Here was my reply to the CFO when I renewed my licence a couple of years ago: Forgive the missing information, I removed certain details.
Scott
Dan Magotiaux
Chief Firearms Officer
Alberta and the Northwest Territories
11140 – 109 Street
Edmonton Alberta T5J 2T4
RE: Request for Confirmation of Purpose
Licence Application:
Due date: November 2015
(Licence expires )
Sir,
I am in receipt of your recent, somewhat threatening letter, demanding that I confirm that my license application is valid by providing to your office a copy of a current gun club membership.
I have continually held memberships in gun clubs in Ontario and Alberta prior to and since the inception of the Firearms Acquisition Certificate (FAC) in 1979, holding positions from president to Chief Range Safety Officer as well as chair for various leagues at these gun clubs. Since the passing of bill C-68, I have been “Forced” to prove my continued participation in my hobby and sport every 5 years as my current Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) comes up for renewal. At present I hold memberships at two different gun clubs, namely the Canadian Historical Arms Society (C.H.A.S.) and the Algonquin Shooting Sports Association.
Pursuant to section 67(2), the provincial CFO shall decide if I am using my restricted and or prohibited firearms for the purpose I have indicated on my firearms licence renewal application.
I believe that with some 36 years of club memberships and competitively shooting for at least that long, I have more than proven that I am using my firearms for the purpose I have expressed in my current application. If you have some evidence to suggest otherwise, please provide this evidence to me via return mail so that I may review and correct any incorrect information.
I hereby declare, that once my current membership(s) expire, I will renew at least one of those expiring memberships for 2016 and subsequently for the years remaining on the newly to be issued PAL.
Sincerely,
Scott
As a note, I received my new license in the mail about a week after sending this letter.
There is no provision in the Act demanding membership in a club, you have the right in Canada to associate with whomever you wish, you also have the right to not be forced to associate with anyone! Notice I did 2 things, sent a letter and demanded evidence to be returned via the same method.
Scott
Hats off to you Scott. I also have had restricted for 40 yrs and have contested this as well, only verbally, and never succeeded. I guess written is always best.
My son-in-law just went to register his first restricted (a stripped lower) and when asked for range membership, he argued that it could not be fired without completion, and that upon completion he was required by law to update the registration certificate, and at that time he would provide range membership docs. He was told he still needed one to get approval.

Maybe some common sense infiltrating the system.
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