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Firearms Licences Regulations (SOR/98-199)

Regulations are current to 2024-10-30 and last amended on 2022-05-18. Previous Versions

PART 1Individuals (continued)

Conditions

 A chief firearms officer who issues a licence to an individual shall attach to it the condition that the individual shall report any changes in the individual’s name or address to a chief firearms officer within 30 days after the change.

Revocation

  •  (1) A chief firearms officer who issues a licence to an individual shall consider revoking it if the chief firearms officer becomes aware that the individual has been involved in an act of domestic violence or stalking.

  • (2) For greater certainty, if a licence is revoked, the holder of the licence may refer the matter to a provincial court judge under section 74 of the Act.

Certification by a Chief Firearms Officer

 For the purposes of paragraph 7(4)(a) of the Act, the circumstances are that the individual has continuously owned a firearm since January 1, 1979.

 For the purposes of paragraph 7(4)(a) of the Act, the following are the criteria relating to the safe handling and use of firearms and the laws relating to firearms:

  • (a) knowledge of

    • (i) the principles relating to the safe storage, display, handling, transportation and use of firearms that is equivalent to the knowledge of those principles that is required for the purposes of the Canadian Firearms Safety Course,

    • (ii) in the case of certification for the purpose of a licence authorizing an individual to possess restricted firearms, the principles relating to the safe storage, display, handling, transportation and use of restricted firearms that is equivalent to the knowledge of those principles that is required for the purposes of a restricted firearms safety course referred to in paragraph 7(2)(a) of the Act, and

    • (iii) the basic operation of common hunting or sporting firearms; and

  • (b) basic knowledge of the Acts of Parliament and of the legislature of the province in which the application is or will be made, and of the regulations made under those Acts, that relate to the use of firearms for hunting or sporting purposes and to the storage, display, handling and transportation of firearms by individuals.

Renewal of Licences

 For the purposes of subsection 67(1) of the Act, the manner in which a licence referred to in this Part is renewed is the same as the manner in which it can be issued.

  • SOR/2004-274, s. 14

PART 2Businesses

Issuance of Licences

  •  (1) A chief firearms officer of a province may issue licences referred to in this Part only to businesses that carry on business, and have a place of business, in the province.

  • (2) The Registrar may issue licences referred to in this Part only to carriers that carry on business in Canada.

  • SOR/2004-274, s. 15

Eligibility of Museums

 A museum is eligible to hold a licence only if

  • (a) the museum is incorporated by or under an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province;

  • (b) the museum is a non-profit organization;

  • (c) the museum is open to the public, or puts on demonstrations or displays for the public, on a regular basis;

  • (d) the museum or its curator is a member in good standing of a national or provincial museums association; and

  • (e) the museum is administered for purposes that include collecting, preserving, studying, interpreting, assembling and exhibiting to the public for its education and enjoyment objects and specimens of educational and cultural value, including artistic, scientific, historical and technological materials.

Persons Related to a Business

 For the purposes of section 9 of the Act, every person who is related to a business referred to in that section in one of the following ways is in a prescribed relationship to the business:

  • (a) the person is an owner of or partner in the business;

  • (b) if the business is a corporation, the person is a director or officer of the corporation; and

  • (c) the person has a relationship with a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) and

    • (i) has a direct influence on the operations of the business, or

    • (ii) could have access to the firearms held by the business.

  • SOR/2004-274, s. 16

Prescribed Purposes

 The following purposes are prescribed for the purposes of subsection 11(2) of the Act:

  • (a) the performance of a contract entered into by the Government of Canada, the government of a province, the government of a municipality acting on behalf of a police force or a police force, or by a person acting on behalf of such a government or a police force;

  • (b) export to a country under a contract entered into between the Government of Canada and the government of that country;

  • (c) the manufacture, maintenance, repair or modification of a prohibited firearm, prohibited weapon or prohibited device, or any component or part thereof, or the manufacture of prohibited ammunition or of ammunition for a prohibited firearm, if the business intends to export the firearm, weapon, device, component, part or ammunition under an export permit issued under the Export and Import Permits Act;

  • (d) the inspection, development or testing of a prohibited firearm, prohibited weapon, prohibited device or prohibited ammunition, or any component or part thereof, for or on behalf of

    • (i) the holder of an export permit issued under the Export and Import Permits Act,

    • (ii) a public officer, as defined in subsection 117.07(2) of the Criminal Code, who is acting in the course of his or her duties or employment, or

    • (iii) the Canadian Forces;

  • (e) the development or testing of ammunition for export to a country included on the Automatic Firearms Country Control List established under section 4.1 of the Export and Import Permits Act;

  • (f) use in respect of motion picture, television, video or theatrical production or in publishing activities;

  • (g) the manufacture of replica firearms for use in respect of motion picture, television, video or theatrical production or in publishing activities;

  • (h) display, demonstration, repair, restoration, maintenance, preservation or storage for or by a museum;

  • (i) display or storage by a branch of the Royal Canadian Legion or an organized group of veterans of any armed forces of Canada or of a police force;

  • (j) in respect of prohibited handguns, handgun barrels within the meaning of paragraph (b) of the definition prohibited device in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code or magazine cartridges under section 3 of Part 4 of the Schedule to the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited or Restricted, the use by businesses whose principal activity is the handling, transportation or protection of cash, negotiable instruments or other goods of substantial value and whose employees require prohibited handguns to protect their lives in the course of that activity;

  • (k) the maintenance, repair, modification or storage of a prohibited firearm, or any component or part thereof, on behalf of a person licensed to possess prohibited firearms or on behalf of a public officer, as defined in subsection 117.07(2) of the Criminal Code, who is acting in the course of his or her duties or employment;

  • (l) the manufacture, maintenance, repair or modification of a prohibited weapon or prohibited device, or any component or part thereof, for the purpose of supplying it to a public officer, as defined in subsection 117.07(2) of the Criminal Code, who is acting in the course of his or her duties or employment;

  • (m) the development, modification or testing of a prohibited firearm, prohibited weapon, prohibited device or prohibited ammunition, or any component or part thereof, for the purpose of training, or supplying goods or training materials used in the training of, a public officer, as defined in subsection 117.07(2) of the Criminal Code, who is acting in the course of his or her duties or employment;

  • (n) the development, modification or testing of a prohibited firearm, prohibited weapon, prohibited device or prohibited ammunition, or any component or part thereof, for the purpose of exporting goods or training materials to be used in the training of a police officer, or a member of the armed forces of a state other than Canada, who is acting in the course of his or her duties or employment;

  • (o) the possession of a prohibited firearm, prohibited weapon, prohibited device or prohibited ammunition, or any component or part thereof, for the purpose of supplying it to a public officer, as defined in subsection 117.07(2) of the Criminal Code, who is acting in the course of his or her duties or employment;

  • (p) the development or testing of body armour, armoured security vehicles or other devices or materials designed to prevent or limit penetration by ammunition, including prohibited ammunition, discharged from a firearm;

  • (q) the development or testing of processes, devices or materials designed to prevent, limit or counteract the effects of prohibited weapons;

  • (r) the development or testing of ammunition for a prohibited firearm or of components or parts of ammunition for a prohibited firearm;

  • (s) the possession of a prohibited firearm for sale on consignment, on behalf of a person licensed to possess prohibited firearms;

  • (t) the possession of a prohibited handgun — that, beginning on December 1, 1998, was continuously in the inventory of the business, and in respect of which a copy of a record was sent before that date to the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and received by that officer — for the purpose of transfer to a business that is the holder of a licence issued for any of the prescribed purposes set out in any of the other paragraphs of this section or to an individual described in subsection 12(6) of the Act;

  • (u) the possession of a handgun barrel within the meaning of paragraph (b) of the definition prohibited device in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code — that, beginning on December 1, 1998, was continuously in the inventory of the business — for the purpose of transfer to a business that is the holder of a licence issued for any of the prescribed purposes set out in any of the other paragraphs of this section;

  • (v) the performance of services as a customs broker by a business that holds a licence under subsection 9(1) of the Customs Act;

  • (w) the operation of a sufferance warehouse for the examination of imported goods that have not been released by a business that holds a licence under paragraph 24(1)(a) of the Customs Act;

  • (x) training in the safe handling and use and identification of prohibited firearms, prohibited weapons, prohibited devices or prohibited ammunition given to a public agent as defined in section 1 of the Public Agents Firearms Regulations or to an employee of a business that is the holder of a licence issued for any of the prescribed purposes set out in any of the other paragraphs of this section;

  • (y) the importation and possession of a prohibited firearm, or any part or component of a prohibited firearm, for the purpose of performing a contract with a business that is the holder of a licence issued for any of the prescribed purposes set out in any of the other paragraphs of this section; and

  • (z) the manufacture, maintenance, repair or modification of a prohibited firearm, prohibited weapon, prohibited device or prohibited ammunition, or any component or part of any of those things, for the purpose of performing a contract with a business that is the holder of a licence issued for any of the prescribed purposes set out in any of other paragraphs of this section.

  • SOR/2004-274, s. 17

Additional Information

 An application for a licence that is made by a business must be accompanied by the certificate of incorporation or other constating instrument of the business, and by any document registering with a province the name and style under which the business operates or would operate.

Renewal of Licences

 For the purposes of subsection 67(1) of the Act, the manner in which a licence referred to in this Part is renewed is the same as the manner in which it can be issued.

  • SOR/2004-274, s. 18

Conditions

  •  (1) The following information is prescribed for the purpose of paragraph 58.1(1)(a) of the Act:

    • (a) the classification of the firearm;

    • (b) the date and an indication of any business activity related to the possession or the disposal of the firearm, including, if applicable, its purchase, sale, bartering, gifting, consignment, importation, exportation, repair, alteration, deactivation, destruction, manufacture, pawnbroking, storage and display;

    • (c) the firearm’s manufacturer, make, model, type, action, gauge or calibre, barrel length and, in the case of a fixed magazine, magazine capacity;

    • (d) the serial numbers displayed on the firearm’s frame or receiver;

    • (e) the name and address of the individual or business to which the firearm was sent, or from which the firearm was received, in the course of any business activity referred to in paragraph (b) other than an activity that relates to a transfer of the firearm, if applicable; and

    • (f) if the business caused the firearm to be shipped by another person, the name of the shipper or carrier, their licence number or permit number, if applicable, and the package tracking number of the shipped firearm.

  • (2) The prescribed period for the purposes of paragraph 58.1(1)(a) of the Act is a period of 20 years that begins on the day on which the record is created.

  • (3) The prescribed official for the purposes of paragraph 58.1(1)(c) and subsection 58.1(2) of the Act is the Registrar.

  • (4) For the purposes of subsection 58.1(2) of the Act, the records transmitted by the business may be destroyed at the end of the 20-year period that begins on the day on which they were received from that business.

 

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