r/canadaguns • u/Butchi3_To3 • May 18 '26
Application / Regulation advice Handgun ownership of deceased
Hello all,
I have a family member who recently passed away who owns some handguns I was wondering if there is anyway to have the passed down to me? The guns themselves are older cowboy style guns and I recently have been interested in Cowboy Action Shooting but obviously cant buy a revolver for the sport and this would be a great opportunity to not only get one but also keep the collectible in the family.
With the laws in place is this even possible anymore?
Thanks in advance
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u/Uncle_Ted_1942 May 18 '26
I’m starting to feel like I’m in a similar boat. My father has a .22 Iver Johnson revolver that belonged to my maternal grandfather who passed only a few weeks before I was born. It’s 1950s era so not an antique, but it is a family heirloom.
When handguns were legal they were pretty cheap and not valuable, but to me that ~$200 revolver is priceless and I’m hopeful the laws will change before my father passes away. Granted he’s only in his early 60s, but you never know.
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u/drpestilence May 18 '26
That's like me and my 1926 colt police positive. I don't even enjoy handguns but wanna leave it to my kid one day as it was my grandpa's service pistol. It's neat and old.
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u/mwmwmwmwmmdw May 19 '26
maybe look at the path of getting an exemption letter to transfer the .22 to you. they seem to be straightforward to get for .22s specifically.
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u/Uncle_Ted_1942 May 19 '26
I’m in Nova Scotia, last time I checked the CFO here refuses to give out ANY exemptions whatsoever.
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u/mwmwmwmwmmdw May 19 '26
last time i checked you guys are supposed to have a conservative premier with the power to change the CFO. not that i have faith he ever would.
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u/Pristine-Alps-426 May 18 '26
If it’s sentimental just have it “destroyed” and made into a show piece.
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u/Uncle_Ted_1942 May 18 '26
I’ll hope for a change in firearms legislation before I butcher it. I know it’s an option, but it’s an option that doesn’t sit well with me.
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u/Mysterious_Sleep7443 May 18 '26
The only answer is WHAT HANDGUNS?
You get the Police involved you will NEVER see them again
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u/Junckopolo May 18 '26
That will be very convenient when it's time to go at the range like OP wants. This would basically force them to hide to use them and constantly risk being.
Basically OP would be left with very illegal paperweights.
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u/RodgerWolf311 May 18 '26
That will be very convenient when it's time to go at the range like OP wants.
Lets be real here.
Liberals have a majority. They keep introducing bills to squeeze every aspect of Canadians lives. You can kiss being able to use any handgun at a range goodbye. So it makes it completely pointless for OP to even try because he'll end up completely losing his fathers items for good.
Liberals will not back down at all. The gun bans will get much worse, trust me on that!
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u/Junckopolo May 18 '26
The problem remains that you now have a criminal level of illegal paperweight. Of course it's a choice everyone makes for themselves.
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u/Cope180-Enjoyer May 18 '26
Just inherit, hide it, and don't tell anyone. The social contract is gone since stupid liberals don't understand grand-father clauses. Wait for a conservative government and then re-register them since they will have to consider all the failure of a freeze.
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
I’ve been wondering how feasible this actually is..
Today you claim you don’t know where it is.. it’s lost.
If government repeals the freeze, suddenly tens of thousands of people are trying to register previously unregistered firearms?
Sure if they can’t prove anything then you’re not guilty.. no risk of jail.. but the optics on gun owners sure wouldn’t look good.
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u/OCTS-Toronto May 18 '26
You discovered it was hidden in the corner of the attic. Grandpa musta put it there years ago for safe keeping.
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26 edited May 19 '26
Ya. But tens of thousands of people will find it hidden in the corner of the attic.
Like I said, sure you can’t prove it, but it sure makes gun owners look bad.
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u/AdditionalLoss7274 May 18 '26
Worse optics than trying to confiscate them from the most law abiding segment of your society, you think?
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26
In my eyes, no.
In the liberals eyes, yes, absolutely fuel for another gun ban. They will make out all those people as criminals. Can’t prove they knew where the handgun was, but when thousands come out of the woodwork on the same week.. the writing is on the wall… and it will be used against us to paint us aw criminals.
Use your head. Just because you feel like you’re in the right, other people won’t, you still have to play politics.
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u/AdditionalLoss7274 May 18 '26
My head? How well has "taking the high road" worked out for us? I'm not interested in "what will the liberals think" anymore. Stop trying to appease them. They want to take ALL of your guns. YOU use YOUR head.
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26
lol. With that attitude they are going to get them.
You can’t claim to be the most law abiding group in the country while simultaneously advising people to break the law.
Good luck bud.
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u/Cope180-Enjoyer May 18 '26
most law abiding group in the countr
With properly designed laws THAT MAKE SENSE. Liberals don't make sense.
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u/Kromo30 May 19 '26
Liberals make up a majority of voters.
None of it makes sense. But it also doesn’t matter what makes sense.
What matters is keeping the majority on your side.
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u/R4ID on May 18 '26
Who cares, prove it didnt happen that way is all that matters.
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
And then polytechnic runs a tv campaign “tens of thousands of gun owners claim have lost guns, and then the ban got lifted, and tens of thousands of gun owners mysteriously found and are attempting to register those guns…. Does that sound like a law abiding group of people to you”
You’re giving them fuel for the fire. You still have to play politics.
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u/R4ID on May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Poly is welcome to make itself look stupid I dont mind at all, Again. Prove it didnt happen that way is all that matters.
-edit
LOL user replied and insta blocked so I cant respond, think i found a liberal voter
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26 edited May 19 '26
What looks stupid to you, is believed by 55% of Canadians. That’s why we are where we are.
Again, it’s not all the matters. Your attitude is contributing to the gun ban problem. You represent all gun owners. Act like it.
Edit, lol. I didn’t block you bud. Try again.
Edit #2. Double lol. Now he has either blocked me, or posted and deleted his comment. Because I have a notification he replied to me but I can’t see the reply.
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u/Cope180-Enjoyer May 18 '26
Blockers opinions are irrelevant
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26 edited May 19 '26
You talking about me?
I just replied a second time to his comment. Which I couldn’t have done if he was blocked.
His feelings were hurt so he lied and said I blocked him.
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u/cattabliss bc May 18 '26
if the politics ever reverse, no one will care what poly says, they are an enabler, a validator, nothing more.
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u/Cope180-Enjoyer May 18 '26
The conservatives would have a reverse amnesty. Forgiveness of you disobeying shitty liberal laws 🤔.
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u/Kromo30 May 19 '26
In your dreams. Conservatives would never throw away fence sitter votes like that.
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u/Impossible-King-435 May 18 '26
It's totally possibly to dive to the bottom of the lake where your boat drowned with your guns, retrieve them and restore them to immaculate condition.
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u/HanzG May 18 '26
Basically you're in a can't lose situation. You physically have them, and they were registered. They're NOT in a criminals hands. They're not going to hurt anyone if they're with you. So you contact a lawyer and get a consultation for a couple hundred bucks. "This is what's up, this is what I want to do. What's your advice?".
And hopefully when these fucking morons pull their heads out of their asses and acknowledge we're not the problem and reverse it all. I'm really hoping they recognize that Poly doesn't have 2M votes.
I'll tell ya; If the Libs delivered a balanced budget and dropped the ban, I don't know who I'd vote for. Love PP's attitude in the HoC but he's not getting traction with the fence sitters.
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u/HatchingCougar May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Up until the freeze
People were occasionally still registering (or registering) guns brought back from WW2
There’s also a pretty wild amount of guns that come off the books as they are loaned out (aka gifted / given) by someone who knows their end is imminent and the executor isn’t told about it, nor did the deceased ever mention where it went. Even 12.2 & 12.3 stuff
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u/waitwhatnothing May 19 '26
Before the handgun freeze it was possible to register an unregistered handgun. It makes sense to make it easy/possible to bring something into compliance with the law.
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u/bandersnatching May 18 '26
The fantasy Conservative government is not going to indulge the return-of-Harper-era-firearms-laws fantasy.
You need to let go of that.
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u/Nautaloid Black Powder Enjoyer May 18 '26
It’s the only thing we have left to hope for. They’re the only party that has said anything pro-gun recently and they remain the only viable option for potentially fixing this country’s shitty gun laws.
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u/RodgerWolf311 May 18 '26
It’s the only thing we have left to hope for.
Doing things based on hope is stupid. Lets be realistic instead. Look at all the recent bills the government has introduced. It makes it 100% clear that they do not want Canadians to have rights, freedoms, and most definitely dont want citizens having firearms.
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u/mwmwmwmwmmdw May 19 '26
The fantasy Conservative government is not going to indulge the return-of-Harper-era-firearms-laws fantasy.
then you lose 2.4 million voters that largely make up the core of your base to some other upstart party that will respect them. eventually in the rush to the center you alienate your core base and the floor falls out from under you. the mulroney conservatives pushing gun control in the late 80s is part of what did in on the old pc party. the UK is having it happen now ironically also with a party called reform.
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u/Kromo30 May 19 '26
Who are those 2.4m voters going to vote for? The liberals?
When you live in a two party system, you pander to the fence sitters, not the 2.4m that are going to vote for you no matter what.
A tiny fraction of those 2.4m will vote for that upstart party, the rest will understand that voting for this fantasy upstart party is no different than voting for the Green Party. Their options are blue or red.
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u/mwmwmwmwmmdw May 19 '26
they will vote for it when the current party gives them next to no reason to vote for them. 30% of the voters in the UK migrated to reform and polls have them forming government. by your logic conservatives in the UK should just vote for the tories over there forever and somehow expect things to change.
the main conservative option in canada would have been more anti-gun had the old PCs stayed around and conservatives in canada didnt largely instead tell them to pound sand and move to mannings party.
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u/BlandRusk06 May 27 '26
When a restricted firearm owner dies, does the government automatically know that there are 'unowned' guns out there? Do they follow up on it? If OP just held onto them and stayed quiet, would anyone find out? Asking honestly.
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u/TheNinjaJedi nb May 18 '26
Stupid advice
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u/Cope180-Enjoyer May 18 '26
property rights and grandfathering are serious society functions. Grow a spine.
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u/TheNinjaJedi nb May 18 '26
I think the current laws are stupid just like all of us here, but I’m not risking jail time for my hobby. My family is more important to me. If that means I don’t have a spine in your eyes, so be it.
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u/Pristine-Alps-426 May 18 '26
Governments not getting something I or a family member bought legally with legally acquired money. They can go after drug dealers and thieves. I’m keeping my stuff
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u/Cope180-Enjoyer May 18 '26
I was exactly speaking of a situation where you would never get caught and could deny responsibility.
If convicted killers on visa don't get deported from Canada you aren't getting jailtime.
Stop being an NPC.
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u/_MlCE_ May 18 '26
Unfortunately due to the Freeze, you can't inherit it anymore - unless the intended heir is a recognized Sports Shooter, or a Profession that requires a handgun. (Not 100% sure on this since there are lots of hoops).
Only 3 options are:
1.) Sell or Consign it to a business 2.) Destroy it 3.) Surrender it
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u/illknowitwhenireddit May 18 '26
This is false. The executer of the will has legal protections to be in possession of the firearms while they deal with the estate. Typical simple estates take a minimum of two years just to finalize the taxes owed to the CRA and complicated estates can take many more years.
There is an easy argument to make that the possession of firearms creates a complicated estate and the executor could potentially be in legal possession of the pistols until a change of government occurs.
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u/Junckopolo May 18 '26
This doesn't mean he can inherit the guns, only that he can possess them for estate purposes.
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u/illknowitwhenireddit May 18 '26
Only that the executer can possess them.
But the point I am getting at is that it is not only reasonable, but likely that an estate could take 5 years to settle with complicated items. The executer could hold them legally the entire time and possibly until a change in government makes transferring legal again.
Destruction or deactivatio at this time are not the only options and I would argue they're not options at all until forced.
All of this depends on the executer and if they are comfortable storing them until such time as the estate is finally settled or a change in government/legislation.
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u/Junckopolo May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Just for information for anyone reading this, handgun replicas/reproductions are not considered antiques as per the law.
"Newer handguns, including matchlock, wheel lock and flintlock handguns made after 1898 are classified as restricted if their barrel length is over 105 mm (about 4 inches), or prohibited if their barrel length is 105 mm or less."
"Black powder reproductions: Reproductions of flintlock, wheel-lock or matchlock firearms, other than handguns, manufactured after 1897."
The only handguns considered antiques are those made before 1898. So an original is an antique, a replica/reproduction is not. OP needs to verify if his guns were built before that if he thinks they are old enough to be antiques, serial numbers can be used for that.
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u/mwmwmwmwmmdw May 19 '26
theres not many .22s made before 1898 and also i believe "common caliber" guns dont count as antique regardless of when they where made
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u/Junckopolo May 19 '26
The list does indeed specifically exclude .22 calibers and other common calibers.
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u/Both-Employ840 May 18 '26
I would imagine you don’t know where they are and I’m sure if you ever do find them you will call police right away to give them up as you’re supposed to.
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u/KyllikkiSkjeggestad May 18 '26
How old are we talking? Almost all pre 1898 revolvers are considered antiques, and a fair amount of their “replicas” are as well, so long as they are built to the original standard. You wouldn’t need a firearms licence for a Colt Model of 1873, or a true to design replica, for example.
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u/Junckopolo May 18 '26
Handgun replicas are not considered antiques as per the law.
"Newer handguns, including matchlock, wheel lock and flintlock handguns made after 1898 are classified as restricted if their barrel length is over 105 mm (about 4 inches), or prohibited if their barrel length is 105 mm or less."
"Black powder reproductions: Reproductions of flintlock, wheel-lock or matchlock firearms, other than handguns, manufactured after 1897."
The only handguns considered antiques are those made before 1898. So an original is an antique, a replica/reproduction is not.
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u/HatchingCougar May 20 '26
Yeah, have a repro handgun from the revolution, the 7 years war, 1812 / Napoleonic wars .. restricted or even prohibited as the case may be
Have a genuine original and you’re free reign gtg as an antique
Another case of our laws being dumb asf
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u/T-Rex-Plays May 18 '26
Thats not entierly true, replica handguns do require an RPAL.
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u/KyllikkiSkjeggestad May 18 '26
Did that change in the last 15 or so years? I remember it being so long as they were made to original specifications, that they’re were legal when I last did the PAL course
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u/spicymeatmemes May 18 '26
Afaik, inheriting would still require a transfer. And those aren't happening.
I wonder if you could get them deactivated somehow. That way you could at least still keep them.
You might also need an RPAL to get things started. I'm not 100% sure at all. Possibly a lawyer could help shed some light.
Edit: unless they are considered antiques, and thus not a firearm (through the magic of our laws)
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u/waitwhatnothing May 18 '26
The executor is considered to have the same license privileges as the deceased while the estate is being settled so they can sit in limbo for a while. They can also be transferred to a business or anyone with an exemption.
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u/spicymeatmemes May 18 '26
That's true, but also just having them in purgatory during estate settlement is doing nothing for anyone. And transferring it to a business is pretty far from keeping it in the family, even if you get to use it every now and then.
The range could do anything they want with it. Like rent it out to everyone which puts a lot of wear on the firearm.
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u/demetri_k May 18 '26
Can the executor/estate “loan” them to OP if they have an RPAL? You can loan your handguns to someone which I recall requires a transfer but can still be done as long as the recipient has an RPAL.
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u/waitwhatnothing May 19 '26
Not sure about that. A loan different from a transfer since the registered owner doesn’t change. There is still a little paperwork involved since the person borrowing it needs an ATT.
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u/outline8668 May 18 '26
Check out the individual guns. Maybe you will get lucky and something in there is antique. I bought a registered, restricted handgun that actually qualified as an antique by age and caliber and technically never needed to be registered in the first place. I was able to get the RCMP to verify the gun, amend the classification to antique and void the registration certificate. That gun I could technically sell to anyone.
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u/Pristine-Alps-426 May 18 '26
If they’re vintage you absolutely can get them, they’re legally barely considered firearms.
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u/Inevitable_Edge6857 May 18 '26
They were “lost” or you just don’t say anything. Seems like a pretty easy decision.
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u/Sco0basTeVen May 18 '26
Not possible. If they are legal restricted firearms, they have to be destroyed now once the owner has died.
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u/hockeyfanatic777 May 18 '26
That is one of the options, but not the only one.
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u/Sco0basTeVen May 18 '26
So what option is there for OP to keep them legally?
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u/Kromo30 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Plenty of local ranges have storage programs that allow a transfer from the deceased to the range, and then you can use the handgun at the range whenever you like.
NFA has a similar program, where you ship your handguns to them for long term storage until (hopefully) the freeze is repealed, and then NFA will transfer back to you.
https://nfa.ca/save-firearms-program-nfa/
Do you always spread false info online?
Even if you followed your line in thinking that they have to be destroyed.. that single line of law is actually “destroyed or decommissioned”… so decommissioning and keeping is another legal route..
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u/julienjj May 18 '26
Some clubs can have then transferred to their own business licenses which will allow them to be stored there and used by you at the range until the freeze is over.
The NFA has a storage program as well.
https://nfa.ca/save-firearms-program-nfa/