Firearms Act (S.C. 1995, c. 39)

Marginal note:Attorney General of Canada may act

116 Any proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act may be commenced at the instance of the Government of Canada and conducted by or on behalf of that government.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

117 The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) defining the expression “protection order” for the purposes of this Act;

• (a.01) regulating the issuance of licences, registration certificates and authorizations, including regulations respecting the purposes for which they may be issued under any provision of this Act and prescribing the circumstances in which persons are or are not eligible to hold licences;

• (a.1) deeming permits to export goods, or classes of permits to export goods, that are issued under the Export and Import Permits Act to be authorizations to export for the purposes of this Act;

• (b) regulating the revocation of licences, registration certificates and authorizations;

• (c) prescribing the circumstances in which an individual does or does not need firearms

  • (i) to protect the life of that individual or of other individuals, or

  • (ii) for use in connection with his or her lawful profession or occupation;

• (c.1) regulating, for the purpose of issuing a reference number under section 23, the provision of information by a transferor, a transferee and the Registrar;

• (d) regulating the use of firearms in target practice or target shooting competitions;

• (e) regulating

  • (i) the establishment and operation of shooting clubs and shooting ranges,

  • (ii) the activities that may be carried on at shooting clubs and shooting ranges,

  • (iii) the possession and use of firearms at shooting clubs and shooting ranges, and

  • (iv) the keeping and destruction of records in relation to shooting clubs and shooting ranges and members of those clubs and ranges;

• (f) regulating the establishment and maintenance of gun collections and the acquisition and disposal or disposition of firearms that form part or are to form part of a gun collection;

• (g) regulating the operation of gun shows, the activities that may be carried on at gun shows and the possession and use of firearms at gun shows;

• (h) regulating the storage, handling, transportation, shipping, display, advertising and mail-order sale of firearms and restricted weapons and defining the expression “mail-order sale” for the purposes of this Act;

• (i) regulating the storage, handling, transportation, shipping, possession for a prescribed purpose, transfer, exportation or importation of

  • (i) prohibited firearms, prohibited weapons, restricted weapons, prohibited devices, prohibited ammunition and firearm parts, or

  • (ii) components or parts of prohibited firearms, prohibited weapons, restricted weapons, prohibited devices and prohibited ammunition;

• (j) regulating the possession and use of restricted weapons;

• (j.1) respecting the possession and transportation of firearms during the extension period referred to in subsection 64(1.1);

• (k) for authorizing

  • (i) the possession at any place, or

  • (ii) the manufacture or transfer, whether or not for consideration, or offer to manufacture or transfer, whether or not for consideration,

  of firearms, prohibited weapons, restricted weapons, prohibited devices, ammunition, prohibited ammunition, cartridge magazines and components and parts designed exclusively for use in the manufacture of or assembly into firearms;

• (k.1) respecting the importation or exportation of firearms, prohibited weapons, restricted weapons, prohibited devices, ammunition, prohibited ammunition, cartridge magazines and components and parts designed exclusively for use in the manufacture of or assembly into firearms;

• (k.2) respecting the marking of firearms manufactured in Canada or imported into Canada and the removal, alteration, obliteration and defacing of those markings;

• (k.3) respecting the confirmation of declarations and authorizations to transport for the purposes of paragraph 35(1)(b) and the confirmation of declarations for the purposes of subsections 37(2) and 38(2);

• (k.4) respecting the disposal of ammunition and cartridge magazines referred to in subsection 37(4) and of firearm parts referred to in subsection 38(4);

• (l) regulating the storage, handling, transportation, shipping, acquisition, possession, transfer, exportation, importation, use and disposal or disposition of firearms, prohibited weapons, restricted weapons, prohibited devices, prohibited ammunition and explosive substances

  • (i) by the following persons in the course of their duties or for the purposes of their employment, namely,

    • (A) peace officers,

    • (B) persons training to become police officers or peace officers under the control and supervision of a police force or a police academy or similar institution designated by the federal Minister or the lieutenant governor in council of a province,

    • (C) persons or members of a class of persons employed in the federal public administration or by the government of a province or municipality who are prescribed by the regulations made by the Governor in Council under Part III of the Criminal Code to be public officers, and

    • (D) chief firearms officers and firearms officers, and

  • (ii) by individuals on behalf of, and under the authority of, a police force or a department of the Government of Canada or of a province;

• (m) regulating the keeping, transmission and destruction of records in relation to firearms, prohibited weapons, restricted weapons, prohibited devices and prohibited ammunition;

• (n) regulating the keeping and destruction of records by businesses in relation to ammunition;

• (n.1) regulating the transmission of records under paragraph 58.1(1)(c) by a business to a prescribed official;

• (o) creating offences consisting of contraventions of the regulations made under paragraph (d), (e), (f), (g), (i), (j), (k.1), (k.2), (l), (m) or (n);

• (p) prescribing the fees that are to be paid to Her Majesty in right of Canada for licences, registration certificates, authorizations, approvals of transfers and importations of firearms and confirmations by customs officers of documents under this Act;

• (q) waiving or reducing the fees payable under paragraph (p) in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations;

• (r) prescribing the charges that are to be paid to Her Majesty in right of Canada in respect of costs incurred by Her Majesty in right of Canada in storing goods that are detained by customs officers or in disposing of goods;

• (s) respecting the operation of the Canadian Firearms Registry;

• (t) regulating the sending or issuance of notices and documents in electronic or other form, including

  • (i) the notices and documents that may be sent or issued in electronic or other form,

  • (ii) the persons or classes of persons by whom they may be sent or issued,

  • (iii) their signature in electronic or other form or their execution, adoption or authorization in a manner that pursuant to the regulations is to have the same effect for the purposes of this Act as their signature, and

  • (iv) the time and date when they are deemed to be received;

• (u) respecting the manner in which any provision of this Act or the regulations applies to any of the aboriginal peoples of Canada, and adapting any such provision for the purposes of that application;

• (v) repealing

  • (i) section 4 of the Cartridge Magazine Control Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 1992-1660 of July 16, 1992 and registered as SOR/92-460, and the heading before it,

  • (ii) the Designated Areas Firearms Order, C.R.C., chapter 430,

  • (iii) section 4 of the Firearms Acquisition Certificate Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 1992-1663 of July 16, 1992 and registered as SOR/92-461, and the heading before it,

  • (iv) section 7 of the Genuine Gun Collector Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 1992-1661 of July 16, 1992 and registered as SOR/92-435, and the heading before it,

  • (v) sections 8 and 13 of the Prohibited Weapons Control Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 1991-1925 of October 3, 1991 and registered as SOR/91-572, and the headings before them,

  • (vi) the Restricted Weapon Registration Certificate for Classes of Persons other than Individuals Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 1993-766 of April 20, 1993 and registered as SOR/93-200, and

  • (vii) sections 7, 15 and 17 of the Restricted Weapons and Firearms Control Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 1978-2572 of August 16, 1978 and registered as SOR/78-670, and the headings before them; and

• (w) prescribing anything that by any provision of this Act is to be prescribed by regulation.

Marginal note:Laying of proposed regulations

• 118 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the federal Minister shall have each proposed regulation laid before each House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where a proposed regulation is laid pursuant to subsection (1), it shall be laid before each House of Parliament on the same day.

• Marginal note:Report by committee

  (3) Each proposed regulation that is laid before a House of Parliament shall, on the day it is laid, be referred by that House to an appropriate committee of that House, as determined by the rules of that House, and the committee may conduct inquiries or public hearings with respect to the proposed regulation and report its findings to that House.

• Marginal note:Making of regulations

  (4) A proposed regulation that has been laid pursuant to subsection (1) may be made

  • (a) on the expiration of thirty sitting days after it was laid; or

  • (b) where, with respect to each House of Parliament,

    • (i) the committee reports to the House, or

    • (ii) the committee decides not to conduct inquiries or public hearings.

• Marginal note:Definition of “sitting day”

  (5) For the purpose of this section, sitting day means a day on which either House of Parliament sits.

Marginal note:Exception

• 119 (1) No proposed regulation that has been laid pursuant to section 118 need again be laid under that section, whether or not it has been altered.

• Marginal note:Exception — minor changes

  (2) A regulation made under section 117 may be made without being laid before either House of Parliament if the federal Minister is of the opinion that the changes made by the regulation to an existing regulation are so immaterial or insubstantial that section 118 should not be applicable in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Exception — urgency

  (3) A regulation made under paragraph 117(i), (l), (m), (n), (o), (q), (s) or (t) may be made without being laid before either House of Parliament if the federal Minister is of the opinion that the making of the regulation is so urgent that section 118 should not be applicable in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Notice of opinion

  (4) Where the federal Minister forms the opinion described in subsection (2) or (3), he or she shall have a statement of the reasons why he or she formed that opinion laid before each House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Exception — prescribed dates

  (5) A regulation may be made under paragraph 117(w) prescribing a date for the purposes of the application of any provision of this Act without being laid before either House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Part III of the Criminal Code

  (6) For greater certainty, a regulation may be made under Part III of the Criminal Code without being laid before either House of Parliament.

Transitional Provisions

Licences

Marginal note:Firearms acquisition certificates

• 120 (1) A firearms acquisition certificate is deemed to be a licence if it

  • (a) was issued under section 106 or 107 of the former Act;

  • (b) had not been revoked before the commencement day; and

  • (c) was valid pursuant to subsection 106(11) of the former Act, or pursuant to that subsection as applied by subsection 107(1) of the former Act, on the commencement day.

• Marginal note:Authorizations

  (2) A firearms acquisition certificate that is deemed to be a licence authorizes the holder

  • (a) to acquire and possess any firearms other than prohibited firearms that are acquired by the holder on or after the commencement day and before the expiration or revocation of the firearms acquisition certificate;

  • (b) in the case of an individual referred to in subsection 12(2), (3), (4), (5), (6) or (8), to acquire and possess any prohibited firearms referred to in that subsection that are acquired by the holder on or after the commencement day; and

  • (c) in the case of a particular individual who is eligible under subsection 12(7) to hold a licence authorizing the particular individual to possess a handgun referred to in subsection 12(6.1) (pre-December 1, 1998 handguns) in the circumstances described in subsection 12(7), to acquire and possess such a handgun in those circumstances, if the particular handgun is acquired by the particular individual on or after the commencement day.

• Marginal note:Expiration

  (3) A firearms acquisition certificate that is deemed to be a licence expires on the earlier of

  • (a) five years after the day on which it was issued, and

  • (b) the issuance of a licence to the holder of the firearms acquisition certificate.

• Marginal note:Lost, stolen and destroyed firearms acquisition certificates

  (4) Where a firearms acquisition certificate that is deemed to be a licence is lost, stolen or destroyed before its expiration under subsection (3), a person who has authority under this Act to issue a licence may issue a replacement firearms acquisition certificate that has the same effect as the one that was lost, stolen or destroyed.

Marginal note:Minors’ permits

• 121 (1) A permit is deemed to be a licence if it

  • (a) was issued under subsection 110(6) or (7) of the former Act to a person who was under the age of eighteen years;

  • (b) had not been revoked before the commencement day; and

  • (c) remained in force pursuant to subsection 110(8) of the former Act on the commencement day.

• Marginal note:Authorizations

  (2) A permit that is deemed to be a licence authorizes the holder to possess non-restricted firearms.

• Marginal note:Geographical extent

  (3) A permit that is deemed to be a licence is valid only in the province in which it was issued, unless the permit was endorsed pursuant to subsection 110(10) of the former Act as being valid within the provinces indicated in the permit, in which case it remains valid within those provinces.

• Marginal note:Expiration

  (4) A permit that is deemed to be a licence expires on the earliest of

  • (a) the expiration of the period for which it was expressed to be issued,

  • (b) the day on which the person to whom it was issued attains the age of eighteen years, and

  • (c) five years after the birthday of the person next following the day on which it was issued, if that fifth anniversary occurs on or after the commencement day.