In light of the recent incident in USA, I was just wondering if anyone knew of the gun laws/controls in Canada?

thanks

Try this link
http://canadaonline.about.com/od/gun..._in_Canada.htm

In short. Long guns are legal and Canada arguably has the highest level of ownership in the world, mainly in rural locations. Hand guns are illegal but widely available, mainly in urban locations.

I thought most handguns only required a license, and weren't prohibited? The sources I've checked online say that, but I'm not sure where I'd find a definitive answer.

Not that it makes much difference, of course: criminals don't obey the law.

Yeah, in the USA and Canada both civil people and criminals have access to guns. People who owned pistols etc. before the laws were tightened in Canada were allowed to keep their guns.

In the UK only the criminals have guns.

They're allowed at the gun club but you can't get a carry permit and I don't think you can even get a permit to keep a hand gun at home under lock and key anymore (at least not in Toronto).

I don't know that I'd rush to categorize all owners of unlicensed firearms as criminals; the people I know who have hand guns are otherwise very law abiding (for example a former police officer now working for one of those traffic ticket firms). They're only criminals in the sense that people who smoke joints are criminals.

What about assault rifles etc?

What about them? I personally don't know any one who has one. The only time I hear of them is when a bystander gets shot accidentally; I suppose that's because fully automatic weapons are hard to control. I'd guess that, like hand guns, they're most common in cities; bambi's not much good for dinner if blasted to bits.

Legally you can have an AK47 if you had one when the current law was passed but, if you didn't, you have to get it from the black market.

Yeah, that's kind of annoying. I was hoping to buy a civilianised AK47 at some point, but it looks like I'll have to settle for an AR15 instead. I guess it's just another example of Canadian bias towards America .

I seem to remember reading that there are more legal fully-automatic weapons in Canada than America, because of the grandfather clauses.

You just have to face the fact that many illegal guns come across the US border

We have US 'style' gang crime in our cities, and they come with US guns

We even have US style school/university shootings too

Canada Proudly Part of North America

On the plus side, illegal guns are everywhere, so Canada isn't likely to be much more dangerous to the average middle class worker than anywhere else in the developed world.

I remember some years ago going to a museum where they had a display of guns from around the world. Some were from a country in Asia where gun-smuggling was punishable by death... so the criminals just made their own instead. They were kind of rough copies of Western pistols, but they appeared to be usable.

Actually, on that subject, I was reading an article a couple of days ago by a guy who travelled to the Afghan border in the 1980s talking about how the town he visited was full of small workshops making guns from scratch. The reason he went there was because someone was stealing animals from one of his farmer friends and they decided to buy a mortar to discourage the thieves with a few rounds of high explosive next time they came by!

yep so true... illegal guns are everywhere...

its the concentration that makes the difference..

In the UK its criminals... unfortunately here its often teens and youths
and its not for criminal gain in the sense we see it in Europe, but more for gang prestige
and if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in one the main canadain Cities..
you as and average middle class could easily be in that mall when two gangs collide
It happend downtown Toronto in one of the bigger and better malls at christmas

My spin better than the US, but not better than western europe

You have the fear factor in the USA which is not so present in Canada. As a rule, canadians don't generally carry their piece into town, which seems to be the case in some of the lower 48...

I saw there are an estimated 7-11 million firearms in canada.

We are quietly armed to the teeth.

Who needs missile defence then?

Hand guns aren't illegal in Canada. There are certain restrictions placed on them however you can keep these guns at home under suitable conditions.

We only have long-guns on our property, both my husband and I have Gun Licences and PAL's and they are in the Non-Restricted classification.

Here is a link which may be of use to you:

http://www.firearmstraining.ca/classes.htm