Information about the Firearms Act (Chapter 39, RSC 1995)

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Canadian Alliance policy: "We will replace the current firearms law with a practical firearms control system that is cost effective and respects the rights of Canadians to own and use firearms responsibly."

Garry Breitkreuz's Quick Facts at garrybreitkreuz.com

For general information on Canadian firearm laws and regulations, please try the Suggested Reading page.

Much of Bill C-68 (now "Chapter 39 of the Annual Statutes of Canada, 1995" or "S.C. 1995, c. 39") came into force on 01 December 1998, after being postponed five times. The deadline for registration of non-restricted firearms (i.e. long arms) is 01 Jan 2003 (at the time of this writing) and you must have a firearms licence by 01 January 2001.

Note: The PC senators could have killed C-68, but did not. There were three Senate votes on C-68 on 22 November 1995. The second vote -- to pass the bill with a package of amendments -- was very close: 47 for, 53 against (4 didn't vote). C-68 was then passed on the third vote, without any amendments: 64 for, 28 against. Eleven senators abstained or didn't vote. (There were 104 senators at the time of the vote, but the speaker doesn't vote unless there is a tie.) If the 18 Tory senators who voted for the bill on the final vote had voted against it, the vote would have been 46 to 46. If the 4 Tories who abstained had also voted against the bill, the vote would have been 50-46 against and C-68 would have been sent back to the Commons and may have "died" there. Instead, Bill C-68 received Royal Assent on 05 December 1995.