Canada sure does not want you to transport a gun (move to, vacation)

[GnomadAK]

Originally Posted by Dakster

True they can always refuse to ship it, but when the web page says they will ship it, why wouldn't they?

Tomorrow I'll be close to a packing/shipping store and I'll ask them about shipping my own guns to myself and see what they say. They use Fedex, UPS, and USPS --- so they have all the options available to them.

The packing and shipping stores won't accept firearms even if you are a dealer. We went to the UPS hub in Anchorage, showed them the rules and like I said, they wouldn't do it.

It's a real pain as we have 5 pistols to get down here and the prce through the local FFL's is really stupid. You get tapped at both ends plus shipping which UPS mandates as next day, and only one pistol per box, whicxh has to be a new unmarked box......I'm thinking about renewing my C&R FFL as that will get at least a few of them down here.

[stiffnecked]

Most all of the major airlines that fly up here will ship firearms as air freight.

[Natnasci]

Originally Posted by starlite9

A lot of the guns used in crimes in Mexico were sent there by our current President and company. Fast and Furious was a ploy to have a lot of Mexicans killed by US sourced guns to blame the American public for selling guns. It was an effort to blame the lax laws here for more gun control. Problem is that Obama and Holder got caught and dropped the entire thing like a hot potatoe and have done all sorts of "Chuck and Jive" to keep it from being investigated. But it will see the light of day.

Canada's gun laws are different, but in the same light they took away gun rights there one bite at a time, first registering them, then first taking pistols and now rifles without a major paper trail and payments of fees to own one or bringing one into the country. So Americans are pretty leary of Politicians claiming gun control as a ploy to solve crimes, I think only a few crimes were solved with registration of millions of guns.

Crimes by gun are created mostly by the person wanting to harm others, not the guns themselves. Instead of shooting victums, they just stab, club, run over them and other assorted crafts...

Not worth the hassle of taking a gun through Canada, better to just leave it home or ship it to the other side. Should it be stolen or you lose it, they will assume you sold it there and all hell will break loose with them wanting to know whom you sold it to and why. You are guilty there until proven inocent.

This is so off topic but since you brought it up, I thought a little history of gun laws in Canada might be of interest to you.
Bear in mind that Canada became a country in 1867 and gun laws were in place from the start, so it's is part of the Canadian mindset that gun control is a good thing.

It is not a partisan issue in Canada for the most part, like it is in the U.S.


History of Firearms Control in Canada: Up to and Including the Firearms Act - Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Dakster]

Originally Posted by JoDan

This discussion has answered my question about entering Canada with a gun. It has become apparent to me to leave my gun(s) home. I will, however, be bringing my bear spray canister. :-)

Lol... probably the best.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by JoDan

This discussion has answered my question about entering Canada with a gun. It has become apparent to me to leave my gun(s) home. I will, however, be bringing my bear spray canister. :-)

I no longer try to take a firearm through Canada. It's just not worth the hassle. Ship it if you need it when you get there. Get the largest canister of bear spray they make.

[IntlFalls56649]

I read that story also, and living three blocks from the border crossing here in International Falls, Minnesota, I am an expert on what you can and can't bring when you visit there (or here) and a lot of people don't know. Unless you really research it, you'd never know how much trouble you could get into. Couple things I've seen:

- A retired man who crosses the border here, stays there to vacation three summer months. However, because of how his insurance worked out, he wasn't able to fill all his prescriptions before crossing - he'd have to cross back three weeks into his vacation, pick up his prescriptions at a FedEx Store here, and cross back. Unfortunately, that sends huge red flags to border agents who, when they scan your passport, can see when you came into Canada, when you came back into the US, then, if you picked something up at a Fed Ex Store and came right back, they will pull you over and rip your car apart. He was fine, but most people aren't. His prescriptions were sent by his doctor/pharmacy, obviously in his name, so he had his bases covered. But still, the border guards don't know him personally, so they don't have to clarify that the reason why he crossed into the US and then back into Canada was only because he needed the rest of his prescriptions and had to wait three weeks before his insurance cleared, and most pharmacies won't ship your medications outside of the United States. If the border guard was a real jerk, he could have arrested the guy for suspected narcotics trafficking (HIGHLY unlikely, but again, they can't leave anything to question).

- A young woman wanted to spend a few weeks in Canada after finals, and was taking the bus. At the border crossing they noticed she had an iPad and they wanted to see what was on it. They found her resume and a website where she had designed her own business cards. She was denied entry into Canada because they thought she was coming there to try to look for work and never come back into the US. The real story was her last final at the community college was that day, and part of the assignment was to design a resume with business cards. Nothing on the resume or business cards indicated anything about going to Canada and never coming back. But that's how those guards are trained. They don't have to explain why - and you don't have any legal recourse.

- The issue with the gun can be a different story depending on the condition it was in - similar to coming with your medications in a plastic baggie rather than your actual prescription bottle. If it was secured, your license was with you, and you were following the law, that's one thing, but you have to understand that Canada's cities are becoming much like the cities in the upper Midwest where gun violence is becoming very common. The majority of guns smuggled into Canada are coming across from Detroit or Buffalo, and it's a huge business. Similar to drug smuggling, these organized gangs are using more wholesome people with no record to do their dirty work. So the border guards have to assume everyone could potentially be part of this scheme.

It really sucks. 15 years ago, you showed your license and were told to have fun - that was the border crossing experience. After 9/11, and especially within the last year, people are being refused entry into both the US and Canada based on petty criminal histories, the examples I stated above, and what's really upsetting people now - they can look into your medical records. If you have a medical condition Canada can deny you entry based on the fear that you might end up in their hospitals with no way to pay your bill. They've done it twice in the last year, as well as the US has denied entry to Canadians with mental health histories. In my opinion that's a violation of HIPPA laws (confidentiality), but they've found a way to do that. This is going to cost many border cities their tourism businesses for sure.

[Jan Alaska]

Originally Posted by JoDan

This discussion has answered my question about entering Canada with a gun. It has become apparent to me to leave my gun(s) home. I will, however, be bringing my bear spray canister. :-)

RE: bear spray, make sure its clearly labelled as such, pepper spray for personal use is banned in Canada. Also FWIW we saw many bears on our travels through Canada they were all busy doing their own thing and hardly even noticed we were there. Unless you plan on camping I really don't think you are in much danger.

[Dakster]

IntlFalls56649 - Interesting read. Didn't know they could look up you medical history. I do know to bring all meds in their original bottles and to not even put them in the day pill box reminders. Organize that stuff later. I don't see how getting your legal prescriptions could do anything other than inconvenience you for a full search.

I didn't know they would look thru an iPad either. I had plenty of electronic stuff and they didn't bat an eye towards them. Maybe showing them the reservations I had a places along the Alaska Highway and in Alaska was enough... Maybe having a full time career job also put them at ease that I won't be staying. Don't get me wrong, it was still a big interrogation with a lot of questions to answer. Some multiple times.

Canada doesn't need a reason to deny a US Citizen entry, period. You have no right to be in, get in, or travel thru Canada. Just as a Canadian has no right to be in, get in, or travel thru the U.S.

For the five guns, since you are not flying at all - I'd be sending it via Alaska Air Freight.

And my local UPS office will ship my guns to me from me. I guess you got a knucklehead at the place you went to... BTW, My pistols and the cases all fit in their standard overnight BOX. I stuff packing material around it so it doesn't shift around. And this only if I don't take at least one flight up.

[JoDan]

Originally Posted by Jan Alaska

RE: bear spray, make sure its clearly labelled as such, pepper spray for personal use is banned in Canada. Also FWIW we saw many bears on our travels through Canada they were all busy doing their own thing and hardly even noticed we were there. Unless you plan on camping I really don't think you are in much danger.

I was aware of that. Not sure when the rule changed, but I did have bear spray the last time I worked in Alaska. They asked if I had bear spray and I said, "yes, would you like to see it?" He quickly replied, "sure." I showed it to him and was on my way.

BTW, the spray is not for bears. It's for the two legged animals i may encounter in the wilds of Canada. :-)

[mizzile]

I'm beyond glad that I'm not married to my guns the way some people are. If I want to go to Canada, I just freaking go. I don't weigh myself down with an item that makes going to Canada really freaking difficult.