Weapon or Firearm

[refteck]

Along the same lines......

Four of us were coming back from a weekend archery tournament in the states, at the border they asked me if we had any weapons. I thought about it for a minute and said.... nope, needless to say that started a fifteen minute lecture on how we could use our bows as weapons.

I followed with....they are target bows that were never designed to kill anything, but I guess they could. He chuckled and let us through.

[RonGo]

Interesting question. I thought I only owned firearms and have no weapons. Question: assuming I commit no crime with a firearm, the criminal code does not apply and get to refer to my firearm as a weapon. Therefore all I own are firearms?

[MikePal]

Question: assuming I commit no crime with a firearm, the criminal code does not apply and get to refer to my firearm as a weapon. Therefore all I own are firearms?

I guess that is why they're governed by the Firearms Act in Canada....and if you use it as a weapon then it falls under the Criminal Code with a whack of firearm related charges tacked on

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/p...ct-loi-eng.htm

[welsh]

Question: assuming I commit no crime with a firearm, the criminal code does not apply and get to refer to my firearm as a weapon. Therefore all I own are firearms?

I guess that is why they're governed by the Firearms Act in Canada....and if you use it as a weapon then it falls under the Criminal Code with a whack of firearm related charges tacked on

Nope. The Firearms Act is regulatory in nature and all the actual offences are in the Criminal Code itself. The Criminal Code always applies, and its definition of "weapon" determines if you have committed a weapons offence.

For example, if you wrap your rifle in your coat so as not to alarm people, you have committed the offence of carrying a concealed weapon, because the rifle is a weapon regardless of your intent and you have taken steps to conceal it from view. That's the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Again, that has nothing to do with whether you call your hunting rifle a weapon vs. a rifle or a gun or a bangstick or whatever else, or whether you think of it as a weapon. I would think very few hunters do, so this is really a bit of a red herring to the OP.

[MikePal]

so when they say they are "also charged with various firearms offences" they are not referring to offences as defined under the the Firearms Act or under the Criminal Code ?

[welsh]

Yes. They are charged with firearms offences under the Criminal Code.

You can't be charged under the Firearms Act. It just provides a regulatory framework for the Criminal Code. So, for example, the Criminal Code says it is an offence to sell a firearm knowing that the transfer is not authorized, and the Firearms Act describes the circumstances in which transfers are authorized. Or, the Firearms Act and its associated regulations define how firearms must be stored, but the offence of unsafe storage is actually in the Criminal Code.

That's hair splitting, I know. But it goes to the point that the Criminal Code always applies to what you do with your gun.

[MikePal]

Yes. They are charged with firearms offences under the Criminal Code.

Thanks Welsh...I'll blame my ignorance on the topic from reading poorly written/worded newspaper articles...as I have no first hand knowledge

[RonGo]

I do find this very interesting. The criminal code refers to firearms as weapons but only after a crime has been committed. If I am legally transporting a firearm in the back of my vehicle I have not committed a crime and having no intention of doing so I could refer to it as a firearm? Do I have that correct Welch?

Also I've read the explosives act and it provides the regulations relating to fireworks, gun powder, primers and safety cartridges (what we know as a loaded cartridge). I've always found it strange how most don't know that is the governing document in how much/many you can have, how they are stored, what the contained should look like, etc and NOT the firearms act.

[welsh]

The criminal code refers to firearms as weapons but only after a crime has been committed.

No. For the purposes of the Criminal Code, a firearm is a weapon regardless of whether a crime has been committed. It is not a crime to possess a weapon, or to transport one. But it is a crime to possess a weapon with the intent to use it on someone.

Doesn't matter whether you call it a firearm, a gun, a rifle, a bangstick, or Old Betsy. Pretty much the only person who cares what you call it is you.

[scribe]

I agree with the gun store owner. Too many journalists use the word weapon. Weapon is something that is used to hurt someone. A firearm is a tool used for hunting or sport shooting. We should all be correcting people. Admittedly, I don't correct someone everytime the word weapon is used, but I often do.