Guns and Canada

[Night goat]

I currently have a commercial fishing boat in Alaska and I’m going to be bringing her home to WA this summer. Generally speaking I am never unarmed in Alaska. I generally just keep a 12 gauge pump shotgun (mossberg 590 spx) and a Remington 700 30-06 on the boat, which to my understanding would be considered unrestricted firearms in Canada. I might have to do the trip solo if my helpers can’t find the time off work, but we plan on doing some adventuring on the way home so I definitely need my bear gun- I don’t go ashore with out my shotgun up there.

I know Canada is extremely strict with guns, but from what I’ve seen, it’s not impossible to bring certain types through, although a massive pain in the bumhole.

Normally speaking we never really worried about bringing guns to/from Alaska because I was on larger boats with a full crew and we could just go straight through and never had to worry about customs but I have a smaller boat, and it’s most likely going to be just the girlfriend and I or a buddy, so I’m going to get stuck clearing customs as I’ll have to stop every night and anchor up.

I might opt to take my benelli nova instead of the mossberg 590spx just because it’s a little more of a pedestrian shotgun vs a tactical approach, but I was wondering if anybody has experience doing this and what to expect.

I’d rather not ffl ship from Ketchikan back to WA but it’s always an option. I figure there’s going to be a bunch of hoops and paperwork involved and I’m going to try to call Canadian customs tomorrow or Monday and see the actual process but any personal experience would be more than welcome

I might have to leave earlier than I’d like, but deer season opens august 1 in southeast and it would be really nice to try to get a few deer (bag limit of 6) before I cross over the border. Up there you just snipe em off the back deck of the boat while anchored up in the wee hours of the morning when they come down to lick salt off the beach rocks, but need a bear gun because the trick is retrieving the deer via skiff before a bear shows up…

[Taco280AI]

You can mail yourself firearms, no FFL needed as far as I know. From yourself, to yourself. Can't mail it to someone else, unless they're an FFL.

[fishngamereaper]

It's not very difficult
Fill out the declaration paperwork and pay associated fees
Rifle's and shotguns are non restricted. Easily justified for your purpose.. protection from wildlife...
Store/ transport unloaded and keep ammo separate.

[Skillet]

I cleared into Canada with some long guns coming down - once.  I stopped in Prince Rupert.  Had to wait a while,  then two officers came down and spent about 30 minutes looking over my gun,  measuring the barrels, checking against their database, filling out form after form, and finally taking their fee per gun. 
They were pretty nice about the check-in (Canadians, after all), but I there was some tension as they asked me no less than 3 times if I had any handguns on board, how many hands guns I had on board,  where I kept the ammo for my handguns, what kind of handgun I was carrying, etc.

I didn't have any handguns on board and told them that straight away.

I have also heard tell of a very thorough boat search after a customs officer saw a 45 acp casing in the cabin of a troller I know.  If they think you're hiding something, the rubber gloves come out. 

[Fidelk]

Rubber hoses.....scary. Rubber gloves........scarier.

[Fidelk]

Rifle's and shotguns are non restricted. Easily justified for your purpose.. protection from wildlife...
Store/ transport unloaded and keep ammo separate.

Just to be sure........I'd check if there are capacity restrictions on the shotgun.

[Night goat]

Rifle's and shotguns are non restricted. Easily justified for your purpose.. protection from wildlife...
Store/ transport unloaded and keep ammo separate.

Just to be sure........I'd check if there are capacity restrictions on the shotgun.

Yeah kinda why I was thinking about taking my benelli nova, it’s my duck gun… long barrel, has the plug in it, just a generic hunting shotgun versus my mossberg 590spx which has the 18” barrel, AR style collapsible stock, pistol grip, ghost ring sights, 5 or 6+1 capacity….

[BigVinn]

I went up to Canada for a moose hunt last year and it was pretty easy. We stopped at the us side and declared our weapons so that when we came back across they wouldn’t charge us a tax thinking we bought the guns in Canada. We declared our rifles and a shotgun. Filled out the forms and paid the fee. They give you paperwork that is your temporary gun permit. I believe it is good for 60 days.

[Fidelk]

Rifle's and shotguns are non restricted. Easily justified for your purpose.. protection from wildlife...
Store/ transport unloaded and keep ammo separate.

Just to be sure........I'd check if there are capacity restrictions on the shotgun.

Yeah kinda why I was thinking about taking my benelli nova, it’s my duck gun… long barrel, has the plug in it, just a generic hunting shotgun versus my mossberg 590spx which has the 18” barrel, AR style collapsible stock, pistol grip, ghost ring sights, 5 or 6+1 capacity….

I read that a shotgun intended for hunting is limited to 3 shells. Bringing in a shotgun for self-defense purposes is not allowed. BUT, in the past I had read that if you are camping in bear country, you can bring a shotgun/rifle for protection. And I saw an overall capacity limit of 5 shells.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

I might have to leave earlier than I’d like, but deer season opens august 1 in southeast and it would be really nice to try to get a few deer (bag limit of 6) before I cross over the border. Up there you just snipe em off the back deck of the boat while anchored up in the wee hours of the morning when they come down to lick salt off the beach rocks, but need a bear gun because the trick is retrieving the deer via skiff before a bear shows up…

Bad info. It's illegal to shoot big game from a boat in Southeast Alaska, Units 1-5.