question about history and law

[poil27]

i'm to young to remember before the 500 fps control came to effect (i don't know when) what was the law, when have it taken effect. did old over 500 fps airgun was grandfathered ??


i need an history leçon

thanks guys

Jean

[Dukemeister]

Good question.
Here is a general history on firearms: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/p...st/con-eng.htm
Since I've only been at this sport since 2010, I don't know any of the details of what happened with airguns specifically, but I'm interested to know the history as well. My guess is that changes are likely in the future. It would be nice to have a 12 fpe limit like the UK, instead of our 500 fps limit, but I can live with it as it is. I like the .22 cal because it puts us up to 7 fpe, and if you are into .25 cal... its 12 fpe.

[rsterne]

However, you wouldn't much like the UK limit for pistols.... 6FPE.... Even a 2240 would be a firearm....

Bob

[AirGunEric]

The law, as far as I can recall, was modified to outline "500fps" (or 151mps) in 1995 or so. This was prior to the Registry, and most guns being sold on the common retailers of the time (i.e. Canadian Tire/Home Hardware) were already around that point.

Having talked to a couple people who were involved in this determination at the time, the "logic" for picking 500fps as the limit was two-fold, 1) the majority of common airguns on the Canadian scene were around that level anyways and 2) if they raised the limit any higher, the 'fear' was that all the usual suspects would creep out of the woodwork and start creating trouble- i.e. pediatricians, schoolteachers, anti-gun types of different stripes, whoever- so formalizing 500fps seemed the likely path of least resistance, politically speaking.