r/canadaguns • u/TheGodofWar17 • Mar 27 '26
News / Politics / Activism Question for all the older gun owners.
What was it like before all the gun bans? As a newer gun owner I’ve always wondered what it was like.
96
u/rastamasta45 Mar 27 '26
I’m not that old of a gun owner, got my license in 2018, but boy oh boy was it a different planet at that time. Can get a Norinco 1911 for 349. AR as cheap as 399 for Norinco also.
Everyone I knew in the community respected the rules.
Now it’s outright disdain and hatred for the rules, everyone simply accepts they’re a criminal in waiting. This does not lead to a safer Canada. The trust and respect is gone and I don’t think it’s coming back.
The LPC took a beloved and completely functional system and blew it up because we had a boy king pm who really wanted the American media to paint him a hero.
The country is far less safe now
40
u/Norwest_Shooter on Mar 27 '26
I think it’s a stretch to call it beloved. And in some respects a stretch to call it functional. But it was a system that had zero need to get any stricter. Now it’s just an absolute mess.
2
2
u/IGnuGnat Mar 28 '26
When the laws punish gentle peaceful citizens for the crimes of violent criminals, the people develop a disrespect for the law.
When the most law abiding of all citizens by definition develop a disrespect for the law, who is left to respect the law?
These laws are by definition bad laws. They architect and build a society that disrespects the law; and over time, a society which really only respects the outlaw.
48
u/Cre_AK47 Name Prohibited by OIC Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
It wasn't perfect, but it was much better than it was today...
SKSs were $200 or less, and you can buy yourself a good budget AR for $700 (M&P Sport 2)... Handguns were cheap and plentiful.
I'm sure we have even older gun owners who remember life as a gun owner before the bans of the 90's... "Back in my day, I owned a FAL with a 20 round magazine, 20 rounds!!".
77
u/Scott-YYC Mar 27 '26
The streets of Canada used to run red from the blood of the child victims of gun violence, but Nathalie and Gary have put an end to that. Gun crime used to be terrible, but as we all know, recently criminal use of firearms is almost non-existent. This is thanks to deep thinkers in the Liberal Part of Canada, who always use and spend money wisely. Gophers, ducks, and pop cans may not be safe anymore, but gun crime doesn't effect Canadians any longer, and once the gun ban is complete, guns will have magically un-invented themselves, and will no longer exist in Kanada.
9
u/lowecm2 Mar 27 '26
Reminds me of something you’d hear on This Hour Has 22 Minutes back in the day
5
u/acidboogie nb Mar 27 '26
but now they'd just say it completely unironically and then take a few jabs at Poilievre's speech/mannerisms for good measure
1
u/4r4nd0mninj4 Mar 28 '26
The number of times Trudeau deserved the Chicken cannon would have raised the price of slop used to load it...👌
4
22
u/KorporalKarnage Mar 27 '26
Well, before 1977 you could walk into a gun store and buy a machine gun and take it to the range with full capacity mags and let er rip.
How far back do you want to go? We used to have legal concealed carry even further back...
3
17
u/PhantomNomad al Mar 27 '26
I just got my RPAL in 2014. Biggest reason was I wanted to inherit my Dad's (and his Dad's) rifles. Good thing I did because he died a couple years later. It was over a year later I decided to take advantage of my RPAL and got a handgun and an AR15. I started doing some light competition shooting. It was great. I found a hobby that got me out of the house. Did something to actually move around and I really enjoyed it. The RCMP here never bothered anyone and they would even come out to the range with their own guns (small town). Then the ban came along and I've only been out twice since then. It kind of sucked the life of of the shooting sports, which I think was the whole point. I really don't get their mindset. It's like they just can't see past a very narrow view of what guns are used for. They think all of us gun owners are lunatics just waiting for a chance to cause chaos, which is so far from reality. I'm more worried about the police having guns.
3
u/IGnuGnat Mar 28 '26
It has nothing to do with safety. It's a culture war, and the Liberals hate Canadians firearms culture. They don't see old firearms as valuable historical artifacts worthy of preservation, they see them as a symbol of a culture which they hate and wish to destroy. It's akin to book burning to keep the people "safe"
35
u/Emergency_Rooster511 Mar 27 '26
I’m only 42, but stuff was cheap and sold way more places. That was nice. There was always a crazy deal to be had on milsurps. You could buy a brand new sks with a case of ammo for just the cost of the ammo.
The best part was that nobody cared about guns other than the people who owned them, and it wasn’t a notable occurrence to see somebody with a firearm. I can’t speak to the whole country, but certainly in the maritimes. I remember in maybe ‘94-‘95, dad buying a Mossberg 500 on sale at wal mart, paying for it at the sporting goods counter, and they just handed it to him (no box) with a couple boxes of #4s, and we carried it out to the truck and went on about our day. Nobody freaking out and calling the cops, no Facebook to announce what they’ve seen, nobody declaring they were traumatized, it was just understood that it was normal. Even more than the banned guns, that’s what we’ve lost.
8
u/MapleDesperado Mar 27 '26
I go back pre-Walmart to memories of Lee Enfields at Canadian Tire. And no one batting an eye at Scouts trying out rifles and shotguns at jamborees, or cadets having regular rifle practice.
The lists drive me crazy - I’d far prefer we have a clearly-stated criteria for what functional criteria lead to what classification. And an open debate as to why those criteria have been chosen. There would be lots of disagreements about the nuances, but at least people would be able to predict whether what they’re buying today is likely to be banned tomorrow.
And I don’t even fit your question - I’m just older.
17
u/Johnny-Unitas Mar 27 '26
If you go back a bit, they weren't really different than the US. I know a guy from the east coast who was traveling and crashed with some old hippie. He still had an AK and an uzi. The local cops didn't want to deal with it.
Used to be better, and it's just gotten worse.
3
u/Scary-Detail-3206 Mar 27 '26
My uncle had a couple full auto uzis and other exotic full auto guns than he bought legally in the early 70s. It was pretty cool shooting those as a kid right when Terminator 2 came out and telling all my buddies at school about it.
16
u/Magic_7_Ball Mar 27 '26
Ontario - my dad had a permit to allow him to take his pistol out and target practice before I was born. His deer licence said good for one deer or elk. Me personally? I remember FN FALs in "poor" conditions selling for $99 at my local gun store. Sporterized Lee Enfields were $49.99. I got my FAC by going to the local OPP station and being interviewed by a Sargent, who one-finger typed out an FAC. The only question I remember was "Why do you want to buy a gun?" and my (truthful) answer was "To go deer hunting with my dad." I don't remember showing my FAC to buy ammo... maybe I did? Long time ago.
I do remember rumours and lies being spread. How many people remember the "law" that said you can't shoot hollow points from a handgun? Local gun store would always ask if the 22LR I was buying was for rifle or pistol. If you said pistol they would only sell you solid nose ammo.
My dad's friend reloaded 38 Special for me. He took back a few boxes from me and filled in the hollow nose of the 158gr LSWC rounds since "hollow points" were "illegal" in handguns. Truth is, no they weren't but no internet and rumours spread at gun stores and gun clubs.
When I obtained my restricted permit (still FAC I believe.. long time ago) the local police (Toronto) did an inspection of my safe to make sure it met their rules. Bolted to the ground, hidden away. They even interviewed my landlord to make sure he was OK with me having handguns in his rental property. 100% sure that doesn't happen any more.
Kim Campbell and the conservatives had Bill C-17 which made many 22LR rifles restricted because they looked scary (think of a 22LR that looked like an AR-15. Restricted!) Then Bill C-68 sucked even more. And I'm still pissed at the Harper Conservatives because they PROMISED if they were elected they would let us buy 25 and 32 caliber HG again, and short barreled handguns. Promised. Still waiting.
All politicians are liars. Any young person who thinks that the Conservatives and PP will let us buy new handguns again is fooling themselves. Best we will get is our 9mm PCCs back again, if we are lucky. (rant off! PS get off my lawn)
12
u/MacintoshEddie Mar 27 '26
An era of peace and plenty. Dozens of companies competing to improve designs, so many small gun stores popping up, so many options.
21
u/Parking_Media Mar 27 '26
Calmer. Less drama and politics bullshit.
Guns were insanely cheap even 10 years ago. M14s and pistols from China were wild. Kinda like a DIY kit, but stupidly cheap.
Should have bought way more milsurp at the time, but you don't know what you have till it's gone.
9
u/AdeptArt Mar 27 '26
The type 97 was one of the cheapest NR 556 rifles you could buy. You had options. That was the low end, with something like a Tavor or a M17S at the mid end. And at the high end you had an FS2000.
This is just one example (bulpups only) but we were spoiled for choice back then.
Even older gun owners had access to stuff like converted machine guns NR, stuff like Brens, whatever is 12(3) or 12(4) today. I’m envious of them.
7
u/Mah_Buddy_Keith Mar 27 '26
Shits adult diapers
Well back in my day, sonny, you could get a crate of SKS rifles for reasonably cheap, get an AR that shoots half-decent for less than what you pay for an SKS these days, and M203 grenade launchers were unrestricted.
7
u/HotIntroduction8049 Mar 27 '26
Back in the 80s you could buy a semi auto AK for a few hun. Being a poor student there was no extra money for such toys.
5
u/swhissell Mar 27 '26
It was great, far simpler. SKS could be bought for $179.99 at Canadian Tire. AR’s started at around $350 and there were lots of brands to choose from. Tons of cool handguns. Cool stuff in general, like the CSA VZ 58 or Tavors or whatever else.
But of course we didn’t focus on that, didn’t appreciate it. I remember always bitching that I’d never be able to get a S&W Model 10, and look at us know now, not getting anything.
4
u/Unlikely_sniper Mar 27 '26
I've had my PAL for 12 years. It was much easier 12 years ago. Thankfully I've fulfilled all my desired gun purchases, for example, my first sks was $189.99 lol. Stories I've heard from my dad who has been around guns his entire life also confirms that we are just going down hill.
4
u/Flat-Dark-Earth Big Bore Specialist Mar 27 '26
We had to go through the long gun registry and models were still being arbitrarily banned by name (Swiss Arms, 858…)
Up until the era of the 180s your options for affordable NR black rifles were pretty slim.
We used to call it the NR Tax where most started at $2,000+.
ARs were plenty and were cheap, prices were ridiculous compared to today.
I remember $600 M&P Sport II, $600 M305s, $200 SKS, $1,500 Garands etc.
Bulk 9mm was $0.25 per round, bulk 223 was $0.40.
1
u/Acceptable_Visit_115 Mar 27 '26
The Swiss Arms was actually an interesting case. The initial importer tried to homologate it as a 540 (as the 550 is name-banned in 1998). The CFP didn't know better back then and they green-lit it.
A certain Albertan business then got envious and decided to snitch on a fellow business, wrongfully accusing them of "building guns from refurbished converted auto receivers".
So the RCMP heard their case and examined them closer. Instead of catching the alleged "converted auto receivers", they instead found out that the Swiss Arms rifles are actually 550s, not 540s, therefore is subjected to the 1998 OIC.
Harper government tried to carve out an exemption for the Swiss Arms to be safe from the 550 ban but Trudeau got rid of it. End of story.
4
u/zulu_tango73 Mar 27 '26
Got my FAC as early as I could, and then my first hangun shortly after I turned 18. One of two kids at my high school, that I knew of, with a pistol. Remember getting the ATT to take it from the store to the police station for registration. Still have it... Ruger MK II Gov't Model, stainless.
Archie sings "Those were the days"...
4
u/H0B013 Mar 27 '26
Shit wasnt overly complicated, you could buy with confidence, cool shit everywhere, cheap prices, and miraculously... less gun crime
3
u/SierraKiloGulf Mar 27 '26
Getting an SKS and a can of ammo for $300 was pretty cool. Ammo prices, reloading prices, choices of firearms, and reasonable prices were cool. Now, even lead is 5-10 bucks a pound most places, and an SKS is 1K with tax. Weird time.
2
Mar 27 '26
Define "older gun owners"
To me, "older gun owners" are those that were active in the community prior to C-68 in 1995 (or maybe C-17 in 1991). So basically 50+ years old.
If you're talking about all the JT-era bans... there's people in their 20's that know what it was like before those days, are you calling a 20 year old "old" now?
1
2
u/DougMacRay617 Mar 27 '26
Im not even that old but i was 23 when i bought my first gun ( glock 17 gen4) for $680 after tax 7 years ago
1
2
u/Accomplished-Beat779 Mar 27 '26
I got my FAC in 1984. The days of $100 Russian SKSs, $75 Nagants. I had most every type of milsurp including m91 sniper, M1 Garand etc etc. A 3006 M1 was $300 , you could have 30 round mags for your Deawoo, whole other world ans a couple of nut jobs ruined it all.
1
u/goshathegreat Mar 27 '26
I have many buddies who have been shooting since the 70s, many of them still have prohibited licenses and firearms, although a few got rid of them back in the 90s when they were being banned.
1
u/Dry-Meringue-8744 Mar 27 '26
used to be fun and cheap to shoot and i would go out 3-4 times a week. I used to mock the RCMP out at the range for poor skills and ended up teaching them for a few years
1
u/CringelordCameron Mar 27 '26
I know a guy who bought a full auto mp40 when he was 16. Gun ownership was okay in the pre OIC era and was significantly better in the preceding decades. In the 70s, we could own anything, now we have basically nothing left.
1
u/prairieguy68 Mar 28 '26
Buying restricted weapons was a bit of a pain back in the mid 80’s to early 90’s. Other than that, lots of fun. Good memories of owning lots of handguns and especially the T/C Contender with barrels in 22LR up to 45/70. Even owned a few .460 Weatherby’s haha.
2
u/IGnuGnat Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
Not all that long ago, honestly I think it was less than 10 years ago if you wanted to build your own handgun, as long as you had the RPAL (you were licensed for handguns) you could actually just build your own handgun from scratch, put a serial number on it, download a form from the RCMP website and register it. Nobody charged anybody with "trafficking" or any of the bullshit they pull now.
I always had a dream that one day I would machine my own 1911 from a raw block of metal. I guess the government killed that dream. I don't see the point in jumping through all the hoops to get a manufacturing license when I can't even take it to the freakin range. It would probably just make me some kind of target for harassment from the government
If you go back just a generation or two, it was completely normal to have a firing range in the basement of many schools.
There used to be a firing range actually inside of Union Station, in the core of Toronto actually inside it's major transit hub. Magically, nobody capped anyone's ass, ever
1
u/Status_Ticket5044 Mar 28 '26
I'm 66. Got a FAC 40 years ago to take custody of some old Cooeys standing up in my in laws' closet. Didn't do anything else with guns.
Fast forward to last year where I'm retired and have the money and the time for it, and get a modern RPAL.
Oh, what I missed out on....
For the record, none of my rifles are FUDD guns. Love my pistol grips. Wouldn't have minded having a handgun or two, or a proper AR (or a Type 81 or an M&P 15-22 or lot of other stuff that the OICs fucked up while I was waiting on my license.)
Hoping to see the SCoC roll some of that ridiculous shit back. Banning pink GSGs. Make it make sense...
139
u/OCTS-Toronto Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
It actually made sense once.
20 years ago when I changed my att for a restricted or prohibited firearm I had to take it to a police station to have the serial verified. Sounds like a hassle but the police were professional about it and it made sure that all firearms were properly tracked. I also had a home inspection once to ensure my prohibs were properly stored. Not intrusive, the officer was polite and offered guidance on how to ensure safe storage.
Fast forward, now I pay a fee with a credit card and no one checks anything. It's been like this for 15 years and the current govt thinks that their confiscation program makes sense; register all your firearms and maybe get partial compensation for some. And what the hell is assault style? Please stop the word salad....
In summary, the old govt tried to make things safe with programs and staff to weed out bad people. The current has only an agenda to make press releases and has no interest in actual work or safety. It's all political theatre with no substance. I personally hate that it has sunk this low. So depressing....