I'm a firearms enthusiast...Ask me anything!!

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Bringing a conversation Huntingwhale and I were having in a thread that didn't deserve to have its attention split.

Yeah, with all the rules around restricted right now I didn't bother getting that license since it's effectively useless right now for newbies like us since you can't buy any.

The hack, IMO, if you want a smaller firearm is the Mossberg 590s Shockwave shotgun. You can load it with 1 3/4" shells. It's super small. I don't get how it's legal - like...there are American states where it isn't legal and they're jealous of US for being able to go to Canadian Tire and walk out with it five minutes later. I love mine...super fun to shoot and those small shells don't break your arms. Super fun and not totally far off a bunch of lesser weapons that we aren't allowed to own.

https://www.mossberg.com/590s-shockwave-51600.html

It looks bigger in the picture. IRL it's so fricken small dude. Insane what it can do.

I am just joking, for the record. I think that is fine here.

Ahem.... What you just fire off a couple of rounds in the parking lot to let the bears know you are coming and to clear the trail? I thought the other thing was dumb...

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Interesting, never knew about that one. I left the course under the impression that a handgun is pretty useless to get, with so a many rules and regulations tied to it and how you apparently get flagged in the system once your acquire one. If anything, a shotgun seems the way to go. Still on the fence about it all though. A mixture of curiosity, wanting to be educated on them (which both courses did a great job doing), protection in case god-know-what happens, and I ever want to get into hunting.

I've never popped into this thread before, so it will be an interesting read.

Yeah I was staunchly anti-gun until last year. Feels weird to now have guns and to know how to use them.

You can get ridiculously cheap shotguns. 22s are where it's at for just having a ton of fun, though. My Ruger 10/22 is a blast. Ammo is practically free and 10 rounds of semi-auto firing is hilarious.

The hardest part for me was finding a place to shoot them. I now have a spot in Maclean Creek and another in Waiprous I like. Both you can get to with just a car if you don't have a 4x4 (although my good spot in Maclean is perhaps a little sketchy if you have a low car...any random SUV (including, like, a Rav4) could do it. Don't forget to bring a garbage bag and a rake to clean up all your shells when you're out there. It's insane how many dickbags are into this. I always end up with a huge trash bag of other peoples' shells and old targets and stuff.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Titan2

I am just joking, for the record. I think that is fine here.

Ahem.... What you just fire off a couple of rounds in the parking lot to let the bears know you are coming and to clear the trail? I thought the other thing was dumb...

Sometimes I wish I was more irresponsible. I'd love to just hoot and holler and blast a bunch in the air. I'll have to stick to the bear banger for clearing trails. Have a snowboard trip this weekend with my friends, but with the snow being 'meh' I might bring my hiking shoes, too. I'll hammer out a couple bangers to let the animals know I'm coming.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Don't forget to bring a garbage bag and a rake to clean up all your shells when you're out there. It's insane how many dickbags are into this. I always end up with a huge trash bag of other peoples' shells and old targets and stuff.

So much yes. This was a very disappointing eye opener for me when I first go into shooting.


There was a free range just south of Kananaskis that I used to go to and was appalled at the crap people would leave behind. Doesn't seem it really matters what the activity is, there's always a segment that gives the entire group a bad name.

[DoubleF]

I know what the rules are saying about storage ammunition, but IMO, I wish the mindset regarding ammunition was different. I have no issues with gun ownership.

But, IMO, I wish more perceived that ammunition should be the thing that is one of the most difficult to access and access separately from a firearm. Think of ammunition like keys. Many people don't think it's a big enough deal because they perceive if someone can't access the firearm, the ammunition is harmless. I really wish more people didn't think of ammunition as harmless.

Simply storing and/or locking the ammunition via unique access to the thing securing the fire arms and treating the ammunition like it's the more dangerous part of the combination, could help prevent accidents. I get that completely separate location isn't also necessary. IMO, a lockable mail/courier bag or draw string bag, small fabric lockbox with a separate pin combo than the safe inside the same gun safe seems like a simple and non cost prohibitive upgrade to firearm/ammunition safety?

If there is unauthorized access to a fire arm without ammunition, the ability to cause damage via discharge is severely limited. I wonder if certain accidents could be prevented if a back up plan to prevent easy ability to combine the two components together had taken place. Like, an honest mistake occurs and the gun safe is accessible to kids. Then the kids don't also have immediate ability to combine the two components.

Yes, I know about the bullet control joke, but this isn't the place to post it.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I know what the rules are saying about storage ammunition, but IMO, I wish the mindset regarding ammunition was different. I have no issues with gun ownership.

But, IMO, I wish more perceived that ammunition should be the thing that is one of the most difficult to access and access separately from a firearm. Think of ammunition like keys. Many people don't think it's a big enough deal because they perceive if someone can't access the firearm, the ammunition is harmless. I really wish more people didn't think of ammunition as harmless.

Simply storing and/or locking the ammunition via unique access to the thing securing the fire arms and treating the ammunition like it's the more dangerous part of the combination, could help prevent accidents. I get that completely separate location isn't also necessary. IMO, a lockable mail/courier bag or draw string bag, small fabric lockbox with a separate pin combo than the safe inside the same gun safe seems like a simple and non cost prohibitive upgrade to firearm/ammunition safety?

If there is unauthorized access to a fire arm without ammunition, the ability to cause damage via discharge is severely limited. I wonder if certain accidents could be prevented if a back up plan to prevent easy ability to combine the two components together had taken place. Like, an honest mistake occurs and the gun safe is accessible to kids. Then the kids don't also have immediate ability to combine the two components.

Yes, I know about the bullet control joke, but this isn't the place to post it.

Yeah, I don't think that's crazy.

Know what's surprising to those of us without a lot of experience around firearms? Got to Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's. You know how you can just grab a backpack or a golf shirt off a rack there? Yeah, same with ammo. You can just pick up a box of shotgun shells off a rack. You don't need a dude with a key to open up a locked cabinet or anything. Ammo in stores in Calgary in a fricken shopping mall isn't locked behind anything. You just grab what you want and take it to the cashier.

The gun course is a real eye opener as to the rules. You know it's 100% legal to just drive around with a shotgun between your legs and, like, go through the Wendy's drive-thru? Yeah, it is. Perfectly legal. Weird, eh?

[GFG#1]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Yeah, I don't think that's crazy.


The gun course is a real eye opener as to the rules. You know it's 100% legal to just drive around with a shotgun between your legs and, like, go through the Wendy's drive-thru? Yeah, it is. Perfectly legal. Weird, eh?

Not entirely true, it has to be unloaded and you have to have a PAL.

Did you know you can walk into a home sense/Walmart and pick up a knife.
You can walk around with a knife on your belt or in your pocket.
Go into sport check and pick up a baseball bat or hockey stick.
Drive around with it in your car.
A kid can grab their parent's keys off the counter and hop in their car.
all of these items can be used as weapons to inflict serious injury just as easily.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Sliver

The hack, IMO, if you want a smaller firearm is the Mossberg 590s Shockwave shotgun. You can load it with 1 3/4" shells. It's super small. I don't get how it's legal - like...there are American states where it isn't legal and they're jealous of US for being able to go to Canadian Tire and walk out with it five minutes later. I love mine...super fun to shoot and those small shells don't break your arms. Super fun and not totally far off a bunch of lesser weapons that we aren't allowed to own

The 590 series is awesome. I added a stock to my shockwave since I wanted it be suitable for heavier loads mainly for wildlife protection. Now get the best of both worlds, still short.

Originally Posted by Sliver

Yeah I was staunchly anti-gun until last year. Feels weird to now have guns and to know how to use them.

You can get ridiculously cheap shotguns. 22s are where it's at for just having a ton of fun, though. My Ruger 10/22 is a blast. Ammo is practically free and 10 rounds of semi-auto firing is hilarious.

The hardest part for me was finding a place to shoot them. I now have a spot in Maclean Creek and another in Waiprous I like.

Was the same, very anti-gun, felt there was no purpose to them and they were just dangerous to have in general. I wish I didn't have that mindset earlier, as it would have been far cheaper to get into this years ago. Especially getting into milsurp rifles. The 22 is just a blast for plinking while backcountry camping though. If you plan on going out to shoot, give me a DM, would be great to fire some rounds off with someone who is respectful. Nearly everyone I meet out there just doesn't give a crap and are the people who are forcing the government to restrict some areas.

Here's my current 590 and CZ 457.



On the topic of storage, I go over what's required from the government, even though I live alone. Everything is trigger locked, then the firearms are stored in a locked closest. And then in that locked closest I also store the ammunition in locked ammo cases. Sure someone could break in and walk away with them if they break the lock on the door, but would be a massive deterrent to anyone. No visitor is going to be able to get in there and gain access to anything quickly. A safe may be in my future, but space is limited for me.

The unfortunate thing though, I have seen firearms displayed on the wall. No trigger lock (it looks bad or isn't manly), and the bolts aren't even separated from the rifle. All it would take is access to ammo to render it operable. Most lock the ammo in a safe, but some may have some in a drawer somewhere for easy access in case of an intruder. Just need to know where that drawer is and you've got yourself easy access to a killing tool.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by GFG#1

Not entirely true, it has to be unloaded and you have to have a PAL.

derp derp derp

JFC, guy, you need to acknowledge guns are tools for killing and - in our culture and the culture of much of the western civilized world - there is reasonable fear around them and hesitancy to be too lenient around permitting people to own them. Nobody just went on a killing spree in BC with a baseball bat. Grow a brain.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by chedder

I don't think the rcmp knows you have a now prohibited rifle. I believe that letter went out to every licenced gun owner. Does it say you 'may' be in possession of a newly prohibited firearm? Not telling you what to do but most have filed the letter appropriately. But, if you choose to keep the rifle you will be breaking the law. Could always say it was lost in a tragic boating accident at the bottom of lake Minnewanka.

Edit. Unless the gun was previously a restricted firearm, in which case they do know that you own it and you would have had to have a restricted pal to be able to legally possess it prior to it becoming prohibited.

I did some more research. The Government website is useless, a search of all the newly prohibited firearms does not provide a match to what I have. Doing some more digging and I think it's not the gun itself that is prohibited, it is potentially the magazine - and that is only if I have one that exceeds the new rules for capacity. Of course the firearms centre cannot tell you if what you have is prohibited (makes no sense to me that they could not know). Mine does not exceed the capacity so if I understand correctly I am okay. ???

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Yeah, I don't think that's crazy.

Know what's surprising to those of us without a lot of experience around firearms? Got to Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's. You know how you can just grab a backpack or a golf shirt off a rack there? Yeah, same with ammo. You can just pick up a box of shotgun shells off a rack. You don't need a dude with a key to open up a locked cabinet or anything. Ammo in stores in Calgary in a fricken shopping mall isn't locked behind anything. You just grab what you want and take it to the cashier.

The gun course is a real eye opener as to the rules. You know it's 100% legal to just drive around with a shotgun between your legs and, like, go through the Wendy's drive-thru? Yeah, it is. Perfectly legal. Weird, eh?

Most stores still store ammo in a glass case, no? Or am I misremembering? I've even seen a bunch of places with the steel bearings for slingshots be locked in a case. I didn't know there were places you could go and pick up a box of ammo and toss it around like a box of candy at Costco. That's wild.

Other than air rifles/bb guns, I've been around an unsupervised gun once in my life. I didn't even touch it. I literally rented a vehicle in the states and discovered a prior renter had left a his and hers glock in the storage compartment just above the spare tire in the back of the SUV. I've heard of others talk about shooting gophers and that sounds fun. I've shot birds in the tropics with air gun before and the only other time I've used a BB gun was to shoot a can on a string at a friend's cabin.

For the "fast access to ammo" requirement, when has a few moments been a true difference maker? But fine... lets say it's a legit concern. There's locked draw string bags for like $20-40 that can store a decent volume you could probably just rip apart with ease in a panic scenario/have a seatbelt cutter nearby to tear it open. A box or briefcase or whatever with a simple combination lock, just have one of the 3-4 numbers out of position vs all numbers out of position. Then you spin that one number and can get in a lot faster while still keeping the thing locked. Anyone randomly guessing isn't randomly choosing a single tumbler to move through the 10 possibilities to see if they can get in.

Nothing is a full deterrent. The point is inconvenience to the point that it's still a good balance of access and safety. Someone going to harm someone intentionally might plot long enough to get in anyways. A few unsupervised kids at home realizing the gun safe is open? That one might help prevent an undesirable situation.


Personally, I am really temped to buy a 250-400 fps airsoft handgun like those black Beretta ones you can find at Canadian tire. I wouldn't feel comfortable getting an actual gun and keep it at home, especially since I have young kids. I do like the concept of a toy that must be respected. To me, that's airsoft. A kid shouldn't be able to kill themselves if it was accidentally accessed. If I'm "protecting my family", no one is checking to see if it's airsoft vs real, plus my intention would be to deter/injure. I don't want anyone to actually die when I defend my family, if possible.

Something like this is IMO really up there and honestly borderline a little ridiculous IMO. Someone can still get pretty seriously injured by something like this:
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/b...-0755095p.html

You can get metal bbs vs plastic bbs to kill small creatures with an unlikelihood of killing a human. I got a 160 ish fps spring loaded one for like $25 + plastic BBs at Cabelas to scratch an itch. Yeah, that #### is way underpowered in comparison, but it isn't a toy either. I shot at a cardboard target almost 30 ft away and the damn BB bounced back at my head. Even at a lower FPS, gotta wear safety glasses yo.

Honestly though, I have the bug-a-salt on my radar for if I really can't help but want to scratch that itch.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Most stores still store ammo in a glass case, no? Or am I misremembering? I've even seen a bunch of places with the steel bearings for slingshots be locked in a case. I didn't know there were places you could go and pick up a box of ammo and toss it around like a box of candy at Costco. That's wild.

Other than air rifles/bb guns, I've been around an unsupervised gun once in my life. I didn't even touch it. I literally rented a vehicle in the states and discovered a prior renter had left a his and hers glock in the storage compartment just above the spare tire in the back of the SUV. I've heard of others talk about shooting gophers and that sounds fun. I've shot birds in the tropics with air gun before and the only other time I've used a BB gun was to shoot a can on a string at a friend's cabin.

For the "fast access to ammo" requirement, when has a few moments been a true difference maker? But fine... lets say it's a legit concern. There's locked draw string bags for like $20-40 that can store a decent volume you could probably just rip apart with ease in a panic scenario/have a seatbelt cutter nearby to tear it open. A box or briefcase or whatever with a simple combination lock, just have one of the 3-4 numbers out of position vs all numbers out of position. Then you spin that one number and can get in a lot faster while still keeping the thing locked. Anyone randomly guessing isn't randomly choosing a single tumbler to move through the 10 possibilities to see if they can get in.

Nothing is a full deterrent. The point is inconvenience to the point that it's still a good balance of access and safety. Someone going to harm someone intentionally might plot long enough to get in anyways. A few unsupervised kids at home realizing the gun safe is open? That one might help prevent an undesirable situation.


Personally, I am really temped to buy a 250-400 fps airsoft handgun like those black Beretta ones you can find at Canadian tire. I wouldn't feel comfortable getting an actual gun and keep it at home, especially since I have young kids. I do like the concept of a toy that must be respected. To me, that's airsoft. A kid shouldn't be able to kill themselves if it was accidentally accessed. If I'm "protecting my family", no one is checking to see if it's airsoft vs real, plus my intention would be to deter/injure. I don't want anyone to actually die when I defend my family, if possible.

Something like this is IMO really up there and honestly borderline a little ridiculous IMO. Someone can still get pretty seriously injured by something like this:
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/b...-0755095p.html

You can get metal bbs vs plastic bbs to kill small creatures with an unlikelihood of killing a human. I got a 160 ish fps spring loaded one for like $25 + plastic BBs at Cabelas to scratch an itch. Yeah, that #### is way underpowered in comparison, but it isn't a toy either. I shot at a cardboard target almost 30 ft away and the damn BB bounced back at my head. Even at a lower FPS, gotta wear safety glasses yo.

Honestly though, I have the bug-a-salt on my radar for if I really can't help but want to scratch that itch.

Yeah, Canadian Tire has everything locked up, but it's true that you could walk into Cabela's right now and grab ammo off a shelf. You'll need your PAL to actually purchase it, but it's not harder to grab than an Oh Henry at Mac's.

I have the bug-a-salt gun. It's fun. Inevitably it will lead to man-tests where you and all your friends are shooting each other point blank, so just know that going in.

Like BlackArcher, I go the extra mile with my gun storage. I have them in a safe and I have redundant safety by having trigger locks on them all, too.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I did some more research. The Government website is useless, a search of all the newly prohibited firearms does not provide a match to what I have. Doing some more digging and I think it's not the gun itself that is prohibited, it is potentially the magazine - and that is only if I have one that exceeds the new rules for capacity. Of course the firearms centre cannot tell you if what you have is prohibited (makes no sense to me that they could not know). Mine does not exceed the capacity so if I understand correctly I am okay. ???

I wouldn't take what I think as gospel, but I'd say if the gun isn't on the prohibited list you should be legal to keep it (for now, as they seem to want to keep adding to the list).

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

So much yes. This was a very disappointing eye opener for me when I first go into shooting.

There was a free range just south of Kananaskis that I used to go to and was appalled at the crap people would leave behind. Doesn't seem it really matters what the activity is, there's always a segment that gives the entire group a bad name.

We should have you fly your drones around and we'll peg 'em off.

[GFG#1]

Originally Posted by Sliver

JFC, guy, you need to acknowledge guns are tools for killing and - in our culture and the culture of much of the western civilized world - there is reasonable fear around them and hesitancy to be too lenient around permitting people to own them. Nobody just went on a killing spree in BC with a baseball bat. Grow a brain.

So what I said was incorrect?

Toronto a few years ago a guy drove down the sidewalk in a van and killed 10 people plus injured a whole bunch more.

There was an attack in Calgary probably a decade ago where the guy stabbed and killed 5 people at a house party.

I am sure there are plenty more I could look up quite quickly if I was so inclined.

You don't think a knife is a tool that is designed to kill? It might not be its main purpose, but they aren't made with blunt ends and dull blades, neither are Axes.

It is way harder to get a gun license in this country then it is to get a drivers license.

You are more than welcome to disagree with my opinion, but I do have a brain and it works quite well thanks!

[GFG#1]

Originally Posted by Sliver

We should have you fly your drones around and we'll peg 'em off.

On a more positive note, if you do have your PAL, and are interested in shooting, Trap, Five stand, or skeet, the Aheia firearms center is a nice facility and well priced jsut south of Calgary.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by GFG#1

On a more positive note, if you do have your PAL, and are interested in shooting, Trap, Five stand, or skeet, the Aheia firearms center is a nice facility and well priced jsut south of Calgary.

Oh neat, thanks. I'll look into that. I'm on a waiting list for two ranges, but I'll check that one out because it seems like I'll be waiting a while on the others.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by GFG#1

So what I said was incorrect?

Toronto a few years ago a guy drove down the sidewalk in a van and killed 10 people plus injured a whole bunch more.

There was an attack in Calgary probably a decade ago where the guy stabbed and killed 5 people at a house party.

I am sure there are plenty more I could look up quite quickly if I was so inclined.

You don't think a knife is a tool that is designed to kill? It might not be its main purpose, but they aren't made with blunt ends and dull blades, neither are Axes.

It is way harder to get a gun license in this country then it is to get a drivers license.

You are more than welcome to disagree with my opinion, but I do have a brain and it works quite well thanks!

This is silly. For every mass killing committed by something other than a gun, there are likely hundreds committed by those with a gun.

I’m all for letting responsible gun owners do their thing if that’s what they want to do, but let’s not pretend guns are comparable to cars or knives in any way. Especially when killing or the potential to kill is probably near 100% of the reason why people own guns.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by GFG#1

Not entirely true, it has to be unloaded and you have to have a PAL.

Did you know you can walk into a home sense/Walmart and pick up a knife.
You can walk around with a knife on your belt or in your pocket.
Go into sport check and pick up a baseball bat or hockey stick.
Drive around with it in your car.
A kid can grab their parent's keys off the counter and hop in their car.
all of these items can be used as weapons to inflict serious injury just as easily.

The difference between guns and knives and cars and chain saws and hammers is that for the vast majority of people their lives would not be in anyway affected if they never owned or saw a gun ever again, if the Government could magically take away every gun in Canada outside of the far north and it's polar bears no one would notice any difference at the functioning of society at all, Japan has a near total ban on gun ownership and yet carries on as a modern society without problem, we need knives and cars and hammers, no one needs a gun

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

The difference between guns and knives and cars and chain saws and hammers is that for the vast majority of people their lives would not be in anyway affected if they never owned or saw a gun ever again, if the Government could magically take away every gun in Canada outside of the far north and it's polar bears no one would notice any difference at the functioning of society at all, Japan has a near total ban on gun ownership and yet carries on as a modern society without problem, we need knives and cars and hammers, no one needs a gun

But you're taking away their rights!!! Don't tread on them.

Australia has relatively strict gun laws and we, too, are a functioning society. I wish they were stricter but at least it's not open season like the US.