Question about prohibited air guns

[Gindryden]

Any experts here? Lol

The more I read the more confused I get. I am looking at a couple air guns at Cabelas. They are the Glock 17 blowback, and the Glock 19 non blowback. The 17 is rated at 365 fps and the 19 at 410 so under the 500 fps line that would classify them as a firearm, and no need for pal etc to purchase. These guns are very realistic looking and in fact are pretty much the same size shape etc to the real thing.

My confusion lies when I read that guns which are replicas are considered to be prohibited. If they are prohibited then how does Cabelas sell them without asking for any type of licence etc.

From the rcmp site
Air guns that are replica firearms
These are air guns not powerful enough to cause serious injury or death, but designed to resemble a real firearm with near precision. Replica firearms, except for replicas of antique firearms, are classified as prohibited devices.

Anyone have a reasonable answer?

 

[redbirddog]

wait till Sept when the Gov is back in the house.... BB guns and Air softs will be probole banned with a pen mark. I would not buy one right now. I loaded up on BBs and pellets for the 2 I have for the deer camp incase you cannot get the ammo on the future.

 

[Gindryden]

wait till Sept when the Gov is back in the house.... BB guns and Air softs will be probole banned with a pen mark. I would not buy one right now. I loaded up on BBs and pellets for the 2 I have for the deer camp incase you cannot get the ammo on the future.

But the stuff I quoted from the rcmp site is current rule, not something in future regulation. If that is the case then how does cabalas etc sell them? These guns are definitely the real thing look alike, so don’t they fall under the prohibited rule?

 

[Midnight Rider]

With all the changing regulations , it is hard to know . I suspect that it comes down to whether the look of the BB gun , and how someone uses a BB gun , decides whether it is a replica , or a BB gun . For example , if you wave it around in public and scare someone , then it is a replica , and deemed to be illegal . It would probably depend on a Judges decision .

 

[motoman]

How this works right now is you can buy any replica. I just bought a dan and wesson revolver yesterday. However if in the fall this new bill passes government. There will be no more replica air pistols allowed to be imported into the country. You can keep and use what you already own but you and business will not Be able to order any more. It also states that you can not sell what you own to somebody else. How they are not going to in force this i don't know. But it would stop someone from trying to sell one on the internet. So if you are wanting something buy today because once this passes it will be too late.

 

[Tegridy Farms]

The way it was explained to me back during the firearms course when I asked the question was because they shoot under 500 fps they are not classified as a firearm, but because they are a BB gun they are not classified as a replica.

I had at the time, and still have a Dan Wesson Revolver, and a Tangfolio Witness 1911, I asked the question when he was talking about the replicas as you can't tell the difference between these and the real guns, the instructor said it was because those who make the laws about guns are stupid, ignorant and know nothing about the guns or the people that the laws target, then went on to explain what I wrote above.

 

[chanman]

Any experts here? Lol

The more I read the more confused I get. I am looking at a couple air guns at Cabelas. They are the Glock 17 blowback, and the Glock 19 non blowback. The 17 is rated at 365 fps and the 19 at 410 so under the 500 fps line that would classify them as a firearm, and no need for pal etc to purchase. These guns are very realistic looking and in fact are pretty much the same size shape etc to the real thing.

My confusion lies when I read that guns which are replicas are considered to be prohibited. If they are prohibited then how does Cabelas sell them without asking for any type of licence etc.

From the rcmp site
Air guns that are replica firearms
These are air guns not powerful enough to cause serious injury or death, but designed to resemble a real firearm with near precision. Replica firearms, except for replicas of antique firearms, are classified as prohibited devices.

Anyone have a reasonable answer?

The RCMP Fact sheet you quoted states the details:
https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/firearms/specific-types-firearms

Air guns that are replica firearms
These are air guns not powerful enough to cause serious injury or death, but designed to resemble a real firearm with near precision. Replica firearms, except for replicas of antique firearms, are classified as prohibited devices.

In particular, some air guns commonly known as air soft guns may fall into this category. These are devices that have a low muzzle velocity and muzzle energy, and that usually discharge projectiles made out of a substance such as plastic or wax rather than metal.

An airsoft gun, firing a .20g 6mm plastic pellet with a muzzle velocity below 111.6 m/s (366 fps), and resembling with near precision an existing make and model of a firearm, other than an antique firearm, is a replica firearm and therefore a prohibited device.

Although replica firearms are prohibited, individuals may keep those they owned on December 1, 1998. You don't need a licence to possess them, and they do not need to be registered. However, you cannot import or acquire a replica firearm. If you take a replica firearm out of Canada, it will not be allowed back in.

The Criminal Code sets out penalties for using a replica firearm or any other imitation firearm to commit a crime.

The CFP receives many enquiries from people wondering whether a low-powered air gun would be considered a replica if it resembles a real firearm in terms of its shape, but it is made of clear or brightly coloured plastic, or has significant dimensional differences. Many of these devices need to be assessed on a case-by case basis. As a general rule, however, devices significantly smaller or larger than the real version are not classified as replica firearms.

That's the narrow range (> 366 fps and (< 500 fps or muzzle energy < 4.2 foot-pounds) where replica airsoft and BB guns currently fall. Not that there's much difference between them - airsoft projectiles are about the same weight as a steel BB.

 

[05RAV]

The exact wording of the proposed new Bill C-21 which may/may not pass through the Parliament with regard to replica firearms is as follows (quote):

1 (1) The definition replica firearm in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following: replica firearm means any device that is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, a firearm that is designed or adapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 m per second and at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules, and that itself is not a firearm, but does not include any such device that is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, an antique firearm;

Certain firearms deemed to be prohibited devices (3.2)
For the purposes of sections 99 to 101, 103 to 107 and 117.03, a firearm is deemed to be a prohibited device
if (a) it is proved that the firearm is not designed or adapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 m per second or at
a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules; and (b) the firearm is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, a firearm, other than an antique firearm, that is designed oradapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 m per second and at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules.

 

[EL34/6L6]

This is why I've been collecting replica BB pistols for the past year.

I've got a Glock G17 Gen4 coming and a Sigma 40S&W. Pretty soon you won't be able to buy these.

I've got nearly a dozen ultra realistic examples now. Sig, Springfield, Swiss Arms, & Colt 1911's, Glock Gen3,4&5, CZ 75, S&W, H&K etc...all .177 steel BB.

 

[Gindryden]

This is why I've been collecting replica BB pistols for the past year. I've got a Glock G17 Gen4 coming and a Sigma 40S&W. Pretty soon you won't be able to buy these. I've got nearly a dozen ultra realistic examples now. Sig, Springfield, Swiss Arms, & Colt 1911's, Glock Gen3,4&5, CZ 75, S&W, H&K etc...all .177 steel BB.

Great logic and i think i will start to do the same. I find the bb guns to be a ton of fun actually, and they can be used in a home range in your basement or garage. In reality in Canada you are simply shooting holes in paper from specified distance and the bb guns fill that process. Except for the "I am a man and i have a great big gun" factor they are just as challenging as any handgun.

 

[Tegridy Farms]

Great logic and i think i will start to do the same. I find the bb guns to be a ton of fun actually, and they can be used in a home range in your basement or garage. In reality in Canada you are simply shooting holes in paper from specified distance and the bb guns fill that process. Except for the "I am a man and i have a great big gun" factor they are just as challenging as any handgun.

I don't think it fully comes down to just the I am a man and i have a great big gun factor. While I still shoot my bb pistols occasionally, I don't find it comes close to the same enjoyment of shooting a real gun. And it's mostly due to the Co2 factor. Every shot, especially after the first couple is going to be different and get weaker as the Co2 starts to lessen. The rifles with the compressed air and gauges to monitor the power level and the break action are going to offer a more consistent shot and I enjoy target shooting with those, but I get bored pretty quick with the bb pistols, they tend to only come out if I'm sitting around grilling to try to take out the starlings crapping on my pool cover.

 

[EL34/6L6]

I don't think it fully comes down to just the I am a man and i have a great big gun factor. While I still shoot my bb pistols occasionally, I don't find it comes close to the same enjoyment of shooting a real gun. And it's mostly due to the Co2 factor. Every shot, especially after the first couple is going to be different and get weaker as the Co2 starts to lessen. The rifles with the compressed air and gauges to monitor the power level and the break action are going to offer a more consistent shot and I enjoy target shooting with those, but I get bored pretty quick with the bb pistols, they tend to only come out if I'm sitting around grilling to try to take out the starlings crapping on my pool cover.

Although all true I just think they're plain fun and that's what it comes down to in the end. The realistic replicas especially.
I have my rpal but never got into purchasing handguns. It was a financial rabbit hole I never wanted to go down just to own guns that I would likely fondle at home more than shoot. Which ultimately is what I do with the replicas I own anyways.

Sure the CO2 runs out and it's not as thrilling as shooting a powder burner, but I still like shooting stuff I guess, in any capacity.
Also, my 1911 BB pistols have a rather heavy blowback compared to the polymer and striker fire replicas. They are more fun to shoot but run out of gas faster.
My Glocks and HKs run much longer due to their lighter slides.