Definition of Sharing a firearm?

[scarkner]

My daughter just got her apprentice card and we are both keen to get out hunting together. She is 12. We will likely be hunting geese and she will have her own permits. All fine so far.

But the regs state that we must "share a single firearm".

We would like to alternate, when one flock comes in, she gets a shot, when the next flock comes in, I get a shot. The best education comes from a mix of doing and watching.

I understand that only one person should be using a loaded firearm at any given time, but surely we can't be expected to hike into the blind with only one gun that either doesn't fit me, or doesn't fit her (either situation would be dangerous).

My expectation is that we would each bring our own guns encased into the blind. Only one weapon would actually be loaded at any given time. Therefore we are only hunting with one firearm at any time. You could have a stack of several shotguns in your blind, as long as you are only hunting with one and the others are not in a state to be used.

I am curious what experience others have had hunting with apprentice hunters. What works, what doesn't, and have you had any issues with the above?

I have also written to the ministry for clarification on what constitutes "sharing a firearm" but I don't expect a clear response from them (nor would I expect consistent responses from CO's).

[greatwhite]

I have read that portion over and over again. It seems to me that it means 1 gun and 1 gun only. I'm hoping someone will say I am wrong.

[Sinker]

Only one gun can be out of the case. You can bring as many as you want, but you can only have one uncased and loaded.

More than one uncased, and your asking for trouble.

S.

[TurkeyRookie]

Only one gun can be out of the case. You can bring as many as you want, but you can only have one uncased and loaded.

More than one uncased, and your asking for trouble.

S.

This is exactly how I understand it to be as well.

[welsh]

I have also written to the ministry for clarification on what constitutes "sharing a firearm" but I don't expect a clear response from them (nor would I expect consistent responses from CO's).

Since no one on this forum happens to be the judge who will hear your case, this is one for "Ask a CO."

[TurkeyRookie]

Since no one on this forum happens to be the judge who will hear your case, this is one for "Ask a CO."

Unfortunately, they took that handy tool down (The E-Mail "Ask A CO") as well as all the previous questions and answers.

Have to try and get one on the phone now.

[rossh]

image.jpg
#6
share a SINGLE firearm
single bein the word I see ?

[BLR308]

Also, the word "Share" is pretty implicit. You aren't sharing if there is a gun for the minor and a gun for the mentor even if they are not out of the case at the same time.

[welsh]

Unfortunately, they took that handy tool down (The E-Mail "Ask A CO") as well as all the previous questions and answers.

Huh. So they did. Well, the last thing you'd want to do is to communicate with the frigging public.

Probably it was lost due to the cost of rebranding everything from MNR to MNRF for no apparent reason. Adding the "F" as if forests are not already natural resources was an important exercise in using tax dollars to achieve diddly-squat, of which I expect our current government is justifiably proud. But I digress....

Now ... I would say that the language "share a single firearm" unequivocally implies that both mentor and apprentice must use the same gun. In practice, many COs might let a second gun pass if (a) it was encased and (b) they believed you intended to comply with the spirit of the law by only having one person shooting at a time. If you were charged, however, the FWCA is absolute liability, so your intent and the spirit of the law don't come into it.

I hope that reply is sufficiently ambiguous, unclear, and useless -- my getting a job at MNRF depends on it.

[rf2]

I took a new hunter out turkey hunting this spring (not an apprentice) who hadn't yet received his PAL in the mail (even though he passed his test and applied), and we brought only one gun. This was despite the fact that we were both fully licensed for hunting. I decided against letting him use my gun while I used my crossbow because my understanding was that I had to be directly supervising his use of the gun. If I was using my crossbow, I would not be directly supervising him.
This is similar to the situation you describe because neither hunter was technically allowed to posess a gun. So if you have two guns out of the case, with one gun being held by each hunter (whether loaded or not), it would seem like this would be against the law.