Ok, so as to not needlessly kibitz, but actually find out from someone who should know, I called the office of Chief Firearms Officer of Ontario.
Basically I had three questions that I wanted to ask:
1) What is required to import magazines into Canada
2) Does pinning have to be done abroad, or can it be done in Canada. Again, what are the legal requirements.
3) How was the pinning of mags done when Bill C-17 (1991) came into effect.
I was using Magpul P-Mags, 30 round capacity for AR-15 platform as the example, and I specifically told him that I am interested only in Canadian side of the story, and that I can find out the American requirements from DOS/BATF
I didn't get the name of the person (male), with whom I was talking to, but the question about legality of importing magazines really upset him.
Basically, according to CFO of Ontario, the only way such magazines could be imported into Canada, is by the licensed business for the purpose of use in a movie industry, and no other way.
According to the CFO, pinning of magazines is grey area, and in his opinion CBSA's opinion on the matter is that if anything is pinned, it could be unpinned back, and thus even pinned mags are prohibited devices. According to the CFO anything that is not built specifically in 5 or 10 round capacity will be stopped by CBSA.
Now, I am reporting what the fellow said, but I am calling Bulle Scheiße on this, since there are many people selling high capacity mags that are pinned to the necessary 5 rounds - example would be the recent sale by Wolverine supplies of the 30 round mags for CZ-858 pinned to 5 rounds. Obviously these mags somehow made it past CBSA, irregardless of them being pinned in Canad or abroad.
I referred him to the Criminal Code Regulations (
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/SOR-98-462/FullText.html ), which spell out what needs to be done, and he got upset at me, saying that if I know what needs to be done, why is it that I am calling him.
When I asked how the people did it in 1991, he again got upset, and told me that the mags back then were all 5 and 10 rounds, so there wasn't much pinning to do. When I asked if that meant that people that had high capacity mags in their rifles and handguns had to destroy those mags and buy new ones, he told me that yes. Again, this sounds like Bulle Scheiße to me, and it's possible that the person I talked to is not familiar with the subject.
He asked me why I am asking him all these questions, and I told him that I am interested in importing about a 1000 mags from US, and would like to find out how I can do that legally. At which point he got even more upset, but in the end referred me to the CBSA, giving me the 1-800-461-9999 number to call. I asked if I should talk to someone specific there, and he told me that no, they will be able to direct me where necessary.
I didn't call CBSA, since in my mind it's useless - they will tell me that if my papers are in order, they will let the shipment through, and to find out what papers need to be in order I'll need to talk to RCMP and maybe to the CFO.
For the record, here is the relevant part of the Criminal Code Regulations
Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited or Restricted
SOR/98-462
Registration September 16, 1998
[...]
(4) A cartridge magazine described in subsection (1) that has been altered or re-manufactured so that it is not capable of containing more than five or ten cartridges, as the case may be, of the type for which it was originally designed is not a prohibited device as prescribed by that subsection if the modification to the magazine cannot be easily removed and the magazine cannot be easily further altered so that it is so capable of containing more than five or ten cartridges, as the case may be.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), altering or re-manufacturing a cartridge magazine includes
(a) the indentation of its casing by forging, casting, swaging or impressing;
(b) in the case of a cartridge magazine with a steel or aluminum casing, the insertion and attachment of a plug, sleeve, rod, pin, flange or similar device, made of steel or aluminum, as the case may be, or of a similar material, to the inner surface of its casing by welding, brazing or any other similar method; or
(c) in the case of a cartridge magazine with a casing made of a material other than steel or aluminum, the attachment of a plug, sleeve, rod, pin, flange or similar device, made of steel or of a material similar to that of the magazine casing, to the inner surface of its casing by welding, brazing or any other similar method or by applying a permanent adhesive substance, such as a cement or an epoxy or other glue.
I am curious what the RCMP will answer, and how familiar the CFOs of other provinces are with the subject, and if they have anything useful to say (Well, I guess we an ask CBSA as well, but I outlined above what I strongly suspect that they will reply) on the matter.
Anyone wants to follow up with RCMP (and maybe their CFO)?