Off topic - firearm question

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maxwell_smart007

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I heard that a Canadian cannot buy a firearm in the US, as non-residents are prohibited from buying firearms in the US...but Canada customs lists the procedures to bring one in, so that seems odd...

I've also heard that we can buy them, but cannot take possession of them in the US (which seems counter intuitive to me, as one has to go to the US to buy it...)

Does anyone have first-hand knowledge of the subject? Please keep ALL politics out of this, please - I just want advice about the truth or rumor of this.

Andrew
 
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I'm not sure of shipping into Canada, but back when I was doing international shipping I had a customer that was buying and shipping firearms to Sweden. Sweden has some pretty strict laws about gun owner ship. At the time, to buy and ship firearms, center fire, not rim fire and not shotguns, required a special export license from the Treasury Department... I don't know why from the treasury, since the department of commerce controls most export licenses as required today.... the license was called a T-License... I had to ship the guns to a gun shop in Sweden, the license was filed with U.S. Customs prior to export and signed off as having been exported.

I did have one occasion where a man purchased a center fire rifle that was to be shipped to the UK... he assured me that all the licenses were in place... turned out he was wrong, since he didn't give me the license, I couldn't file it with Customs and his rifle wound up being seized by customs....
 
Try NRA website

I heard that a Canadian cannot buy a firearm in the US, as non-residents are prohibited from buying firearms in the US...but Canada customs lists the procedures to bring one in, so that seems odd...

I've also heard that we can buy them, but cannot take possession of them in the US (which seems counter intuitive to me, as one has to go to the US to buy it...)

Does anyone have first-hand knowledge of the subject? Please keep ALL politics out of this, please - I just want advice about the truth or rumor of this.

Andrew

That would not be surprising since for most firearms in the US, if we buy out of state we usually need to have the gun shipped to a licensed dealer in our state. You need an import license but the seller also needs an export license for a firearm to go to Canada...I'm not sure you can get them and just walk through customs.

I would check here...they have extensive information on the subject.

www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca

quick Sample:
Q. Can I buy a firearm in another country and bring it Canada?
Firearm imports are controlled by the Canada Border Services Agency. As a general rule, the Firearms Act allows you to import a restricted or non-restricted firearm if you have a valid Possession and Acquisition Licence or Firearms Acquisition Certificate giving you acquisition privileges for that class of firearm. For more information, please refer to the fact sheet on importing firearms. You cannot bring a prohibited firearm into Canada as a new import even if you are licensed to acquire that class of firearm.
 
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I used to shoot in competitions and live in the Detoit area (just miles from Canada).

Canadian shooters would come to the matches at my club. They had the procedure to get their competition pistols over and back. They also invited us to their matches in Windsor. I never attended, but there was a procedure that would enable us to take our competition pistols over and back.

There have also been procedures to take hunting rifles to canada if you booked a hunt. My buddy took his slug gun when he went bear hunting in Canada.

This was all 7 or 8 years ago. Laws may have changed.
 
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From looking into it, it sounds like a hassle...

They do have the same shotgun in the Canadian Cabelas, for a few hundred dollars more...while I hate to do so, I might have to spend the extra money and avoid the big hassle! :)

For those inquisitive minds, it was the Benelli Supernova in matte black that I was looking at....

Andrew
 
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