I recently checked with my CFO about starting a pistol range on my property. She said as long as I have a valid ATT which also means I have a valid membership at a range then I can go out in my yard (25 acres) and shoot my .22 pistol at a safe backstop. The ATT covers me stepping out my front door. They do not get involved unless I want to start a club with members and then it gets complicated. She is mailing me out suggestions for safe backstops, distances for various calibers. I was surprised I thought it was much more complicated than this. The only problems I could encounter would be municaple bylaws and neighbours complaining about noise and these won't be an issue with me.
shooting pistol on own property
- Thread starter mark123
- Start date
Pistol property shooting
A bud of mine shoots at his own 50 yd range. Is built underground , shoots through a culvert which was backfilled, firing point is in the bsmt of a concrete floored storage shed w/ woodstove, & gun racks. The only "red tape hitch" that he had was , The municipality advertised his plans for a private range in the local paper , & sent out letters to the abutting neighbors. There was Zero opposition. The CAFC here told him they did not need to be involved ,as it was for private use only .
A bud of mine shoots at his own 50 yd range. Is built underground , shoots through a culvert which was backfilled, firing point is in the bsmt of a concrete floored storage shed w/ woodstove, & gun racks. The only "red tape hitch" that he had was , The municipality advertised his plans for a private range in the local paper , & sent out letters to the abutting neighbors. There was Zero opposition. The CAFC here told him they did not need to be involved ,as it was for private use only .
As long as the range on your property is "approved by the CFO", you're good to go. You must comply with the law or you will be charged and lose your guns. Don't bother getting anything in writing from the CFO - except for the document certifying "range approval by the CFO". Otherwise, you might want to consult the CFO governing/controlling body to get something in writing that states the CFO is authorized to permit such an exception in the circumstances.
Get a letter of intent with range specification signed by the CFO, stating your intention to build a range on your property suitable for CFO approval. Once the range specification is approved, you can build the range, then have the CFO inspect in order to grant that status required by law.
Get a letter of intent with range specification signed by the CFO, stating your intention to build a range on your property suitable for CFO approval. Once the range specification is approved, you can build the range, then have the CFO inspect in order to grant that status required by law.
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does not need to be approved
I spoke to CFO in person last week and she told me that if it is for personal use they do not get involved with approving it. They only get involved if a club will be formed and others will be using it. She is mailing me out what she called "templates" which cover safety angles and distances for certain calibers and to use them as a guide when building my backstop.
I spoke to CFO in person last week and she told me that if it is for personal use they do not get involved with approving it. They only get involved if a club will be formed and others will be using it. She is mailing me out what she called "templates" which cover safety angles and distances for certain calibers and to use them as a guide when building my backstop.
LOL, yeah sure. - dan
This is similar to the EU's complaints about negotiating with Canada for a Free trade agreement. A major cost to competitiveness is that too many of our regulations are provincial. This makes doing business in Canada a very fractured process.
Personally I believe in what Canada could be, I want to see less provincial responsibility and more federal. I think the pressure the EU is putting on us right now may help in the long run in reuniting Canada. Currently there is more in common with France and Germany than there is between Ontario and Alberta from a regulatory point of view.
Personally I believe in what Canada could be, I want to see less provincial responsibility and more federal. I think the pressure the EU is putting on us right now may help in the long run in reuniting Canada. Currently there is more in common with France and Germany than there is between Ontario and Alberta from a regulatory point of view.
If you got rid of Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario would be a truly wonderful place.
That's how I understand it. There is nothing the the Criminal Code or the Federal Firearms Act that says a handgun must be fired at a range, or that firing a handgun other than at a range is illegal, that I can find. Any problems with firing a handgun on your own property (assuming it would already be legal to fire a rifle, for instance) comes down to the provincial CFO and any municipal bylaws.
Does the Ontario CFO want you to set up an "approved range" so that they can approve it? You bet. Are they legally entitled to demand that? I dunno. Yes, ranges in Ontario have to approved by the CFO, but is it a range? If you can shoot your rifle on your property without a range inspection, what's the difference? Show me the provincial law for Ontario that says a handgun must be fired at an approved range. It must exist, I guess?
By the sound of it, PEI is taking the sensible approach and saying if you can legally fire your rifle on your property (which in most ways is much more potentially dangerous than a handgun), then you can also fire your own handgun.
As long you are shooting on your own property with the same address as the handgun is registered to, you aren't using your ATT, so it doesn't matter what it says.
Does the Ontario CFO want you to set up an "approved range" so that they can approve it? You bet. Are they legally entitled to demand that? I dunno. Yes, ranges in Ontario have to approved by the CFO, but is it a range? If you can shoot your rifle on your property without a range inspection, what's the difference? Show me the provincial law for Ontario that says a handgun must be fired at an approved range. It must exist, I guess?
By the sound of it, PEI is taking the sensible approach and saying if you can legally fire your rifle on your property (which in most ways is much more potentially dangerous than a handgun), then you can also fire your own handgun.
As long you are shooting on your own property with the same address as the handgun is registered to, you aren't using your ATT, so it doesn't matter what it says.
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If it was more provincial responsibility, I wonder where the bulk of tax dollars would be spent?
Personally I believe firearms laws should be 100% governed by the provincial governments and not the feds. At least the entire country wouldn't have to suffer because Ontario Quebec and BC cannot police themselves.
As for shooting restricteds on your own property, I am certainly going to call my up my CFO and find out the particulars.
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