r/canadaguns • u/Noah_S_Schwartz • May 19 '26

News / Politics / Activism When did Canada ban firearm suppressors/silencers/sound moderators?

Hi all. I am a researcher who does work on Firearms Policy. I am working on a policy paper to advocate for legalizing suppressors (as is the case in New Zealand, the UK, and most of Canada's peer countries in Europe).

I'm trying to figure out exactly when Canada banned firearm suppressors, and it's proving more difficult than I thought.

Most commentary or news sources trace the prohibition to the "early 1900s" but don't reference any laws, acts, or statutes - or even a specific year. I have checked the 1919 and 1927 editions of the criminal code, and can find no reference to a ban. It's not until the 1953 edition that Section 84 lays out a clear prohibition.

I've also searched through newspaper databases from that period (Globe, Citizen & Gazette), and the Parliamentary Hansard.

It's clear I'm missing a piece of the puzzle, but I can't seem to find it. Thus, I turn to the great collective wisdom of Reddit.

Any information or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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u/Remarkable_Vanilla34 May 19 '26

Because the US did. Well they tried and basically did for a long time. And politicians are idiots who think guns work like they do in movies.

There was a petition a few years back I belibe amd the government just laughed and shut it down.

I don't get it, we are so obsessed with being in line with European countries but firearms we insist on being just being regressive, because its un-American or something.

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u/DryF1re May 19 '26

Canadian identity partially revolves around just being not-American. Bugs the shit out of me.

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u/Dickastigmatism May 19 '26

It's our entire identity dude. Take away the fact that we're not technically Americans and what are we? Americans.

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u/WhackDanielz I <3 shitposts May 20 '26

Ring kissers. We are, on average, nation of ring kissers.

One of the most important factors in early Canadian history is the flood of loyalist ring kissers who fled the Civil War. Those loyalists absolutely had an impact on how pre-Confederation Canada was shaped politically and culturally.

Bending the knee is baked into our cultural DNA and it has a more significant affect than most people care to admit. Revolution is a dirty word in Canada.