Having firearms is their reasons and legally it is the only reason they need.
Your refusal to permit the search that you are required to submit to are the grounds for obtaining the warrant.
And they can also seize your phone and computers if they think records of your firearms collection are stored on them, including social media posts and any photos of your collection. They are not punishing you by destroying your house and seizing your things. They are executing a lawfully issued search warrant in accordance with Canadian laws.
The irony is that if you did NOT have a gun license and were actually suspected of a violent crime, then you are protected by your legal rights under the charter, including privacy rights and the presumption of innocence. Holding a gun license under the firearms act necessarily includes waiving these rights. Outrageous doesn't begin to explain it.
Yes, the laws are outrageous. Anyone not outraged by our gun laws is simply not paying attention. The most painful part is that the majority of Canadian gun owners will tell you that they think our gun laws are actually fairly reasonable.
I feel you are creating unnecessary fear and blurring the lines between a criminal investigation and a firearms officer doing an inspection. Having firearms is not the threshold for inspection.
Inspections are only to confirm proper storage and ownership/licensing(paperwork). Reasons they can inspect are quite clear:
1) You are a firearms business,
2) An enterprise that has firearms (ie museum),
3) A Collector (which you would have self declared on your firearm licence application vs sport shooter),
4) Own prohibited firearms (Welcome to the club VZ/CZ and Swiss Arms owners),
5) Own more then 10 firearms.
Thats it, that’s all. They can’t and won’t ask for an inspection if you are a sports shooter with less then 10 firearms, even if they are restricted. The caveat being a sport shooter with restricted firearms, they must be a member of a gun club to legitimately “sport” shoot them. Without one, by default, you could be determined a collector and open yourself up to inspections.
A reasonable time for inspection will be agreed upon by both parties, they won’t just walk in unless you are a business that is open. Even then you don’t have to drop what you doing but if they see bad things in plain site they can act. In other words you have time to prepare for inspection.
Now if you lead a nefarious lifestyle and legally own firearms (outside of the five criteria above) then the Police may still ask for an inspection as part of their investigation as a way in. They are allowed to ask and you can still say no. However if they want a warrant they have to convince a judge of criminal activity, not merely because you said no to inspection.
Most importantly if you say no to inspection to a firearms officer designate/CFO they can only get a warrant for inspection if you meet one of the five criteria above.
Lastly if someone tells on you for not storing your firearms properly (true or not) or your girlfriend says she is in fear of you etc. You should be so lucky to get a friendly call for inspection from the CFO, you are much more likely to have a SWAT or “guns and gangs” team knocking down your door with warrant in hand.
