John, I would be happy to explain some of our Canadian laws to the forum. We can only own full automatic weapons if we had the special permit allowing them prior to either 1978 or 1979. If you did not acquire that permit prior to those dates, you can never get the permit even if you were not born until after those dates. In this way the Canadian government has mandated that these weapons will become extinct in the hands of private people as the permit holders die off.
The estates of these permit holders are allowed to sell these weapons, upon their death, but only to other permit holders, of which there are fewer every year; or sell them to museums.
Canadians also have to register every weapon they purchase, even down to air rifles and pellet guns of a certain cfm power.
You may have heard of our infamous "gun registry system", put in place ten years ago by the Liberal government of the time, which was only going to cost 2-3 million dollars to set up and maintain; but which at this time has cost over 2 Billion Cdn. dollars. It was suspossed to stop illegal guns and their use in Canada, but it is a complete failure. Criminals do not buy or register legal guns; they steal them, smuggle them in from your country illegally or even "rent" them from other criminals.
In order for a person to own a handgun, you must first take and pass several courses in handling guns, then apply for a special handgun ownership permit. If you pass the police checks, you must also belong to a registered gun club, which is willing to vouche for you before you can get another permit allowing you to transport your guns to the club for target shooting purposes only.
Canadians can not get a weapon for "personal safety reasons" and only police or special security guards can actually carry on their person in public.
The requirements for storage are very stringent and people who are robbed are usually "blamed" for losing their guns, no matter how strong their storage was.
Also we do not the right to use our guns in defense of our selves, family or our own house. We have no 2nd Amenment rights, and in the past gun owners have been sued sucessfully by the criminals who robbed them, and also sent to jail for using excessive force and their guns against people who have broken into their own homes.
Although some people disparage Americans, I envy you your freedoms where firearms are concerned, because I, like you and most members of this forum, are law abiding, responsible gun owners, not criminals.
Sorry for being so long winded, but you got me going.
Some days I just want to move to Utah.
Bigbill
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