When to Register Firearms:

This was written in the Spring of 1998, but it defines the issues of firearms registration so eloquently that it is of enduring value [FHR]

In what follows, I assume that C-68 comes fully into force on 01 Oct 98 -- which is, in my estimation, less than 50 per cent likely to actually happen, just as holding to that 14 Feb 95 "grandfathering" date for shorty handguns is unlikely. I am assuming that it will, below, simply to simplify the text.

Note that EVERY transfer of a firearm -- of ANY kind, including a .22 bolt-action single shot -- becomes a criminal offence on 01 Oct 98. C-68's Criminal Code section [CC s.] 99 says:

99. (1) Every person commits an offence who

(a) manufactures or TRANSFERS, whther or not for consideration [money, trade goods, etc. -- DAT], or

(b) OFFERS to do anything referred to in paragraph (a) in respect of a FIREARM, a prohibited weapon, a restricted weapon, a prohibited device, ANY AMMUNITION or any prohibited ammunition knowing that the person is not authorized to do so under the Firearms Act or any other Act of Parliament or ANY REGULATIONS made under any Act of Parliament.

The maximum penalty for that offence, entitled "Trafficking Offences" is up to ten years imprisonment.

Note that "offers to" line. If you offer to give your child a .22 on his birthday, that is a criminal offence carrying a penalty of up to ten years in the slammer.

There is an alternate charge. C-68's CC s. 101(1) says:

101. (1) Every person commits an offence who TRANSFERS A FIREARM...to any person OTHERWISE THAN UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE Firearms Act...

The maximum penalty for that one is up to five years imprisonment.

Clear?

EVERY firearm that is being TRANSFERRED -- regardless of how, or why, or by whom, except for a few carefully-detailed exemptions, MUST be registered on transfer. No exceptions. From day one of C-68. And the transfer fee must be paid for every transfer.

Clear?

Firearms that you ALREADY POSSESS on day one do not have to be registered until 01 Jan 2003 [CC s. 98(3)], and you do not have to be licenced until 01 Jan 2001 [CC s. 98(2)].

Therefore, the question of WHEN to register your already-possessed long arms is -- early, or late? You have NO choice about any other firearms -- they are either already registered, or must be registered as you acquire them.

Question yourself. Will you sell a firearm to a relative, friend, acquaintance or stranger WITHOUT that person getting it registered -- KNOWING that if that person gets into ANY kind of trouble, the back trail can lead straight to YOUR doorstep -- and a charge of "Trafficking"?

If YOU will refuse to TRANSFER to another illegally, will they transfer to YOU illegally?

So the date of registration application problem is limited to the question of WHEN you register your already-owned long arms.

The NFA's recommendation is that you go through your stock, noting several things.

Some long arms have no serial numbers. Some have several serial numbers on various parts, and even on the same part. Some have serial numbers that are NOT on the "frame or receiver" (many Husqvarna rifles, for example, have them on the BARREL). Some have serial numbers that are duplicated -- sometimes many times -- on other guns of the same Make and Model (Mauser 98s, for one). It is only the "frame or receiver" that is a "firearm" -- so any serial number that is on any OTHER part is NOT serial number that applies to that firearm. It is just a number on an uncontrolled spare part that happens to be installed on the firearm -- and can be CHANGED.

Some firearms are stamped with the Make -- but such stampings are often WRONG. Guns stamped "Browning," for example, were usually NOT made by Browning. They were made by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, or by a Japanese company, or by Beretta, or by ???. The firearms field is saturated with "house name" guns -- guns where the Make is NOT stamped on the gun, but a fake Make is stamped on it. "A J Aubrey" guns were made FOR Sears Roebuck to sell -- but not BY "A J Aubrey." There never was an "A J Aubrey."

Some firearms are stamped with the Model -- but such stampings are often WRONG. Rifles stamped "Winchester Model 70," for example, can be of three very different designs.

If the "identifying" stamping is on the BARREL, and not the "FRAME OR RECEIVER," it is MEANINGLESS. Barrels interchange, and are often found on the "wrong" frame or receiver.

Similarly, a Calibre stamping may easily be WRONG. People rechamber firearms all the time, turning a .308 into a .30-06 or an 8X57mm into an 8X60mm. It is an easy thing to do.

Every TRANSFER requires the filling out of an Application to Register, giving data to tell the registration elves WHAT the firearm IS. Firearms Act section [FA s.] 106(1) makes it a criminal offence to "make a statement orally or in writing" that turns out to be "false or misleading" -- and

the VERY tricky grammar that defines that offence makes it an offence EVEN IF YOU WERE TRYING VERY HARD TO BE ACCURATE. Read FA s. 106(1) AND (3) to see how that trap works. It is a very difficult trap to see -- but the word "knowingly" in CC s. 106(1), by the rules of English grammar, refers to "makes a statement" -- but NOT to "that is false or misleading."

Now the path becomes clearer. It is YOUR choice as to whether to register the long arms you already possess on 01 Oct 98 -- or on 01 Jan 2003.

If you choose to register early, and the system is swamped with Applications to Register, the bureaucracy can simply process the pile with all deliberate speed -- and you will get your certificate when they get around to your application -- unless you are more sophisticated than they expect you to be.

An ordinary Application to Register -- submitted by someone who is foolish enough to BELIEVE that everything stamped into his firearm is true and accurate -- will be processed relatively quickly.

The applicant MAY not be charged if an error is found --

but MAY be charged, and

MAY have to fight a court action,

and MAY go to prison for up to ten years.

That will probably be a rare situation, but why take such chances?

The SAFE way to fill out an Application to Register is to fill in all the boxes with "unknown." I know that a "J C Higgins" rifle or shotgun was not made by J C Hiigins, and that some Savage rifles were made by a company in Spain, and that that "Remington" barrel is sitting on a Daiwa shotgun -- but do YOU? Are YOU a world-class firearms identification expert? No?

Then play it safe. Let THEM identify your firearms.

Where you refuse to identify -- to protect your own rosy little rump, which you have a perfect right to do -- then THEY must identify your firearm. That is going to be EXPENSIVE.

Mass action to "swamp" the system cannot, so far as I can see, ACTUALLY swamp it. It can only plug it up until the backlog is cleared. Case in point -- how many times has the CURRENT registration system gone into "backlog lockup," with registration certificates taking a year or more to be issued? Just backlog -- not "swamped" to the point of failure/destruction.

So: Check out your collection. Early on, submit Applications to Register for the ones that are DIFFICULT to identify. If you receive a registration certificate that is clearly WRONG< bounce it back and COMPLAIN. Compare your cerificates at the gun club. If you and Sandy have identical firearms and the registration certificates are NOT identical, COMPLAIN.

And if your firearm was wrongly "identified" by some government-employed quack, COMPLAIN and demand that the quack be FIRED for violation of FA s. 106.

We cannot "swamp" the system, because we have too few activists. However, if we force THEM to identify OUR firearms -- the cost goes astronomical very quickly. Paying those "Identifying experts" is a costly business -- and I do NOT expect them to get a high percentage ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.

We cannot, of course, accept any lower standard. EVERY registration certificate must be ABSOLUTELY CORRECT in every detail -- or we send it BACK and demand a CORRECT certificate.

Hey -- We're trying to HELP. If the system is full of bad and corrupt data, it CANNOT WORK AS ADVERTISED -- so we are going to HELP by pointing out EVERY SINGLE ERROR AND DEMANDING THAT IT BE CORRECTED.

Now as to WHEN you register, that is up to you. There are advantages to BOTH early and late registration -- and ALSO TO REGISTERING THE HARD STUFF EARLY, AND THE EASY ONES LATE. Keep up the discussion -- it's good for you to be active and interested.

Remember -- every "frame or receiver" MUST be registered -- it is a "firearm." So hunt through your local gun stores. Find that junk .22 rifle with no Make or Calibre or Model or serial number stamping. Then make your Application, and force THEM to identify it -- precisely and very accurately.

Find the junker "house name" shotgun and force THEM to figure out who had the contract to make "house name" guns for that store in that year. NEVER accept a registration certificate that "identifies" a firearm by a "house name."

Dave Tomlinson, NFA