
I'm not a lawyer, but it looks to me like everyone who owns a 25rnd S&W 15-22 magazine must:
a) destroy or permanently pin it and;
b) report the destruction (and/or report the alteration? that's not clear)
or risk 5 to 10 years in the slammer.
If anyone knows whether the government is required to notify owners of a change in status of some device that makes them subject to these penalties I'd like to hear about it. I rather suspect that we are expected to become aware of these developments via mental telepathy or daily perusal of the RCMP prohibited lists.
Anyway, I offer these cheery bits of info in case you were having a nice day
