r/canadaguns Apr 16 '17

Why are Valment AK's actually legal?

All AK variants are banned but I'm just curious about what difference makes the Valmet variant legal. Specific components? Caliber? Where it was made?

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u/Krazee9 on Apr 16 '17

It is exempt from the ban by name. Specifically, the Valmet M78, Valmet Hunter, and Valmet Hunter Auto are exempt by name. The other Valmets, like the M76, are still banned.

Supposedly, this is because in the '80s sometime the government had given a bunch of Valmets to native groups in Northern Quebec and didn't then want to confiscate them from those groups, so they decided to make a special exception for the Valmet.

1

u/tyler111762 Resident Certified Millennial Punk Apr 16 '17

could one do a "shovel valmet?"

17

u/Krazee9 on Apr 16 '17

Not bloody likely.

However, the law simply says that the "Valmet M78, Valmet Hunter, and Valmet Hunter Auto" are exempt from the ban. It does not specify Valmet of Finland. This means that, theoretically, a Canadian company could incorporate under the name "Valmet" and begin making a standard AK known as the "M78" and technically, since it is a Valmet M78, it would be exempt from the ban by name.

22

u/tyler111762 Resident Certified Millennial Punk Apr 16 '17

...

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wellp. im off to get a loan.