Guns-again

[deblen]

I am Canadian & I own hunting firearms.

I am posting this news article for information only:
Americans crossing into Canada carrying guns with 'alarming frequency' | CTV News

Len

[chris mac]

I am amazed at how small the fines were.

[danielamartindm]

It's simply incredible to me that anyone would try to enter another country armed, without a second thought about it.

[Jason Flare]

Originally Posted by danielamartindm

It's simply incredible to me that anyone would try to enter another country armed, without a second thought about it.

Governments do this quite regularly.

ETA: http://ml-fd.caf-fac.ca/en/2017/07/5677

[CaptTom]

It is odd. There's signage at the border. Even a small amount of research, or just asking around, would make it clear that guns need to be declared.

As for the "law abiding" part, I wonder if that's just the Canadians trying to be nice about it.
The fact is, these people lied to customs about having firearms, and in some of the cases, took the time to actually hide them. Mistakes can happen, but some of these folks seem to be selective about which laws they're abiding by.

My experience has been that the Canadian customs folks are more accommodating, and generally more pleasant, than their US counterparts. Although we've been fortunate to have encountered some friendly ones on the US side, too. Then again, I'm always nice and try to be honest with them. The worst I ever did was forget to declare an orange I had in the fridge.

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by chris mac

I am amazed at how small the fines were.

It's more than the fines. The article doesn't give the whole story of what happens when caught with a firearm crossing into Canada. First, there's the arrest, followed by sitting in jail- sometimes up to a couple weeks, but most certainly for days. Bail bonds cost a lot of money for a foreigner, and then there's legal representation. Plus several trips from home to Canada to appear in court. By the time they're done, it's tens of thousands of dollars.

Why do people take guns to Canada? Certainly, a variety of reasons. I think there is a prevailing attitude "it's just Canada" Lots of US sailors find this out the hard way when enjoying a beer while cruising about the Thousand Islands in the dinghy- Canada has laws, not US laws, and yes indeed they do enforce them (whether you think the law is stupid or not.)

"But there are signs!" doesn't work. Americans ignore signs. Stop signs, speed limit signs, etc. There are so many signs on the motorway between Buffalo and Canada that reading each one would ensure a collision. In New York, the state recently forced all daycare centers to post a sign that says guns are forbidden in daycares- even though they are not, nor is it illegal. So people ignore that sign. They ignore the sign that says "no firearms" in the post office because it's not practical to remove a gun, put it in the glove box, go into the post office, and re-arm upon returning (not to mention that one is now disarmed and has left a gun unsupervised.) I'll bet 90% of people, if queried at the border, didn't see the "no guns" sign.

In all though, gun owners who carry a concealed arm as a routine don't see any logic in not carrying an arm, be it in the post office, or Canada. And the chance of getting caught is slim. So they continue on as normal, even entering Canada. And then there are the law enforcement guys who think that they are special, and will get let off lightly if caught in Canada (they aren't.)

Publishing incomplete articles such as this certainly don't work as a deterrent. After all, chances are you won't get caught, and if you do it's $2000 right? If the article described the two year court case, multiple flights to Canada, the cost of the legal representation in both Canada and USA, and the total cost of $20,000 then maybe it would have some impact.