WARNING: The
law on barrel length was changed since this was written.
Always verify actual current legislation for any firearms related issue.
-- Y4
Reprinted from original text of Cdn-Firearms
Digest, Vol.2 #48, 1997 October 27
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 12:12:07 -0600
From: "David A. Tomlinson"
Subject: Barrel And Overall Firearms Lengths
Sigh. I keep TRYING to explain the unholy mess that the current legislation - -- AND Bill C-68 -- have made out of the issue of unrestricted firearms, "restricted weapons", "prohibited weapons" (those three are all defined under CURRENT law) and unrestricted firearms, "restricted firearms" and "prohibited firearms" (those three are all defined under C-68). It is NOT easy. So let’s try it this way, for the education of the latest questioners:
NOTE: NONE OF THIS POSTING APPLIES TO ANY FULL AUTO FIREARM.
NOTE: This has been sent to the CFC and FRAS. If they disagree with any of the interpretations and explanations given below, they are requested to reply either to me direct or to CFD. That is, of course, if Liberal Minister of Justice Anne McLellan will ALLOW them to communicate with us— the people affected by her current bad law, rotten enforcement, and upcoming worse law. I am not holding my breath to wait for a reply—I have been waiting ONE SOLID YEAR for any answers to the first set of questions I posed to the CFC, just after they invited everyone to ask questions.
LESS THAN 18.5"/470mm BARREL LENGTH RULES:
CURRENT LAW, CC s. 84(1) "restricted weapon" (b):
If a firearm has a barrel length less than 18.5"/470mm AND is centrefire AND is semi-automatic, that combination forces the firearm into the "restricted weapon" class. In such a case, IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW THE BARREL ARRIVED AT THAT LENGTH. The rule is the same regardless of how it ARRIVED at the too-short length—but note carefully that this rule is overridden by the rule just below if the barrel is shortened to less than 18"/457mm!
Therefore, a Browning Auto-5 or Remington Model 11-87 shotgun with an 18-5/8"/474mm barrel is unrestricted. Cut the barrel to 18-1/4"/464mm and it becomes a "restricted weapon." Cut it again—to 17-7/8"/454mm—and it becomes a "prohibited weapon." It is amazing how cutting 3/8"/10mm rings off its barrel changes the basic character of the firearm, with less than an inch of overall length change!
C-68, CC s. 84(1) "restricted firearm" (b):
Same as above, except that the class is called "restricted firearm."
Main application: Short-barrelled centrefire semi-auto rifles and shotguns.
LESS THAN 18"/457mm BARREL LENGTH RULES:
CURRENT LAW, cc S. 84(1) "prohibited weapon" (d):
If the barrel has been SHORTENED after leaving the factory "by sawing, cutting or other alteration or modification" to less than 18"/457mm, that forces the firearm into the "prohibited weapon" class.
NOTE: The firearm is NOT forced into the "prohibited weapon" class (i) if it left the factory at the below-18"/457mm barrel length,
[Warning: it is believed that this section below has changed in law since it was written and that it now does not matter how the barrel gets below 18" if the firearm was originally fitted with barrel longer than 18". Verify current legislation -- Y4]
(ii) if it was refitted with a factory-made or even gunsmith-made barrel at the below-18"/457mm barrel length UNLESS the barrel was at one time a longer factory-made barrel that was shortened "by sawing, cutting" etc.—in which case it falls back into the "prohibited weapon" class. I have, for example, a .22 rimfire semi-auto 30-shot rifle with a 9-3/4" barrel, a .410 single-shot shotgun with an 11-3/4" barrel, two 12-gauge pump-action shotguns with 14" barrels, a .22 rimfire pump-action rifle with a 17-7/8" custom barrel and a .223 calibre rifle with a 14" barrel—AND ALL OF THEM ARE UNRESTRICTED, BECAUSE THEY EITHER LEFT THE FACTORY WITH THOSE BARRELS, OR WERE FITTED WITH FACTORY- OR CUSTOM-MADE BARRELS IN THOSE LENGTHS AT SOME LATER DATE.
My assembly of that collection of idiocy demonstrations was deliberate. The law apparently tried to prohibit certain lengths of barrel or firearm—and failed miserably, because the limits are all conditional. Assembling the necessary parts to change one of your firearms into one of my above-noted configurations is something you can do as a hobby. It is a risky hobby. You may be forced to defend the legality of what you have, or have done, in a court of law—at heavy expense—because some police officer does NOT understand all the above technicalities. You may even be convicted— because some JUDGE does not understand firearms law. Did YOU understand it before reading ALL of this posting? Are you SURE you understand the limits NOW?
NOTE: In the words "by sawing, cutting or OTHER ALTERATION OR MODIFICATION" used in CC s. 84(1) "prohibited weapon" (d), the capitalized words are locked to the previous words "sawing, cutting" and are forced into meaning some similar thing—such as "breaking." They do NOT mean just ANY short barrel, but are quite specific. The barrel must ARRIVE at that too-short length by "sawing, cutting" or some similar variation of that concept, or the rule does NOT apply. That is why firearms made to confrom to the US minimum -- 16" barrel length—are unrestricted in Canada unless they are semi-automatic AND centrefire.
It is IMPORTANT to understand what you can and cannot do.
C-68 CC s. 84(1) "prohibited firearm" (b):
Same as above, except that the class is called "prohibited firearm."
Main application: Rimfire and centrefire rifles and shotguns that are NOT semi-auto.
OVERALL LENGTH LESS THAN 26"/660mm RULES:
CURRENT LAW CC s. 84(1) "prohibited weapon" (d):
This is another clause of the same law—the one cited immediately above— and it applies in the same way. If the firearm ARRIVES at the "less than 26"/660mm in overall length" condition by "sawing, cutting" etc., then it is forced into the "prohibited weapon" class. If it left the factory at that too-short length, or arrived at that too-short length by the addition or substitution of factory-made or custom-made parts that are NOT SHORTENED FACTORY-MADE PARTS, the limit does NOT apply. It is unrestricted, UNLESS it is semi-automatic AND centrefire.
C-68 CC s. 84(1) "prohibited firearm" (b):
Same as above, except that the class is called "prohibited firearm."
Example: A Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun that has been fitted with a Scattergun Technologies 12"/305mm barrel and a Pachmayr pistol grip is less than 26"/660mm in overall length, but is NOT "prohibited." It is unrestricted.
....................................................................................................
Continuing with that 26"/660mm limit:
CURRENT LAW CC s. 84(1) "restricted weapon" (b):
If the firearm ARRIVES at the "less than 26"/660mm" overall length by "folding, telescoping or otherwise" INSTEAD OF by "sawing, cutting" etc., it is forced into the "restricted weapon" class. If it left the factory at the too-short length, or arrived at the too-short length by the addition of substitution of factory-made or custom-made parts that are NOT SHORTENED FACTORY-MADE PARTS, the limit does NOT apply.
Note that WHICH class the firearm becomes—"restricted" OR "prohibited"— depends upon HOW it ARRIVED at that shortened length. That strongly reinforces what I have said above about the length determination—overall OR barrel length—NOT being enough to decide which class the firearm falls into. Knowing the WAY the firearm or barrel ARRIVED at that short length is vital to understanding this area of the law when determining the class of firearm.
C-68 CC s. 84(1) "restricted firearm" (c):
Same as above, except that the class is called "restricted firearm."
Example: A Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun that has been fitted with any factory-made 12"/305mm barrel and any after-market pistol grip is less than 26"/660mm in overall length, but it is NOT "restricted." It is unrestricted.
I hope that this clarifies the situation for you—as much as is possible with such badly-written law.
Note that a "firearm" is defined, both in current law at CC s. 84(1) "firearm" and in C-68’s CC s. 2 "firearm," as: "a barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing serious bodily injury or death to a person, and includes any frame or receiver of such a barrelled weapon and anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm."
What that means is that the "frame or receiver" is a firearm. If you add more uncontrolled ‘spare parts’ to the basic "firearm" (the "frame or receiver"), it is STILL a "firearm." You are required to register (today) certain CLASSES of firearms. When C-68 comes into force, you will be required to register ALL classes of friearms.
You are NOT required to register ‘uncontrolled spare parts.’ There is NO way to identify such parts—they usually do not have Serial numbers. You are NOT required to register anything but the "firearm"—and that means only the "frame or receiver."
You may convert all registrations you now hold to registrations of the "frame or receiver"—and that will make your registration far more flexible.
Whether or not a firearm is registered, the CLASS that the firearm falls into is controlled by the descriptions given in the current CC s. 84(1) "firearm", "restricted weapon" and "prohibited weapon" definitions.
In the future, whether or not a firearm is registered, the CLASS that the firearm falls into is controlled by the descriptions given in the C-68 CC s. 2 "firearm" definition, plus the C-68 CC s. 84(1) "restricted firearm" and "prohibited firearm" definitions.
There are no definitions—in either law—of unrestricted firearm or deactivated firearm.
The definition of "firearm" is crippled in current law by the CC s. 2 "weapon" definition, and by the CC s. 84(2) conditional and partial redefinition of the words "firearm", "restricted weapon" and "prohibited weapon."
C-68’s definitions are similarly crippled by the C-68 CC s. 2 "weapon" definition, and by the C-68 CC s. 84(3) conditional and partial redefinition of the words "firearm", "restricted firearm" and "prohibited firearm."
STUDY all this stuff. Yes, you CAN understand it. And you are going to NEED to understand it when C-68 comes into force. C-68 is NOT a can of worms. It is a barrel of rattlesnakes.
Dave Tomlinson, NFA
FOCUS: "It doesn’t HAVE to make sense. It’s GOVERNMENT POLICY!"