Special Bulletin for Shooting Clubs and Ranges – No 10

End of Amnesty for Prohibited 12(6) Handguns

Snapshot

• The amnesty ends on December 31, 2005, for individuals who registered a prohibited handgun after February 14, 1995, and for businesses that had prohibited handguns in their inventory on December 1, 1998.
• There are no plans to extend the amnesty.
• Several notices have been mailed to individuals with handguns registered under the former law to inform them of what they need to do to comply with the current legal requirements.
• A final notice is being sent to owners who have not yet complied.

The purpose of this special bulletin is to provide information that may affect some members of your club who own prohibited handguns. Any help you can provide in passing this information on to your members will be greatly appreciated.

Prohibited Handguns

Handguns with a barrel length of 105 mm or less and handguns that were designed or altered to discharge .25 or .32 calibre ammunition became prohibited on December 1, 1998, except for specific models used in International Shooting Union competitions.

These prohibited handguns are commonly called 12(6) handguns, in reference to grandfathering provisions contained in section 12(6) of the Firearms Act. The current provisions, as amended by Bill C-10A, allow an individual to be licensed to possess prohibited handguns if the individual has continuously held a valid registration certificate for at least one prohibited handgun from December 1, 1998, onward. A previous requirement to have held a valid registration certificate for a prohibited handgun on February 14, 1995, was eliminated.

Businesses may be licensed to possess prohibited handguns for an approved purpose set out in section 22 of the Firearms Licences Regulations (Businesses). The regulations were amended in November 2004 to allow the retail sale of prohibited handguns that were reported as business inventory prior to December 1, 1998. Businesses cannot be licensed to acquire more prohibited handguns for retail sale.

Amnesty for some Handgun Owners

On December 1, 1998, an amnesty was put in place to protect businesses and individuals from penalties while they disposed of handguns that they had possessed lawfully under the former law but could not lawfully keep under the Firearms Act. The amnesty was extended until December 31, 2005, to allow time for some legislative and regulatory changes to go through the necessary Parliamentary processes.

Bill C-10A received Royal Assent in May 2003. Changes to the supporting regulations were made in November 2004. The legislative and regulatory amendments came into effect on April 10, 2005. There are no plans to extend the amnesty beyond the December 31, 2005 deadline.

Bill C-10A grandfathered some 12(6) handguns that were previously ineligible for grandfathered status. These include handguns that were registered for the first time after the original cut-off date of February 14, 1995 and handguns that were reported to the Commissioner of the RCMP as business inventory before they became prohibited.

Some individuals remain ineligible for grandfathering privileges if their only prohibited handguns were registered after February 14, 1995. Registration certificates issued under the former law expired on December 31, 2002. A licence and new registration certificate for 12(6) handguns could not be issued to those individuals until the eligibility criteria were amended. By the time the changes received Parliamentary approval, the original certificates had already expired. As a result, they do not meet the current eligibility requirement to have continuously held a valid registration certificate for at least one prohibited handgun from December 1, 1998, onward. However, their handguns are now grandfathered, providing more options for disposing of them.

What Next?

There are no plans to make further amendments to the grandfathering provisions for 12(6) handguns. Most owners of prohibited handguns have already complied with the law, either by obtaining the necessary licence privileges and registration certificates if they were eligible, or by disposing of prohibited handguns that they could no longer lawfully keep. Many of those individuals knew from the beginning that they risked losing their 12(6) handguns once the handguns became prohibited.

There are still a few owners who have not yet complied with the licence and registration requirements or disposed of their handguns. A final notice is being mailed to those individuals to give them one last chance before the amnesty expires. The notice provides specific options for disposing of a handgun lawfully, responsibly and safely, including:

• Transferring the handgun to a properly licensed business or individual;
• Permanently deactivating the handgun so that it cannot be made to fire ammunition, and therefore, no longer meets the definition of a firearm;
• Exporting the handgun to a country that will allow it to be imported – Individuals should contact the Export Controls Division of International Trade Canada at 1 800 267-8376 for information on export requirements or refer to their Website;
• Turning the handgun in to a police or firearms officer for disposal; or
• Replacing a short barrel with one longer than 105 mm and turning the short barrel in to a police or firearms officer for disposal.

Regardless of the their method of disposal, the Registrar needs to be notified so that the records can be updated.

Once the amnesty expires, individuals who were protected by the amnesty will be subject to the same penalties as any other individual if they are in possession of a prohibited handgun without the required licence privileges and registration certificates.

Most Possession-Only Licences and Possession and Acquisition Licences that are valid for prohibited handguns will show 12(6) on the back. A few will show 12(7) instead, in cases where an individual was allowed to acquire and register a family heirloom made before 1946 but is not eligible to possess other prohibited handguns.

More Information

For general information, contact us at:
1 800 731-4000 (Toll Free)
E-mail: cfc-cafc@cfc-cafc.gc.ca

This bulletin is intended to provide general information only. For legal references, please refer to the Firearms Act and Regulations. Provincial, territorial and municipal laws, regulations and policies may also apply.

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