r/canadaguns • u/jpmelos • Aug 10 '26
News / Politics / Activism Target shooting by the roadside in Ghost PLUZ Alberta?
I was just in Ghost PLUZ today and I saw three different parties, one of them with at least eight people, target shooting literally less than 100 metres from Forestry Trunk Road (this is basically The Main Road of Ghost PLUZ, there's a lot of traffic relative to other roads in the PLUZ). Not only they were in my direct line of sight, I could literally hear their chatter and laughter from my truck, with the engine on. That's how close they were from the road, while shooting firearms.
My understanding is that there is a law that imposes a bunch of rules regarding target shooting in PLUZs, one of them being at least 400 metres from any roads. But given that there were so many people doing this, and different parties, and completely relaxed about it (they weren't hard to see, at all, and there are several cars parked just on the shoulder of the road, there was really zero effort to hide their activity), it makes me wonder whether this law is completely pretend-law that the police and conversation officers choose to completely not enforce unless someone is already dead? What's going on? Given how blissfully relaxed they were, I can't believe this is their first time. It looked like a regular thing, and given this, it must be the case that the police and conversation officers are seeing this and choosing to ignore? Can someone explain this to me? Or is the law about the 400 metres from roads revoked and I missed it?
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u/123Bones Aug 10 '26
Take a look at this, it shows firearms restriction zones and wildlife corridors with no firearms allowed.
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u/Mythic01 Aug 10 '26
Where are you hearing this 400m from the road rule?
In certain PLUZ, you need to be 1km from the road and similar distance from provincial recreation areas. The Ghost PLUZ does not have this 1km from the road restriction.
There are certain roads with wildlife sanctuaries within a certain distance of them. The public shouldn't be target shooting along these roads.
Considering your experience, I'd be inclined to say there is no restriction on these people target shooting where they were.
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Aug 10 '26
[deleted]
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u/Mythic01 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Provincial trails are things such as hiking trails, off highway vehicle trails, etc. Provincial trails are NOT highway vehicle corridors such as Hwy 40.
It's all marked off in the PDF another respondent posted below.
Your comment "most target shooting is illegal" is quite false.
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u/Chirps_Ahoy18 Aug 10 '26
Lmao don't drive down the canfor north at the y. There's a stretch where people shoot clays right off the road. I think you're making this a bigger deal than you need to be.
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u/CelebrationJaded5848 Aug 10 '26
Was it this crew by chance? On my way in last night observed them openly muzzle sweeping the road and each other, and one hand shooting straight in the air.
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u/Chirps_Ahoy18 Aug 10 '26
Ah, "Canadians" makes sense.
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u/K9turrent Aug 10 '26
Get out of here with that thinly veiled racism.
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u/Chirps_Ahoy18 Aug 10 '26
If you're ok with people not following the laws of this country and doing as they please that's a you problem. Plenty of friends of mine from every country, race, and religion feel the same about these new people who come here and treat our hospitality like the ganges River. Fit in or fuck off.
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u/H0B013 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
I spend a fuck ton of time in the woods. There is absolutely a particular demographic that is predominantly responsible for these unsafe practices. And in my experience, they arent doing it to be intentionally negligent. They are doing it because everyone's too scared of being labelled a racist by people like you to actually step in, correct their behaviour, and educate them on proper firearm handling practices. Education which they are, the vast majority of the time, very receptive of and thankful for.
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u/slippyslapperz Aug 11 '26
you can't get your PAL without learning the rule "know your target and what is behind it". it's negligence
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u/H0B013 Aug 12 '26
I don't have whole hearted confidence in the teaching capacity of some cfsc providers out there. "They should have learned it already" isnt a good reason not to try teaching them now
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u/DestroyedLlama Aug 10 '26
If this is the spot it looks like, isn't there a permanent firearms ban there now? At least that's what the word was from the horse cops stopped at the entrance last time I tried to go out there.
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u/Green-Outside9301 Aug 11 '26
I hope it’s not permanent. Online still says temporary.
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u/DestroyedLlama Aug 11 '26
It's been "temporary" for the last couple years. There's nothing more permanent than a temporary government order.
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u/Popular_Chocolate538 Aug 10 '26
The log trucks wave at me where I go shooting by grande prairie lol
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u/Tuxedo_Maskk Aug 10 '26
If you're truly concerned and you need someone to talk to about this issue, maybe you should call one of these "conversation officers."
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u/Standard_Custard2338 Aug 10 '26
Not 400m from any roads, just certain roads. It's 400m from designated trail heads in the pluz. I'm not familiar enough with Ghost to speak to it directly but I'm guessing by all the activity, the road you were on was neither a highway or designated road with a 400m buffer. Assuming that to be correct, there is no restrictions on shooting except (per the government website):
You cannot discharge a firearm or bow and arrow from, or cause a projectile to pass along or across: A provincial highway including all primary and secondary highways. A road that is paved, oiled, graded or regularly maintained.
If they were shooting away from the road it doesn't matter that you can see or hear them.