Parliamentary Committee Notes: Replica firearms
Date: August 2023
Classification: Unclassified
Branch / Agency: CPB
Proposed Response:
- Replica firearms look like real firearms and their use in crime is growing.
- In 2020, replicas were the second-most frequently used firearm used in firearm-related crime after handguns.
- Their design may so closely resemble real firearms that they may complicate police work and can lead to tragic outcomes.
- The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has asked us to prohibit these devices to help avoid these situations.
- Bill C-21 proposes changing the definition of “replica firearms” to clarify the standard by which courts determine whether a device is a replica.
- Further to study in the House of Commons, C-21 no longer includes a prohibition on the sale, import, export, or transfer of mid-velocity replicas that exactly resemble a firearm (e.g. airsoft, bb guns, pellet guns, etc.) That provision in C-21 was voted down.
Background:
Prior to SECU amendments, C-21 included a proposed amendment to the Criminal Code that would have prohibited all mid-velocity firearms that exactly (or with near precision) resembled a firearm. These firearms would have been prohibited from export, import, sale, or transfer, but would have remained legal to possess.
These amendments were voted down by SECU.
The current version of C-21 contains one change related to replicas and amends the definition of “replica firearm”.
The current definition provides that an object is a “replica firearm” if it exactly resembles or resembles with near precision a “firearm” (other than antique firearms) but is not itself a firearm. A “firearm” includes regulated and unregulated firearms. A regulated firearm is capable of discharging a projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 metres per second (approximately 500 feet per second) and has a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules (“conventional regulated firearm”). An unregulated firearm is powerful enough to cause serious bodily injury or death but not powerful enough to be regulated by the Firearms Act. This change in the definition ensures that the standard against which an object is considered to be a “replica firearm” is a firearm regulated by the Firearms Act.
There are three groups of replicas to consider.
- Airsoft, BB, pellet or airguns that resemble a regulated firearm and are below the velocity and power necessary to cause serious bodily harm (e.g., 366fps for airsoft, 246 for BB and 2.71 joules for paintball) are already “replica firearms” and cannot be transferred, imported or sold in Canada.
- Airsoft, bb, pellet, paintball or airguns that fire at a muzzle velocity above 500 fps and with a muzzle energy greater than 5.7 joules are considered regulated firearms (i.e., require a firearms licence) under the Firearms Act.
- A legislative gap exists in the Criminal Code for those devices that look like a regulated firearm, and are powerful enough to cause serious bodily injury, but fall below the muzzle velocity or energy to be considered a regulated firearm. Currently, these “mid-velocity” devices are unregulated.
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have been calling on the Government to implement a measure that captures these mid-power devices as a direct result of their risk for criminal use and diversion. There have already been a number of cases of criminal use of these devices. They have also resulted in the death of several individuals who were publicly in possession of a replica where the situation ended in a police-involved shooting.
Contacts:
Prepared by: [REDACTED], Policy Advisor, Firearms Policy Division, Crime Prevention Branch, [REDACTED]
Approved by: Talal Dakalbab, Assistant Deputy Minister, Crime Prevention Branch, 613-852-1167
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