A Video Overview Of Canadian Gun Laws

The second-largest country in the world by area, aka the Great White North or Canada, has gun laws that would alternately have Americans cheering and jeering. For example, a Norinco M-14 clone which is banned from import in the US sells for approximately $650 Canadian or about $520 US. It is a semi-auto with an 18.5" barrel and is non-restricted. However, if you would rather have a FN-FAL or G-3 clone, they are prohibited. Another example would be short barrel pump shotguns which would be classified as NFA items in the US. In Canada, they are non-restricted so long as the overall length is 26" or greater.

Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons discusses the various categories - non-restricted, restricted, and prohibited - with John from Marstar Canada Classic Collectibles in the video below. Non-restricted allows gun owners to shoot anywhere it is legal to shoot, restricted firearms are only allowed to be shot at approved ranges, and prohibited firearms, in general, are not allowed to be shot anywhere. As with all laws, there are exceptions and the RCMP has a firearms page with both FAQs and more detailed information.

"Why Can't We Import Cool Guns" - Adam Kraut

Firearms attorney Adam Kraut explains some of the nuances of the sporting purposes exemption for the importation of firearms. He notes that the BATFE has consistently determined that shooting competitions like IDPA, USPSA, IPSC, and 3-Gun are not a sporting use nor is plinking.




There are a couple of corrections that Adam points out need to be made in his video. First, he used an image for the USAS-12 shotgun that was actually the AA-12. Second, around the 4:14 mark, the video says the "FBI determined" when he actually meant BATFE.

For those that don't know, Adam, in addition to his firearms practice, is a podcaster at The Gun Collective. He is also a petition candidate for the NRA Board of Directors for whom I helped secure signatures as I support his candidacy. You can find more on that at adamkraut.com.

Oh, Oh, Oh, I Know The Answer Mr. Kotter

For those who were fans of the old TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, you will remember the character Arnold Horshack. Whenever he'd raise his hand to answer a question, he'd yell, "Oooh, oooh, ooh".

So it is with a story from Legal Insurrection regarding the 2018 House races. It featured three races with Republican incumbents that are expected to be very close. The Republicans mentioned in the story are Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), and Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL).

While I can't speak to Mia Love's race for re-election, I do have an answer - or at least a partial answer - as to why Roskam and Curbelo might be on the bubble. They both voted against concealed carry reciprocity. Moreover, Curbelo is the sponsor of HR 3999 which would make it illegal "to manufacture, possess, or transfer any part or combination of parts that is designed and functions to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but does not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machinegun." The way the bill reads this would mean not just bumpstocks and binary triggers but stuff like Geissele or Timney triggers.

Perhaps Roskam and Curbelo think playing to the gun control crowd will win them a few more Democrat or moderate Republican votes. I'd say it will also cause them to lose a lot more gun owners who might have provided them with the margin of victory.

I know my friend and Polite Society Podcast co-host Gary Daugherty who lives in Roskam's district is quite angry over Roskam's vote against HR 38. Given Gary helps organize town halls for ISRA in his area of Illinois, this does not bode well for Roskam.

Free Recoil

I had never heard of the concept of free recoil until I saw this video put up by Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Media. The gist of it is that you have the rifle steadied on a rest and you pull the trigger without the buttstock being locked into your shoulder. Indeed, it isn't even touching your shoulder.

I'll have to try this the next time I go to the range.

Redneck Rebellion Advocates The End Of Capitalism

The Independent, a UK-based online newspaper owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, published an interesting story today about a hard-Left group calling themselves Redneck Rebellion. Their mission is the downfall of capitalism through opposition to racism. They seek to mobilize poor whites to stand up for black, Hispanics, and other minorities. They also believe in armed defense.

According to Redneck Revolt’s mission statement, organising people also requires organising a defence of their communities. Hence, the gun range.

The Suffolk County branch group meets up for weekly sessions at the range, the name of which they asked to be kept secret. They often bring along other leftists groups, like the PSL, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), or the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Mike says those are some of his favourite days on the range.

“I think it’s very cool that we can bring groups together that normally wouldn’t have anything else in common,” he told me. “And seeing a whole bunch of leftists with guns is cool.”

Not everyone thinks the guns are cool, of course. Redneck Revolt has gotten pushback from liberal groups who think the weapons sully their image. But the members maintain that the firearms are necessary to protect themselves, and the communities of colour they want to help serve.

“We are willing to take on personal risk to defend those in our community who live under the risk of reactionary violence because of their skin colour, gender identity, sexuality, religion, or birth country,” the group’s mission statement reads. “For us, that means that we meet our neighbours face-to-face, and stand alongside them to face threats whenever possible.”

They don't see themselves as an armed wing of Antifa. According to the story, they seek to do everything within the law and are not anarchists. Rather they see themselves as more of a white Deacons for Defense or Young Patriots Organization which was a 60s and 70s group of whites aligned with the Black Panthers.

There was one quote in the story that I found rather amusing. It was attributed to "Mike" who said that Russian-made firearms were the "most accurate and reliable". I suppose in his lexicon this means "minute of capitalist". The video and pictures that accompanied the story showed the group shooting Mosins, SKSs, and New York-compliant AKs. I just hope they remembered that the New York SAFE Act restricts them to only seven rounds in the magazine.

Frankly, I'm not sure what to make of these wannabe Bolsheviks. While I don't disagree with them that racism is bad, isn't it a bit bourgeois of them to think they have to be the ones providing armed protection for minorities? To me, this reeks of noblesse oblige and paternalism. Far better that minorities learn to protect themselves. Moreover, the absence of racism is NOT going to bring down capitalism. It may work well in their reading of Marxist theory but in reality it is naive. In my opinion, free and open markets do more to raise the standards of living across the board than anything that groups like this can do.

I just hope that groups like Redneck Rebellion are not, as Matt Bracken says, a "countdown to CW2."

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas. I hope it has been everything you've been anticipating and more.

The picture above features a wooden Christmas tree we received as a gift from my very handy son-in-law Jeremy.  He made this tree from discarded wooden pallets. It is a great example of upcycling.

The BBC Discovers North Carolina Kids Who Shoot

As part of a story about gun sales in the United States during the holiday season, the BBC included the following kids in North Carolina. These kids tell why they enjoy shooting guns. In this case, the video appears to have been taken at a Scholastic Clays shooting event.




Surprising perhaps, given the anti-gun sentiment in the UK, but the BBC seems to do a better job covering the American gun culture than the American mainstream media.

Doing Well By Doing Good

If Uncle Saw rewarded you for doing good would you consider doing it? Well, actually the government does reward you for doing good. It gives you a tax deduction for donations made to 501(c)(3) non-profits. Even if you don't itemize your deductions many states will give you a tax credit for donations to non-profits over and above the standard deduction.

So in this spirit, I thought I'd point out some organizations that support guns rights, promote (real) firearms safety, defend those who run afoul of arcane or absurd gun laws, and who encourage the shooting sports for the next generation. I have checked and all of these organizations are 501(c)(3) organizations. This is critical as donations to 501(c)(4) organizations are not tax deductible. The deadline for donations to be deductible is midnight on December 31st.

Supporting civil rights lawsuits, filing amicus briefs, and serving as organizational plaintiffs is critical in securing our Second Amendment rights. This is where the Second Amendment Foundation shines. They usually have a large number of lawsuits going in Federal and state courts all the time and are definitely deserving of your money.

Other organizations active in this category would include the Calguns Foundation, the Firearms Policy Foundation, and, to a lesser extent, the Mountain States Legal Foundation. Calguns has been very active in challenging restrictions in California and are often joined in this effort by the Firearms Policy Foundation. MSLF supported the lawsuits challenging the ban on firearms in post office parking lots and a case in Illinois regarding FOID cards for out-of-state residents. The Gun Owners Foundation, a sister organization to GOA, does help support some amicus briefs in important Federal gun rights cases.

Generating good policy research is important to Second Amendment litigation and advocacy in the legislative arena. This is where Prof. John Lott and his Crime Prevention Research Center plays a role. Unlike those in academia who get fat grants from Michael Bloomberg, the Joyce Foundation, and the California Department of Justice, Prof. Lott is dependent on grass roots donations. He runs a lean organization and could use your help.

Supporting those who have had their civil rights abridged like Shaneen Allen is the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund. They have cases going in 20 states ranging from Alaska to North Carolina. In NC, they are fighting an improper zoning law decision in Caldwell County that would shut down a shooting range even though ranges are a permitted use. The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund also is supporting a number of cases in California in conjunction with the state's NRA affiliate California Rifle and Pistol Association.

Supporting similar legal defense work but on a individual state basis are both the Calguns Foundation (see above) in California and the ISRA Legal Assistance Committee in Illinois.

If we want to protect our children in a meaningful sense, it requires safety training for children, community outreach, and defense training for teachers and other school personnel. The NRA Foundation provides grants for education, training, and safety. Likewise, Project Childsafe, which is sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, provides both safety education and devices for securing firearms. They have provided over 37 million gun locks over the years. Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response or FASTER Saves Lives started with the Buckeye Firearms Association and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation. The program provides rigorous violence response training free of charge to school personnel as well as trauma kits to schools.

A true grass roots effort that is deserving of our money is Operation Blazing Sword. Founded in the wake of the Pulse nightclub attack by my friend Erin Palette, it seeks to make firearm safety and familiarization training available to those in the LGBTQ community. It originated with Erin putting together a Google Maps page with links to those who had offered this training for free around the country. It has now become an official non-profit with a 501(c)(3) determination letter from the IRS.

Getting the next generation active in shooting sports is the mission of the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation. It both a clays and an action pistol program. The programs reach out to youth from elementary grades through college.

The Safari Club International Foundation supports wildlife conservation around the world, education programs including college scholarships, and humanitarian aid to veterans, food pantries, and many Third World Countries. Also providing aid to veterans is HAVA or Honored American Veterans Afield. This program helps wounded and disabled veterans to transition back to their lives in the US through outdoor and shooting activities.

There are many more state and local 501(c)(3) non-profits out there. These may range from a local 4-H program to a hunter's foot pantry program. Look around your community for these opportunities to do good.

If I have missed an organization that you think is deserving of attention for the good work they do and that are tax-deductible non-profits, let me know in the comments.


NOTE: The links above go directly to the donation pages of the organizations mentioned.

UPDATE: Colorado also has a teacher violence response training program which was modeled on that of Ohio.  FASTER Colorado was started by my friend Laura Carno to bring that training to her state. You can make a tax-deductible donation on the link above. Look at the bottom of the teacher registration page where it says "donate".