r/canadaguns • u/mjskopun • May 20 '26

Buy recommendations New to gun ownership

I thought Canada was safe, then I got home invaded. Still dealing with the PTSD but in the meantime, looking at gun ownership. Want to do it correctly, any tips about how to get one?

Also, (this is for the experts) based on the legal list of guns (hand guns for now) what is the best quality gun that -

  • doesn't require tons of maintenance
  • is Quality (not cheap crap)
  • Doesn't lose it's aim after some use

Thanks for the feedback.

Noob

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27

u/Relevant_Diver_3228 May 20 '26

first you cant use a firearm for self defense legally in Canada

second you cannot buy a handgun in Canada because they have been frozen since 2022

third in order to get a firearm in Canada you need to pass a PAL course and then get approved by the RCMP which takes time but will probably take more time because you have PTSD

33

u/LordRevan1996 May 20 '26

1st point isn’t 100% true. You can’t possess anything, including firearms, for the specific purpose of self defence. So this makes what OP is asking for illegal. BUT firearms possessed for other legal reasons can technically be used for self defence as long as its use is a “proportional response” to the threat. You will be charged either way to determine if your response was proportional.

Obligatory NOT a lawyer, so take this with a grain of salt.

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u/Relevant_Diver_3228 May 20 '26

yes you are right

I was just saying that because you will have to go through court for a long time and they probably will end up giving you time but idk

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u/LordRevan1996 May 20 '26

Fair. I’ve heard of cases where people do come out on top, but that’s after tons of stress and legal fees. There’s also no duty to retreat from your home in defensive situations, but again the proportional response bit makes it convoluted.

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u/mjskopun May 24 '26

Good to know.

Just as a general query, how are you expected to defend yourself, My mindset is that you have to hurt me first before I hurt you. I'm not trigger happy or scared when dealing with threats so it would definitely be less that proportionate.

2

u/givemehellll al May 24 '26

People don’t like to hear it, but the best defence, is running away or hiding. If you engage untrained, you have a near 100% chance of getting yourself hurt. If you have extensive training, you have a slightly better chance. If you are incapacitated because you wanted to protect your 15 year old flat screen, then your family is left to fend for themselves.

If I experience a home invasion, my first goal is to get my family to safety. My second is to get myself to safety. They can have my crap, it’s all worthless compared to my life.

MOST important, something I have learned through my own PTSD, is not everyone (aka no-one) is out to get you. The world is not filled with evil, and most things aren’t threats. People do bad things sometimes, but that isn’t the norm. Get talking to a pro, and take care of yourself.

2

u/DropMeAnOrangeBeam May 25 '26

Because you have to go to where you've stored your firearm and then either remove the trigger lock or take it out of the locked container/safe/vault. You cannot legally store a loaded firearm. So if you go out of your way to get your gun and load it, you've kind of escalated the issue.

1

u/airchinapilot May 25 '26

My mindset is that you have to hurt me first before I hurt you. 

I am not a lawyer but the self defense law allows you to act even if you fear harm will imminently befall you or someone else.

The law just doesn't want to give you license to go out and seek situations where you could say you were acting in self defense. The law is to give you legal backing if the situation comes to you. Someone coming unwanted into your own home is the situation coming to you. However, in some of the cases that were ruled against the owner, the owner left their home to confront someone.

And it isn't based upon hurt or level of hurt. The intent behind the self defense law is to allow you to act to stop the threat which doesn't mean you have to necessarily hurt someone back. For example, you could enact just enough force to get the aggressor out of your home. But if the act did require you harm someone, there is enough in the law to make it defensible in court.

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u/mjskopun May 28 '26

I like this response. It's more sane than what sounds like I'm responsible for the robber.

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u/mjskopun May 24 '26

Good info. I still don't understand this "can't use a firearm for self defence. " I guess all the US televsion influences what's legal without actually knowing how it works in Canada.

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u/airchinapilot May 25 '26

People have had charges dropped or been acquitted for using a firearm in self defense in Canada. It all comes down to the circumstances of what happened - and whether your lawyer was smart enough to use the existing law to protect your rights.

In Canada you can have acquire a firearm for other purposes - just not self defense (except for against an animal).

At the same time, you are allowed to defend yourself and it does NOT exclude using a weapon (could be anything - could be a kitchen knife, a hammer, a table leg) if the circumstances support your action as reasonable. It is also the case that in Canada, it is very unlikely you will have a firearm available legally when you are attacked since our legal use of firearms is very restricted.

If you see it this way, really the likely scenario of most Canadians using a firearm to defend themself is only if someone has threatened or used force against them or a loved one in their own home which is where their firearms are legally stored.

The Crown would look very severely if you were outside of your residence and had a firearm and used it in what you said was self defense. That said, even criminals on the street have successfully defended themselves in court for using firearms in self defense - though they most probably had to plea to other charges because they shouldn't have had the firearm in that circumstance.