NS posted this on their forum here on CGN on December 5, 2012:
OK.
I have been monitoring this forum for a few days and this is the first opportunity I've had to post as It has been a busy week.
Let's set the record straight regarding the T97NSR, I wanted the be the first to post about it, but some excited dealers beat me to it.
For well over a year now, North Sylva has been working very hard with Chinese State Arsenals to redesign the receiver on the original T97A rifle. A few prototypes were created, and after a few tries, it seemed we finally got it right.
This newly made firearm will be know as the T97NSR. It is important to note that this is NOT a T97A. It has been completely redesigned from the ground up. We are currently in the process of finalizing on the FRT number and the new sample should be approved shortly. If everything goes according to plan, these should be in stores hopefully by early spring.
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Thanks,
As far as I can tell, they have not made any comment on this matter in the more than two months since.
Going back to my three points:
(1) There is no FRT#
(2) There is no sample/prototype at the RCMP lab in Ottawa
(3) There has been little or no information out of NS (since December 5, 2012)
Since we've been invited to ask questions, I would ask these:
(1) Has a T97NSR sample/prototype been submitted to the RCMP in Ottawa for classification?
(2) If so, what date was it submitted?
(3) If not, what date do you expect to submit it?
(4) What is your expected time frame from sample submitted to decision on classification made for this rifle?
(5) What do you mean by `the process of finalizing on the FRT number`? My understanding is that FRT numbers for what the RCMP calls `semi-automatic versions of automatic firearms` are now only obtained by submitting a working sample and waiting for a classification result. Are you saying that this process was initiated some time ago and is nearing completion?
(6) Why is the RCMP firearms lab telling dealers who phone in that no new T97 prototype has been received for testing since the T97NS, which was classified as prohibited last year? Is the RCMP mistaken on this point?
(7) What makes you confident that you have a prototype which will not be classified as Prohibited? (Personally, I would be willing to give them a pass on this question, as it gets close to something like a trade secret. If they are right, and the firearms are classified non-restricted, then we will all eventually be able to see with our own eyes what they changed - or at least people like myself who have photographs of the internals of the T97 and T97A for comparison purposes - but I personally would like to know what the plan is. One of the things that concerns me most is the T97NS being prohibited last year. If that prototype was found to be prohib - after all the hubbub and litigation with the T97A - I am personally concerned that the RCMP may simply prohibit anything that looks like a T97 and say, in effect, `If you don`t like it, take us to court.` Of course they run the risk of losing in court, but... they prohibited the SCAR 16 on pretty weak grounds, and nobody took them to court. Is anyone going to take them to court on the BD-38, the BD 3008? What about the T97NS? These things don`t really seem to end up in court. The difference with the T97A was, people actually had them in their possession, and when their registration certificates were cancelled - they had access to the process under the Firearms Act (for review by a Provincial Court Judge). Even then, only a few people challenged anything (One in NS, one in AB, one in BC).
I don`t want to bad mouth anybody on this board. I actually really want NS to succeed in this whole endeavour, but this silence has been fairly `deafening` up to now. I think some small mistakes have been made (of the simple `jumping the gun` variety) which can easily be fixed. That`s all I am really asking of NS.
The RCMP IS going to try and block the importation of this firearm to Canada. I have no doubt of that. And that being the case, I want all of us in the firearms community, along with NS and all the dealers, inside the the tent pissing out. I don`t want to be pissing on NS`s tent here, when they are the ones putting the time, effort and $$$ into trying to bring cool new firearms to the Canadian market, but a little openness and transparency about the process would go a long way for them right now.